Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years, and was originally meant as a tool to deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life.
Today, meditation is more commonly used to promote relaxation, increase focus, and reduce stress.
Meditation is considered a mind-body complementary medicine, producing a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. During meditation, your attention is focused, thus eliminating the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress.
The term meditation has become an umbrella for the many way to a relaxed state of being. And while there are many types of meditation and relaxation techniques that have meditation components, all share the same goal of achieving inner peace.
The SoulTranSync practice incorporates several types of meditation, resulting in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.
SoulTranSync incorporates the following types of meditation into its practice:
Guided meditation: sometimes called guided imagery or visualization, with this method you form mental images of places or situations you find relaxing. You are led through this process by a teacher, or guide, and encouraged to use as many senses as possible – sight, smell, sound, texture, etc. – to create your visions.
Mantra meditation: in this type, you silently repeat a calming word, thought or phrase to prevent distracting thoughts.
Mindfulness meditation: this type is based on being mindful, or having an increased awareness and acceptance of living in the present moment. You increase your conscious awareness, focus on what you experience during the meditation (such as the flow of your breath), observe your thoughts and emotions, and let them pass without judgement.
Other types of meditation that can incorporate SoulTranSync tools include:
Qi gong: part of traditional Chinese medicine, qi gong (CHEE-gung) combines meditation, relaxation, physical movement and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance.
Tai chi: a form of gentle Chinese martial arts, in tai chi (TIE-chee) you perform a series of self-paced postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.
Transcendental meditation: in this type, you use a mantra, such as a word, sound or phrase repeated silently, to narrow your conscious awareness and eliminate all thoughts from your mind. You focus exclusively on your mantra to achieve a state of perfect stillness and consciousness.
Common features in many types of meditation, including SoulTranSync, include:
Focused attention: focusing your attention is generally one of the most important elements of meditation; it helps free your mind from the many distractions that cause stress and worry. You can focus your attention on such things as a specific object, an image, a mantra, or even your breathing.
Relaxed breathing: this technique involves deep, even-paced breathing using the diaphragm muscle to expand your lungs. The purpose is to slow your breathing, take in more oxygen, and reduce the use of shoulder, neck and upper chest muscles while breathing so that you can breathe more efficiently.
A quiet setting: if you’re a beginning, practicing meditation may be easier if you’re in a quiet spot with few distractions – no television, radios or cellphones. As you get more skilled, you may be able to drop into meditation anywhere, especially in high-stress situations, such as a traffic jam or stressful work meeting.
A comfortable position: you can practice meditation whether you’re sitting, lying down, walking, or in other positions or activities – just try to be comfortable so that you can get the most out of your meditation.
Don’t let the thought of meditating the “right” way add to your stress.
Here are some tips and techniques to practice SoulTranSync meditations on your own, and whenever you choose:
Breathe deeply. This technique is good for beginners because breathing is a natural function. Focus all attention on your breathing. Concentrate on feeling and listening as you inhale and exhale through your nostrils. Breathe deeply and slowly. When your attention wanders, gently return your focus to your breathing.
Scan your body. Focus attention on different parts of your body, and become aware of the various sensations, whether that’s pain, tension, warmth or relaxation. Combine body scanning with breathing exercises and imagine breathing heat or relaxation into and out of different parts of your body.
Repeat a mantra. Use the Ho’oponopono mantra or create your own, whether it’s religious or secular. Examples of religious mantras include the Jesus Prayer in the Christian tradition, the holy name of God in Judaism, or the om mantra of Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions.
Walk and meditate. Combining a walk with meditation is an efficient and healthy way to relax. You can use this technique anywhere you’re walking – in a tranquil forest, on a city sidewalk or at the mall. When you use this method, slow the pace of walking to that you can focus on each movement of your legs or feet. Don’t focus on a particular destination. Concentrate on your legs and feet, repeating action words in your mind such as lifting, moving and placing as you lift each foot, move your leg forward and place your foot on the ground. Repeating the Ho’oponopono mantra is a beautiful way to do any moving meditation.
Engage in prayer. Prayer is the best known and most widely practiced example of meditation. Spoken and written prayers are found in most faith traditions. You can pray using your own words or read prayers written by others. Check the self-help or 12-step recovery section of your local bookstore for examples. Talk with your rabbi, priest, pastor or other spiritual leaders about resources.
Read and reflect. Many people report that they benefit from reading poems or sacred texts, and taking a few moments to quietly reflect on their meaning. You can listen to sacred music, spoken words or any music you find relaxing or inspiring. You may want to write your reflections in a journal or discuss them with a friend or spiritual leader.
Focus your love and gratitude. In this type of meditation, you focus your attention on a sacred object or being, weaving feelings of love and gratitude into your thoughts. You can also close your eyes and use your imagination or gaze at representations of the object.
Below are just a few of the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of incorporating meditation into your everyday life.
Benefit #1: Focus
One of the best benefits of sitting and breathing for a period of time is increased focus. Clearheadedness. Meditation basically hands your brain a protective mask and buffers it from getting kicked by mental chatter and worry. Studies even show that teens who practiced regular meditation and relaxation got higher scores on major standardized tests than those who did not practice meditation.
Benefit #2: Relaxation and Sleep
It’s easy to understand how meditation helps you relax. As you sit still and take slow, deep breaths, you become calm. Thoughts and problems begin to dissolve. Stress melts away. But, sleep is the final frontier. According to the CDC, roughly a third of all Americans don’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re too connected to our devices, for one thing, and most of us sleep with our phones or tablets right next to our heads. But another major reason we don’t sleep is because we’re not counting sheep – we’re counting worries, and things we cannot control. A regular meditation schedule – even for five minutes a day – can help train your brain to take a much needed break and finally relax enough to sleep well.
Benefit #3: Self-Improvement and Personal Growth
When you focus your breath and meditate, all the old feelings and thoughts come up. Sometimes, it’s like that scene from Eat, Pray, Love when Elizabeth Gilbert (portrayed by Julia Roberts in the movie) gets herself all settled on the mat, only to be annoyed by flies, mosquitos and ticking clocks. When she opens her eyes, only one minute has passed. But the positive about working through the stuff that comes up is that it paves the way for mindfulness – and with mindfulness comes the awareness you need for self-improvement and personal growth. Through your new awareness, you can resolve issues holding you back from better relationships, greater career success, and even improved physical health.
SoulTranSync employs the ancient Hawaiian Ho’oponopono meditation practice to quickly clear your mind and prepare you for powerful realizations.
The power of Ho’oponopono flows from its meaning – “to set things right” or to correct things. The process of Ho’oponopono offers a relatively simple meditation technique that is effective at correcting what we perceive as broken, and clearing the way for better living.
The practice also rigorously promotes the belief that you must assume 100% total responsibility for what you see, feel, think, or experience. The great news is that if you are responsible for creating all that you perceive, then you can construct more or less of what you desire.
Once you accept this total responsibility, you gain a deeper awareness of how all experiences – good or bad – begin with you.
Further, you now possess the power to make your own choices for your life. You need only imagine opening up new and positive possibilities.
Ho’oponopono is based on the knowledge that anything that happens to you or that you perceive, in essence the entire world you live in is your own creation, and thus, it is entirely your own responsibility. A hundred percent, no exceptions.
That it’s your responsibility doesn’t mean it’s your fault. It means that you are responsible for healing yourself in order to heal whatever or whomever it is that appears to you as a problem.
How do you heal yourself with Ho’oponopono? Three steps: by recognizing that whatever comes to you is your creation, the outcome of bad memories buried in your mind; by regretting whatever errors of body, speech and mind caused those bad memories, and by requesting Divine Intelligence within yourself to release those memories, to set you free. Then, of course, you say Thank You.
Whenever a matter arises – and they arise incessantly – addressing the Divine within you, you only have to say: I Love You, I’m Sorry, Please Forgive Me, Thank You.
Total Responsibility
In the practice of Ho’oponopono, we take 100% responsibility for every situation we encounter. However, this does not come from guilt or a sense of failure if you perceive something in your world you wish to change. Instead, a “problem” is merely a change to clear another issue from your subconscious.
The responsibility you are taking is “I am sorry for whatever in me has created this, please forgive me.” Practicing Ho’oponopono with this mindset of total responsibility is a key factor in your success with the method.
Total responsibility extends to everything that you see, feel, think or experience. The great news is that if you are responsible for creating all that you perceive, you have the power to create more or less of anything. You may choose to create a life of wealth, creativity, vision, and happiness OR a life of poverty, stuckness, limits and sadness. It is up to you.
Once you accept 100% total responsibility for your life and your current life experiences, and become aware that everything you think, feel, and experience good or bad starts inside – not outside – you have the power to choose what you really want. You create the world around you.
Ho’oponopono includes four steps that employ the simple mantra: I Love You; I’m Sorry; Please Forgive Me; Thank You.
“I Love You” affirms your personal connectedness with all things. It proclaims that you are one with the divine, one with the source, one with all life. This proclamation aligns your mind and attention with healing and holiness.
“Please Forgive Me” aids you in shifting any limited beliefs or misalignment in your thinking. This statement allows you to clear the state of your consciousness and create the space for an empowered truth and new awareness. To forgive yourself for feeling, then believing a thought or memory that brings on pain, inner turmoil or suffering is a generous act of kindness.
The statement “I’m Sorry” allows you to make amends to your higher self. It acknowledges that your consciousness may be out of alignment with the divine idea of yourself; and that this false misalignment needs to be repaired or corrected immediately.
“Thank You” says it all. It declares appreciation and awareness of your true nature. You are both the memories to be released, and the universal connectedness to everything. This statement of appreciation frees you back to void, back to knowing that the universe encompasses both everything and nothing. Acknowledging that you are both the creator and the creation, whole complete and universal. This appreciation and self-love are the most important tools that you could ever nurture.
These empowering statements of the Ho’oponopono will help guide us to an expanded truth. That the almighty power of the universe is embedded in each and every one of us; and that as we become aware of this truth and align our thinking accordingly, we heal, grow, change and transcend.
More than 30 years ago, in Hawaii, at the Hawaii State Hospital, there was a special ward, a clinic for the mentally ill criminals. People who had committed extremely serious crimes were assigned there either because they had a very deep mental disorder or because they needed to be checked to see if they were sane enough to stand trial. They had committed murder, rape, kidnapping and other such crimes. According to a nurse who worked there in those years, the place was so bleak that not even the paint could stick to the walls; everything was decaying, terrifying, repulsive. No day would pass without a patient-inmate attacking another inmate or a member of the staff.
The people working there were so frightened that they would close to the walls if they saw an inmate coming their way in a corridor, even though they were all shackled, all the time. But more than once, these measures wouldn’t stop an aggression. The inmates would never be brought outside for fresh air due to their relentlessly threatening attitude. The scarcity of staff was a chronic occurrence. Nurses, wardens, and employees would prefer to be on sick-leave most of the time in order not to confront such a depressive and dangerous environment.
Dr. Hew Len
One day, a newly appointed clinical psychologist, a Dr. Stanley Hew Len, arrived at the ward. The nurses rolled their eyes, bracing themselves for one more guy that was going to bother them with new theories and proposals to fix the horrid situation. Who would walk away as soon as things became unpleasant. Around a month later, usually. However, this new doctor didn’t do anything like that. In fact, he didn’t seem to be doing much of anything at all, except coming in and always being cheerful and smiling, in a natural, relaxed way. And from time to time, he would ask for the inmates’ files.
He never saw them personally. Apparently he sat in an office, looked at their files, and for any members of staff who showed an interest, he told them about a seemingly strange practice called Ho’oponopono. Little by little, things started to change at the hospital. One day someone would try once again to paint those walls, and they actually stayed painted, making the environment more palatable. The gardens started being tended, and tennis courts were repaired. Prisoners who until then would never be allowed to go outside started playing tennis with the staff. Other prisoners were allowed free of their shackles, or would receive less heavy pharmacological drugs. Still more obtained permission to go outside, without shackles, and without causing trouble with the hospital’s employees.
In the end, the atmosphere had changed so much that the staff no longer preferred to be on sick leave. More people actually wanted to work there than there were positions available. Prisoners started to gradually being released. Dr. Hew Len worked there close to four years. By the end of those four years, there remained only a few inmates, who were relocated elsewhere and the clinic for mentally insane criminals closed.
Please take time and listen to Dr. Hew Len speaking about Ho’oponopono in the below video series. His explanation of this healing practice is simple and compelling.
Just as the body requires stimulation and regular exercise to remain healthy, emerging binaural technology research has shown that the brain also requires regular stimulation and exercise to function at its peak performance.
Incorporating periodic brain entrainment into your daily practices can enhance your brain’s day-to-day functions, and even promote the mind’s ability to ascend into a higher state of consciousness.
By exercising the brain as you would your muscles, you have the opportunity strength both mind and body, and infuse both with renewed health and vitality.
The SoulTranSync methodology of binaural technology incorporates sounds and tools that allow you to learn how to access particular brain states, much like learning to ride a bicycle.
We give you training wheels so you can experience the different levels of brain entrainment states and learn how to recognize these states within you, so that you can ride into those states on your own.
The History of Binaural Beats Technology
Binaural beats technology has been around for more than 40 years, and goes by many names… brain entrainment and hemi sync, just to name a few of the more mainstream.
In a 1973 issue of Scientific American, Dr. Gerald Oster examined how combining two pure tones resulted in rhythmic beat, which he termed binaural and monaural beats. In comparing binaural beats against monaural beats, Oster noted that monaural beats were shown to elicit extremely strong cortical responses, which is the electrical activity responsible for entrainment.
Robert Monroe experimented with brain learning while sleeping. He started using binaural beats during his tests, and developed an entire research lab dedicated to the use of sound for the exploration of consciousness.
In a landmark book, Megabrain, published in 1981, Michael Hutchinson outlined the many possible uses of entrainment, from meditation to enhancing creativity.
The Monroe Institute to this day conducts extensive research in the field of audio wave technology, and their website offers a wealth of updated information on this science.
Scientific Research Supporting Binaural Beats Technology
According to Michael Hutchinson, acclaimed “high-tech guru” and author of Mega Brain Power and Megabrain, millions of people on a global basis use brain-stimulation tools to reduce stress and expand their mental prowess. Science has begun to support these concepts with studies and research which show improvements in many of the brain’s functions.
Brain training technologies can:
The use of binaural beats technology is quickly becoming recognized as one of the best meditation techniques of our time.
Audio meditations that are enhanced with binaural beats and isochronic tones can facilitate taking your mind into a meditative state, quickly and easily. By using meditations with binaural beats, you teach your brain what meditation feels like. With practice, the effectiveness of your meditations will increase, and you will experience the benefits of meditation without the need for support of binaural technology.
The process of using meditations with binaural beats is similar to learning how to ride a bike. First, you might use training wheels to keep you balanced and upright. The, with practice, you ultimately learn how to ride your bike on two wheels. Once you get the hang of that, you can take the training wheels off.
This is how brain entrainment with binaural beats helps to condition the mind for peak performance. In addition, there are meditations with binaural beats and isochronic tones that are able to enhance brain waves associated with specific experiences. For example, some help you feel a sense of relaxation, whereas others might be directed at greater energy or self-empowerment.
Benefits of binaural beats and isochronic tones are: