Meditate

This is your card reading for Wednesday, January 21st/15---today we begin the 3 week period of Mercury Retrograde!  I chose the 'Ascended Masters' deck, authored by Doreen Virtue to lead us into this powerful energetic period.  Your card is 'Meditate ~ Siddhartha Gautama Buddha'---perfect!  Doreen's message for the card is this:
"This card is a call for you to meditate regularly.  Your path, body, and soul are asking for quiet time to reflect, think, and receive insights.  Even a small amount of time devoted to daily meditation will bring you great gifts.  You don't necessarily need any formal training in meditation.  It's simply a matter of sitting quietly, closing your eyes, breathing, and listening.
Additional meanings for this card: *Be still and listen. * You need some alone time. * Be honest with yourself. * Join a meditation group or take a meditation class. * Listen to a meditation CD. * "

My message for you today is this:
This is just the perfect card to present for you as we head into the powerful cosmic energy of Mercury Retrograde!  The people whom I follow---whose gift is in understanding and explaining cosmic energies---advocate Mercury Retrograde as having the possibility of being a period of rapid transformation and a time when we are urged to be authentic. 
Yes...I am AGAIN going to quote Elizabeth Peru (www.deltawaves.com.au) here, in snippets from her supplement article, 'The Ultimate Survival Guide to Mercury Retrograde'. It is 13 pages of guidance from Elizabeth regarding how best to navigate your way through, and UTILIZE, the energies that Mercury Retrograde offers us here on Earth.  I am merely offering a few key quotes from that article, but I LOVE her positive take on it!

"...I have come to know that the three-week periods of the Mercury Retrograde, which come around three to four times a year, are amongst the most cosmically powerful available to us each year.  They push and move us to clear up any uncertainty, doubt, and confusion around communication and messages from our past in particular...
...We can actually have a greater perspective on our life during Mercury Retrograde...
...The  Mercury Retrograde helps you to develop discernment that supports your growth.  You will be learning to act on decisions based upon what your heart desires.  This will be what is best for your growth rather than what you think you should do or be.  There is a big difference between the two and the more you can make the firm and supportive decisions during this period, the greater will be your expansion and release from fear.  The greater will be your personal acceleration and freedom.  Mercury loves you to be independent, empowered, aware and free."

While meditation is ALWAYS a beautiful means of nurturing and caring for our mind, body, Spirit; it is even MORE so when we are experiencing strong energies or when we are in times of turmoil or stress.  Meditation is a wonderful way to 'center' ourselves.  Yet, it is when we need it most, that we tend not to make the time to engage in this self-nurturing act!
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha---referred to by many as simply 'the Buddha'---was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.  Born into a wealthy family, he left this lifestyle behind to devote his life to seeking the end of suffering; and the path to enlightenment.
Many of his insights were attained while in meditation.  This Ascended Master has presented to you today to remind you of the benefits of meditation.  
As Doreen states in her message to you, meditation need not be made complicated.  Most of the spiritual mentors and teachers that I have had the privilege of working with, teach that to meditate means to bring your attention to your breath.  I have always loved the phrase that a yoga instructor I had years ago used to use: "Rest in the stillness of your breath." Now, decades later, in my learnings with Panache Desai, he often uses that very same phrase!  I find that just to hear or think of that phrase, takes me to that inner place of peace.
Honour yourself by making the commitment to make meditation a part of your life, and NOW is the perfect time to initiate that, as we move into our first Mercury Retrograde of 2015.
Set aside 10 minutes (or more, if possible); get comfortable in a quiet place; light a candle; play some soft music, if you choose; gently close your eyes; and 'rest in the stillness of your breath'.  A beautiful gift for yourself.  Perhaps you will feel that you want to listen to specific guided meditations (I am currently listening to some by Panache Desai); or perhaps you will feel guided to join a meditation group or circle; or perhaps you are making the commitment to begin or end (or both) each day in solitary meditation.  It comes to mind---as I witness the brilliant, breathtaking colours of the sunrise outside my office window just now---that to even take the time to sit in stillness and appreciation of that natural spectacle of beauty, is a form of meditation. (And so, I did take the time to witness this particularly gorgeous sunrise!) Just...ahhhhhh...so grateful...  
Buddha is here to support you as you seek to bring the practise of meditation into your life, in whatever way feels right for you...call upon him to assist and inspire you.  I encourage you to make the commitment to meditate for yourself; and to utilize the energies being offered you by Mercury Retrograde to enhance your life experience, also...these energies are not to be feared (as some portray them); but to be embraced as assisting us in moving forward in our spiritual growth!
Blessed be...