Category: Inner vision

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creative imagery Energy Meditation Inner vision Integral Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation techniques Mindful Resilience Motivation and scope Primal Spirituality Videos

Black & white meditation (+Samhain +Full moon)

“Where initially we thought there was just a dark, dull space, we discover a bright, clarifying, regenerative inner space that we can go to each day to center and rebuild our inner strength”

Dear Integral Meditators,

My daughter tried out meditation a couple of weeks ago, my article below is a response to some of her initial observations and experiences. The implications are both practical and useful for all of us I believe!
Next weeks  Tuesday and Wednesday (live and online) meditation sessions will be the  Samhain Meditation (Live & Online) – Acknowledging the gifts and wounds of our ancestors, and then if you fancy a Saturday meditation there will be the Live & Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

You can also click on the link at the end of the article to watch my 1minute black & white meditation video on the same subject!

Toby

Black & White Meditation – From dark to bright
Recently my daughter Sasha decided to take up meditation, not because of me, but because she felt like it! Her initial observation was this “Dad, at first when I closed my eyes it felt dark and confusing. But I waited and then after a while it all went white, and I started to feel clear and refreshed”. Her observation and experience is simple but fundamental, and it explains a lot about why it is worthwhile taking up meditation; where initially we thought there was just a dark, dull space, we discover a bright, clarifying, regenerative inner space that we can go to each day to center and rebuild our inner strength.The quiet space behind/beneath the noise
What Sasha discovered is that, lying just beneath the surface of our ”noisy” everyday mind is a level of consciousness that is naturally relaxing, quiet and bright. Two more images that express it in a slightly different way are:

  • The water beneath the waves – On the surface of the ocean the waves are noisy and active, if you dive beneath them to a few meters down, the atmosphere becomes still, spacious and clear
  • The space in the room – Normally when we walk into a room, our attention is taken by the objects in the room; the people, the furniture, pictures and so on, the room appears active and crowded. If instead we pay attention to the open spaces in the room, we experience the room very differently, as something full of space and calm.

Black & white meditation & enlightenment
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition that I was originally trained in the deeper level of enlightenment realization was called ‘the mind of clear light’, because it resembles the clear light of dawn before the sun has risen. Preceding the mind of clear light is ‘the mind of black near attainment’ which is essentially like a pitch black night. So, on these deeper  levels of meditation, our experience also goes from ‘black to white’! So my daughters experience is quite a typical beginners experience that mimics an advanced one.
So, if you sit patiently and watch your mind for a few minutes each day, you can start to have this experience too. In the short term it will be relaxing, regenerative and clarifying. In the long term it is the beginning of your path to the the more profound levels of ‘white space’, ‘living emptiness’ or ‘clear light’ that has been enjoyed by advanced meditators for millenia.

Watch my 1minute black & white video on black & white meditation!

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2020. you are welcome to share, but please cite the source, thanks! Contact info@tobyouvry.com  

Tuesday 27th & Weds 28th October, 7.30-8.30pm – Samhain Meditation (Live & Online) – Acknowledging the gifts and wounds of our ancestors

This time of year is an ideal time for us to commune with our ancestors in meditation. In this meditation, we shall focus upon:

  • Strengthening the love & appreciation we have for our family & ancestral heritage
  • Acknowledging and releasing the burdens of our ancestors, & of our personal ancestral heritage
  • Connecting to & receiving the gifts from our ancestors & genetic heritage
  • Receiving support & insight for our future hopes and aspirations from our ‘spiritual ancestors’ or soul family.

Read full details

Saturday 31st October @ 7-8pm – Live & Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

This meditation, done on or around the full moon capitalises on the heightened lunar energies at this time of the month to:

  • Bring energy and health to our physical body
  • Increase benevolent, life affirming emotions such as appreciation, joy and gratitude
  • Release patterns of energy, thinking and feeling that are no longer serving us
  • Focus on clarifying our intentions and manifesting our current life-goals

Read full details

Starts Saturday November 7th – High-Performance Mindfulness Bootcamp – Combining sustainable high-performance with personal wellbeing

In a sentence: Learn how to create sustainable high performance in your work, and increase your personal wellbeing through mindfulness practice:

  • Thrive rather than survive under pressure
  • Develop and sustain higher energy levels
  • Improve your learning mindset as you face the challenges of work and life

Full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

  • Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
  • Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
  • Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
  • Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

At a glance: All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday 27th & Weds 28th October, 7.30-8.30pm – Samhain Meditation (Live & Online) – Acknowledging the gifts and wounds of our ancestors

Saturday 31st October @ 7-8pm – Live & Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Starts Saturday November 7th – High-Performance Mindfulness Bootcamp – Combining sustainable high-performance with personal wellbeing

Ongoing – The Men’s Group – The path of conscious manhood

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

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Energy Meditation Inner vision Insight Meditation Life-fullness Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Motivation and scope Positive anger

Working mindfully with anger – Four positions

“Anger is essentially like fire. Fire gives light and heat. If you can use it wisely its very useful. If you can’t control it however, anger, like fire can be incredibly destructive.”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article explores anger, its causes and how to re-work your reactive anger through self-awareness. I hope you enjoy it!

If you enjoy the article then this Saturday 19th June I will be facilitating my Mindfulness masterclass: The Power of Presence – Dealing mindfully with anger and conflict in your relationships you are welcome to join in…

In the spirit of self-awareness,

Toby

Working mindfully with anger –  Four positions

Anger is essentially like fire. Fire gives light and heat. If you can use it wisely its very useful. If you can’t control it however, anger, like fire can be incredibly destructive. What I want to do in this article is outline four ways in which our anger can be stimulated in negative ways, so that we can start to spot them. Then at the end I outline a method for managing our anger more effectively, and re-directing it in a positive way.

Looking at the causes of anger

  1. The three F’s – These causes of anger are naturally occurring and we all have to deal with them one way or another; friction, fatigue, fear, or the ‘three F’s as I am calling them! Our life periodically has a lot of friction; its inconvenient, we get tired, we get scared. All of these can cause anger as a defensive reaction. The key hear is to notice that you are under pressure from one of the three F’s, and then not let it turn into an angry reaction. In other works, don’t let difficult feelings (the three F’s) turn into a negative emotion (anger)
  1. Other emotional causes of anger – There are a whole range of emotions that, if not acknowledged and worked with can come out as anger. For example, sadness, disappointment, resentment. Our discomfort with this range of emotions can cause negative anger to  come out as a ‘presenting’ or ‘surface’ emotion. as with the first position, the key here is to recognize you are under pressure emotionally, and gently ensure that negative anger does not develop our of the other emotional turbulence.
  2. Anger and resentment from our story – Sometimes we can be carrying latent anger and resentment into present situations from things that have happened in the past. Ways in which we were treated, things people did to us, dreams that were broken. All of these can cause anger to bubble up in the present moment. The key here is to recognize how this is happening, and differentiate your present moment experience from your past story and its power.
  3. Uncertainty and control – Often negative anger manifests when there is uncertainty, and or we feel as if we have lost/are losing control. This gives rise to fear (see position 1), which in turn gives rise to anger or aggression in an attempt to compensate. Learning to hold a space of uncertainty without getting panicked into anger is a skill we need to learn.

Transforming your anger: Extending the strength of gentleness toward yourself 
So, if you notice any of the above four causes of anger:

  • Firstly, recognize that it is happening.
  • Secondly, try extending understanding and gentleness to the part of you that is under stress from one of these four conditions
  • Thirdly, see if you can move into action out of a sense of self-responsibility and polite assertion, rather than out of negative anger

Initially these three stages can feel more difficult to do than just getting angry. However, once we have done them a few times we start to see how awareness, gentleness, strength and conscious action give rise to much better results than just getting negatively angry!

© Toby Ouvry 2020, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Saturday 19th June, 3.30-5.30pm – Mindfulness masterclass: The Power of Presence – Dealing mindfully with anger and conflict in your relationships

In this workshop you will learn:

  • What anger and frustration are, how to identify and work with them when they arise
  • Understanding the causes of negative anger and how to reduce them
  • How to make intelligent choices around the anger that you experience, particularly in your relationships
  • How to be calmer, so that you can not only manage your anger better, but also harness its power in a positive, non-destructive manner
  • Learn how to use anger for wisdom, insight and empowered action

Tuesday 22nd & Wednesday 23rd  September @ 7.30-8.30pm – Autumn equinox balancing & renewing meditation (Live & online)

The Autumn Equinox in the northern hemisphere marks the mid-point between the warmer, lighter seasons of the year and the cooler, darker ones. The forces of day and night, light and dark are of equal strength. As such it is a great time to emphasize balance and harmony, both in our life and meditation practice.

Read full details

Starts September 30th & October 3rd – High-Performance Mindfulness Bootcamp – Combining sustainable high-performance with personal wellbeing

EARLY BIRD OFFER: SIGN UP BEFORE SEPTEMBER 9th  AND GET 15% OFF!

The course can be participated in live or online.

In a sentence: Learn how to create sustainable high performance in your work, and increase your personal wellbeing through mindfulness practice. Learn to:

  • Thrive rather than survive under pressure
  • Develop and sustain higher energy levels
  • Improve your learning mindset as you face the challenges of work and life

Is this course for me?

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

  • You head into work feeling stressed and sleep-deprived before your day has even begun.
  • Your need to make sharp, insightful decisions but you have trouble focusing.
  • You experience low energy and volatile emotions throughout the day.
  • You often sacrifice personal time for more time at work, and yet you never feel like you have enough time to complete your never-ending to-do list.
  • You don’t feel like the way you work is sustainable.

If you’re tired of feeling like you’re constantly forced to choose between work and your well-being, it’s time to restore balance to your life. Learn that the relationship between the two is not a zero-sum game; there exists an alternative that will boost your productivity without you relinquishing peace of mind or personal time….
Click here for full details!

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

  • Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
  • Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
  • Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
  • Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

At a glance: All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Saturday 19th June, 3.30-5.30pm – Mindfulness masterclass: The Power of Presence – Dealing mindfully with anger and conflict in your relationships

Tuesday 22nd & Wednesday 23rd  September @ 7.30-8.30pm – Autumn equinox balancing & renewing meditation (Live & online)

Starts Sept 30th & October 3rd – High-Performance Mindfulness Bootcamp – Combining sustainable high-performance with personal wellbeing

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

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Biographical Inner vision Insight Meditation Integral Awareness Life-fullness Meditating on the Self Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Resilience Presence and being present Primal Spirituality

Messiness, unlabelling, unknowing

“Drop the labels that most affect your peace of mind and effectiveness in life. Learn how you can change your experience in real time around real issues using unlabelling.”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article explores how you can change your experience by becoming aware of and dropping your labels. Enjoy!
I will be doing the Sunday and Wednesday online meditations on the subject of the article, mindfully unlabelling.
Then on Tuesday evening the live and online session at One Heart will be the Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session.

In the spirit of unlabelling,

Toby

PS: you can also watch my short video on mindful unlabeling.

Messiness, unlabelling, unknowing

My messy life
Right now my life feels vey messy and dis-organnized. We are two months into the arrival of a new member of the family, and the arrival of the baby has meant a fair amount of scrambling around, trying to get things done and often failing! There are small piles of unfolded laundry in my office, objects strewn over the different tables and surfaces of the house. Workwise I have different threads unfinished, deadlines that I’m having to be flexible about. All of my relationships, family, friends, colleagues are all in flux. Sometimes my mind is just screaming “this is all too messy, I need order!” it feels difficult to live with.

Where does the ‘messiness’ really come from?
On a deeper level, rather than the problem being the messiness, its really more about my relationship to the messiness. Its not that the untidiness of my apartment is inherently unbearable, its that my idea of what messy is and what it means is conflicting and stressful.

Unlabelling
The quickest and most effective way out of my problem with messiness is simply to drop my idea and mental label of things being ‘messy’. As soon as I drop the mental label, then the ‘problem’ of my messy apartment disappears(!) The thing here is not that I have changed my external environment, but that I have stopped projecting my labels upon it. From its own side my apartment isn’t messy or tidy, it just IS exactly what it is. With my apartment and life exactly as it is right now, I have a place of peace and stability I can go to and relax in simply by dropping my labels. This is important because it means I can tolerate difficult, messy situations without it stressing me out.

Unlabelling and primal meditation
In chapter one of Lau Tsu’s Tao Te Ching he says “The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things”* . When you drop your naming and labelling process, you drop into a space of label-less, name-less, though-tless unknowing that puts you directly in touch with our experiential reality. This opens up a whole new way of participating in life, that most people loose at quite an early age.

Sitting with “unlabelled unknowing”
So, as a meditation you can start getting some experience of this practice by doing the following:

  • Sit and notice the way in which your mind is projecting names and labels on everything around you and within you.
  • Practice putting those labels down, and relaxing into a state of experiential ‘unlabelled unknowing’
  • Do it not just momentarily, but for gradually extended periods

Practicing with specific labels and challenges
It’s a good idea to practice this with things that are a real challenge for you, like me and my ‘messiness’. Drop the labels that most affect your peace of mind and effectiveness in life. Learn how you can change your experience in real time around real issues using unlabelling.

Watch Tobys’ short video on mindful unlabeling:

*Stephen Mitchell translation. Alternative translation by Gia-Fu Feng “The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of ten thousand things”.

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2020. you are welcome to share, but please cite the source, thanks! Contact info@tobyouvry.com  

Tuesday 4th August, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

This meditation, done on or around the full moon capitalises on the heightened lunar energies at this time of the month to:

  • Bring energy and health to our physical body
  • Increase benevolent, life affirming emotions such as appreciation, joy and gratitude
  • Release patterns of energy, thinking and feeling that are no longer serving us
  • Focus on clarifying our intentions and manifesting our current life-goal

Read full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

  • Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
  • Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
  • Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
  • Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

Stress-transformation coaching with Toby

Stress, anxiety, fear, pressure, anger, attachment – Ordinarily we see these states of mind and emotion as negative; things that get in the way of our happiness and well-being, and prevent us from achieving the goals and quality of life that we would like.

But what if there was a way in which we could learn to work with these negative and difficult energies in such a way that we could transform and redirect them, making them sources of positive and empowering energy, helping us to accomplish our goals and awaken to a new level of fulfillment?

Stress transformation coaching with Toby is exactly that; it shows you how you can transform your stress, anxiety and other difficult emotions into forces for the good in your life…
Read full details

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

At a glance: All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday’s at 12.30-1.20 – Ongoing Tuesday Lunchtime meditation class @Space2B

Tuesday 4th August, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Coming soon – High performance bootcamp: Using mindfulness to operate at your peak without burning out

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Inner vision Integral Meditation Life-fullness Meditation class and workshop updates Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Confidence Mindful Resilience Motivation and scope

Meditations on the dance of gentleness and courage

Dear Integral Meditators,

“Sometimes we long for strength, but sometimes the very way in which we conceive that strength gets in the way of our finding it. How might it be if we tried to express the courage of gentleness sometimes in our life rather than ‘hard’ strength that is brittle and inflexible?”

Meditations on the dance of gentleness and courage mini-course

Date: Tuesday & Wednesday 28th & 29th July

This week’s Tuesday & Wednesday classes are a two session mini-course.
This course looks at ways of meditating that enable us to bring the qualities of gentleness and courage into a complementary dance together in our lives, in a way that encourages:

  • How to discover your inner strength through gentleness
  • How to become courageous in a way that uses your human vulnerability wisely
  • Meet fear and uncertainty more effectively and find confidence in the face of challenges
  • A way of relating to others and yourself that is strong and kind

There are three ways of participating in the course:

Option 1 – For free: Simply read Toby’s two articles on gentleness and courage:
Recognizing Three Types of Fear, Meditating on three Types of Courage
Mindfulness and gentleness – Three reflections

Option 2: Participate in the Tuesday & Wednesday class online for the complete course for SGD$50. If you can’t make the live sessions, you will be sent the recordings to listen to in your own time.

Option 3: Participate in either one or the other of the Tuesday or Wednesday online sessions for SGD$30

To book your place please contact Toby at info@tobyouvry.com.

In the spirit of gentle courage,

Toby

 

In case you missed last weeks article: Aspects of environmental meditation

Environmental meditation, simply put, is using the different elements of our environment as objects of meditation in order to effect the transformation of our consciousness, and move us into a state of balanced communion with the Earth. It mostly works directly and experientially with what is immediately present in our surroundings. It is one of the most ancient and primal forms of meditation around, and you can find elements of it in both the eastern and western traditions.
Below are a few ways in which you can start to practice environmental meditation…
Read full article here.

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

  • Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
  • Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
  • Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
  • Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

Stress-transformation coaching with Toby

Stress, anxiety, fear, pressure, anger, attachment – Ordinarily we see these states of mind and emotion as negative; things that get in the way of our happiness and well-being, and prevent us from achieving the goals and quality of life that we would like.

But what if there was a way in which we could learn to work with these negative and difficult energies in such a way that we could transform and redirect them, making them sources of positive and empowering energy, helping us to accomplish our goals and awaken to a new level of fulfillment?

Stress transformation coaching with Toby is exactly that; it shows you how you can transform your stress, anxiety and other difficult emotions into forces for the good in your life…
Read full details

 

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

 

At a glance: All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday’s at 12.30-1.20 – Ongoing Tuesday Lunchtime meditation class @Space2B

Coming in July – High performance bootcamp: Using mindfulness to operate at your peak without burning out

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
creative imagery Energy Meditation Enlightened Flow Essential Spirituality Inner vision Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation techniques Presence and being present Primal Spirituality Walking Meditation

Aspects of environmental meditation

“Sitting or walking, expanding your awareness to include the presence of the earth, moon, sun and stars”

Dear Integral meditators,

The article below explores environmental meditation, which is a real core of my own practice these days.
If you enjoy the article, then I will be doing an Environmental meditation masterclass – Working consciously with the forces of nature this Saturday 25th July, 2.30-5.30pm, you are welcome to join me!

And another practice strongly linked to environmental meditation: This Sunday the Qi gong workout and Qi gong energy body meditation sessions will be beginning again, online.

In the spirit of the environment,

Toby

Aspects of environmental meditation

Environmental meditation, simply put, is using the different elements of our environment as objects of meditation in order to effect the transformation of our consciousness, and move us into a state of balanced communion with the Earth. It mostly works directly and experientially with what is immediately present in our surroundings. It is one of the most ancient and primal forms of meditation around, and you can find elements of it in both the eastern and western traditions.
Below are a few ways in which you can start to practice environmental meditation

1. Earth, moon, sun, stars – If you look at the basic elements of our environment, you will notice that basically:

  • We have the curved surface of the earth beneath us extending to the horizon around
  • Above and around us we have the dome of the sky, within which are stars.
  • Moving across the dome at various points is the sun and the moon.

Sitting or walking, expanding our awareness to include the presence of the earth, moon, sun and stars, and communing with them in an organic way is one very simple but deep environmental meditation practice

2. Directional awareness – your environment on a literal level consists of a direction in front of you, behind you, to your left and right, with the sky and stars above, and the earth below. All in all, this makes six directions. You can take as a seventh direction within. Wherever you go, you are always in the centre of your own six directions. Put another way, where you are right now is always the absolute centre of your personal universe. Sitting and centring in your own six directions is another simple and transformative environmental meditation practice.

3. The rising light – The rising light is a term coined by a Scottish meditator, RJ Stewart where we practice linking the elements of our environment; earth, moon, sun, stars to four zones of our body:

  • Feet and legs to the earth and the element earth
  • Loins/Sacral plexus to the moon and the element of water
  • Heart to the sun and element of fire
  • Head to the stars and element of air
  • Crown to the element of space, both in the sense of physical space, and of consciousness itself

This is a practice that can be done sitting, standing or walking, focusing on and breathing in and out of each of the different areas of the body in turn.

4. Landscape meditation – Thru-out your life you have visited and experienced many different landscapes. Each of these landscapes contained different elements which had different effects upon you. Some were healing and calming, some where inspiring, some where powerful. To practice landscape meditation here means simply to sit and imagine yourself in different landscapes that you have known and loved in your life, and enjoy the states of body mind and heart that this imaginal practice has on you. You can listen to my own guided meditation with landscape by clicking the link.

5. Communing with the powers of the directions, seasons and elements – This is a deeper and more systematic combination of meditations 1&2 where we practice communing with the ‘spiritual’ or inner powers that overlight the basic elements of our environment:

  • Land, sky and sea
  • The four directions: North, south, east, west.
  • The four seasons: Spring, summer, autumn, winter
  • The four elements: earth, water, fire, air

So, there you, go, a very simple overview of environmental meditation. You can get stated by listening to my guided meditation for practice 4 above, or you can find a basic meditation for practice 2, directional awareness here.

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2020

Saturday 25th July, 2.30-5.30pm – Environmental meditation masterclass – Working consciously with the forces of natureIn a sentence: Learn to work consciously with the forces of nature and your environment as well develop powerful meditation states.

There is much concern and talk today about the state of the environment and the relationship of humankind to nature. This is a workshop that will introduce you to simple, ancient meditation techniques to….

Read full details…

Tues 21st July 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 22nd July  7.30-8.3pm – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions
These are meditation classes done monthly around the turn of the new moon that enable us to open to new beginnings, new possibilities and make a fresh start with regard to:

  • Our health
  • Our inner growth
  • And our life’s purpose and future goals

See full details…

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with TobyAre you looking a coach who can help you to:

  • Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
  • Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
  • Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
  • Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

 


Sunday July 19th & 26th, 5-5.50pm – Online Qi gong workout class

This is a Qi gong session that begins with movement, breathing and energy work to thoroughly energize and refresh your body, nervous system and energy meridians  and regenerate your physical, energetic, mental and spiritual being…read full details

Restarts Sunday 19th July – Qi gong energy body activation meditation

About the sessions: These are Qi gong meditation sessions to activate and enhance the flow of ‘qi’ or subtle energy in your body. We will then be using this flow for:

  • Enhancing physical health and healing
  • Increased emotional wellbeing and mental balance
  • Access to deeper, more dynamic meditation states to transform and regenerate your body, mind and soul

Full details of class…

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classesBuild focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

Coming soon: High performance bootcamp – Using mindfulness to operate at your peak without burning out

Are you a high-potential individual who often feels overworked, stressed, sleep-deprived, or mentally and physically exhausted?  Yet, you are expected to be on your A-game everyday, make clear decisions, problem solve, and be fully focused and present for your employer and teams? Do you wonder if performance in your career and your well-being are a zero-sum game, and see your well-being fall to the sidelines under the ever increasing work commitments.

At a glance: All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday’s at 12.30-1.20 – Ongoing Tuesday Lunchtime meditation class @Space2B

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Sunday July 19th, 26th – Qi gong workout class

Tues 21st July 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 22nd July  7.30-8.3pm – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions

Saturday 25th July 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Saturday 25th July, 2.30-5.30pm – Environmental meditation masterclass – Working consciously with the forces of nature

Coming in July – High performance bootcamp: Using mindfulness to operate at your peak without burning out

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Awareness and insight Inner vision Integral Awareness Life-fullness Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindfulness Presence and being present

Five aspects of high-performance mindfulness

“Committing to being self-aware, and really knowing and understanding how you function is a primary skill”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article offers a few thoughts on mindfulness and sustainable high performance.

In the spirit of the journey,

Toby

 

 

 

Five aspect of high-performance mindfulness

Over the years much of my mindfulness offering in the corporate field has come under the title “Mindfulness for sustainable high-performance”. What it aims to do is to help clients operate at their peak not just today, or this week, but this year, over the next five years, over the next couple of decades. My aim is to help you retain your energy, enthusiasm and capacity for meaningful, creative work without burning out. With this in mind here are five aspects of high-performance mindfulness that might interest you. If you apply them will help you raise the bar both at work and in any chosen domain of your life.

Self-Awareness
Your ability to self-regulate in general, and apply high performance mindfulness methods in particular depends upon your self-knowledge. So committing to being self-aware, and really knowing and understanding how you function is a primary skill. “What is going on within me physically, emotionally and mentally?” is a good question to ask yourself often. “Based upon what I notice about myself, what would be a good thing to focus upon next?” is a good question to follow up with!

Concentration/Mindful-flow
Learn to balance focus with relaxation. High-performance occurs in a context where we are relaxed enough for our natural intelligence to remain functional and optimized. Focus without relaxation leads to sub-par performance in the short term and burn-out in the long term. There are multiple nuanced applications of this principle in high-performance mindfulness.

Non-striving/ergonomic effort
Like quality of concentration, quality of effort is important. With H-P mindfulness we learn to engage in our tasks with the minimum necessary effort to do them well, no more and no less!

Appreciation
In order to keep achieving sustainably and in a balanced way, it’s good to dwell regularly with appreciation upon the good things that we have achieved. Pausing and feeling good about what we have done helps us to feel enthusiasm, and appetite for the next thing, and the next and the next!

Living consciously & intentionally
This final aspect of H-P mindfulness is learning to integrate the four skills above and apply them to our goals. “What is it that I need to focus upon next?” is a question that we can use to prompt the next mindful activity, and take us in the direction that we want to go in order to achieve our goals.

Article © Toby Ouvry 2020, please do not reproduce without permission. Contact info@tobyouvry.com

Saturday 18th July, 4-6pm – Mindful relationships masterclass

Learn how you can use mindfulness improve your relationships and relationship skills

Relationships form a major part of our happiness and enjoyment in life, but that can also be difficult, complicated, challenging and confusing. This two-hour masterclass focuses on practical skills to help you get the most out or your relationships, both professional and personal. By changing the way you pay attention, you can change your relationships! You will learn:

Read full details…

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

  • Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
  • Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
  • Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
  • Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

Saturday 25th July, 2.30-5.30pm – Environmental meditation masterclass – Working consciously with the forces of nature

In a sentence: Learn to work consciously with the forces of nature and your environment as well develop powerful meditation states.

There is much concern and talk today about the state of the environment and the relationship of humankind to nature. This is a workshop that will introduce you to simple, ancient meditation techniques to….

Read full details…


Sunday July 19th & 26th, 5-5.50pm – Online Qi gong workout class

This is a Qi gong session that begins with movement, breathing and energy work to thoroughly energize and refresh your body, nervous system and energy meridians  and regenerate your physical, energetic, mental and spiritual being…read full details

Tues 21st July 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 22nd July  7.30-8.3pm – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions

These are meditation classes done monthly around the turn of the new moon that enable us to open to new beginnings, new possibilities and make a fresh start with regard to:

  • Our health
  • Our inner growth
  • And our life’s purpose and future goals

Full details…

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

Coming in July: High performance bootcamp – Using mindfulness to operate at your peak without burning out

Are you a high-potential individual who often feels overworked, stressed, sleep-deprived, or mentally and physically exhausted?  Yet, you are expected to be on your A-game everyday, make clear decisions, problem solve, and be fully focused and present for your employer and teams? Do you wonder if performance in your career and your well-being are a zero-sum game, and see your well-being fall to the sidelines under the ever increasing work commitments.

At a glance: All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday’s at 12.30-1.20 – Ongoing Tuesday Lunchtime meditation class @Space2B

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Sunday 5th July, 6-7pm – Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Saturday 18th July, 4-6pm – Mindful relationships masterclass

Sunday July 19th, 26th – Qi gong workout class

Tues 21st July 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 22nd July  7.30-8.3pm – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions

Saturday 25th July 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Saturday 25th July, 2.30-5.30pm – Environmental meditation masterclass – Working consciously with the forces of nature

Coming in July – High performance bootcamp: Using mindfulness to operate at your peak without burning out

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Inner vision Integral Meditation Integrating Ego, Soul and Spirit Life-fullness Meditation and Art meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Presence and being present

Appreciating Uncertainty & Change – Wabi-Sabi Mindfulness

“Work creatively, appreciatively  with impermanence, imperfection, uncertainty in a way that invites curiosity and excitement (rather than debilitating anxiety)”

Dear Integral Meditators,

At the moment, we are going through a time of unprecedented uncertainty and change. The article below explores practical ways of responding mindfully and creatively to the challenge. I’ve called it “Wabi-sabi mindfulness”, after one of my favorite artistic movements!

In the spirit of appreciation,

Toby

In case you missed it: Here is a 20 minute beginners mind meditation
…that I recently recorded. Actually it is more like a beginners body, mind and heart meditation. In it we use the image of a new moon, and a new-born baby as a way to re-invigorate ourselves with new life and new possibilities. Enjoy!

Appreciating uncertainty and change – Wabi-Sabi Mindfulness

Originally ‘Wabi-sabi’ is a type of Japanese aesthetic found in the arts and crafts, specifically in ceramic and home decoration. It works with an appreciation of the way in which impermanence, imperfection and decay affect everyday objects, and our life.
‘Wabi-sabi mindfulness’ is a particular approach to self-leadership that I have developed. It has has five main elements

  1.  You are are the artist and the creative force in your life
  1. Life is perpetually changing, unfinished (or uncertain) and imperfect – This needs to be accepted and flowed with, rather than resisted
  2. If they can be accepted, change, imperfection and uncertainty can be appreciated for their own particular aesthetic and beauty – This stage is the essence of Wabi-sabi
  3. You are the leader who is responsible for the next creative act – You are responsible for the ongoing creation of your imperfect, uncertain and beautiful life
  4. Working creatively, appreciatively and responsibly with impermanence, imperfection and uncertainty in a way that invites curiosity and excitement (rather than debilitating anxiety and fear) is the essence of Wabi-Sabi mindfulness and self leadership.

Pointers for practice:
Following on from the above, here are five Wabi-sabi mindfulness practices. Each practice has a link to a previous article of mine on the subject:

  • Awaken your inner artist – Practice seeing and experiencing yourself as the Artist and creative force in your life.
  • Acceptance – Observe and notice the impermanence, imperfection and uncertainty in your life, practice accepting and working with it, rather than resisting or denying it.
  • Appreciation – Notice the things about impermanence, imperfection and uncertainty can enhance your appreciation. “When you truly know what you have is transient, then you can short-circuit the natural tendency that we all have to take things for granted. This in turn gives us a powerful incentive to appreciate what we have, and make the most of it today.”
  • Self responsibility – Habitually choose to take responsibility for your life. based upon acceptance and appreciation, choose your direction forward! We can receive support and encouragement from others in our life, but finally we are the ones who are responsible for choosing what we want, and taking the direction that we want.
  • Moving from negative anxiety to curiosity and excitement – Whenever we have uncertainty in our life, or when things move from predictable and ‘under control’ to unpredictable it means that there is a creative window opening up in our life; a window that if we are open to we can find opportunities to grow, learn and enjoy. We can learn to respond to our anxiety with excitement rather than stress.

Article © Toby Ouvry 2020. You are welcome to share, but Please do not reproduce without permission.

Sundays 6-6.50pm – Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

These are Qi gong meditation sessions to activate and enhance the flow of ‘qi’ or subtle energy in your body. We will then be using this flow for:

  • Enhancing physical health and healing
  • Increased emotional wellbeing and mental balance
  • Access to deeper, more dynamic meditation states to transform and regenerate your body, mind and soul…Full details of session

Read full details

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

In a sentence: Learn how to work creatively with uncertainty, imperfection and life’s inherent messiness to realize your leadership and self-leadership potential.  Manage stress and anxiety better using mindfulness in combination with the practical philosophy of Wabi-Sabi.
Full details of the workshop

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Sat 23rd 6-7pm, Tues 26th 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 27th 7.30-8.3pm May  – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

Tues 2nd & Weds May 3rd, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Saturday 20th June 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Integral Meditation AsiaOnline Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Awareness and insight creative imagery Inner vision Integral Awareness Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques mindful dreaming Mindful Resilience Mindfulness Presence and being present

What are you imagining right now?

W

“Notice and work with images that open up possibilities for you in the moment, and that invite fuller participation in your life!”

 

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article focuses upon conscious use of your imagination, and offers practical ways for you to start to work with what you notice going on there!This Saturday 16th May I’ll be facilitating a spacial two hour Mindful Envisioning – A meditation, visualization & imagining masterclass, as well as the monthly Beginners meditation workshop. All are welcome!

In the spirit of mindful imagining,

Toby

PS: If you missed this weeks article and recording: On mindful visualization & envisioning (And tree meditation recording)

 

What are you imagining right now?

If you stop and notice your mind, you will start to see that with the inner conversation and feelings there are images. Our mind is continually producing images, pictures and scenarios in a number of ways:

  • About what it remembers of the past. When we think of the past, we assume that we are thinking about what actually happened. Actually, every time we bring to mind a past scenario, we are re-creating it in our imagination. Sometimes that re-creation might bear some resemblance to what happened, at other times it be completely different.
  • About what it thinks may happen in the future. Often, we are very good about visualizing and imagining what could go wrong in our life, or what might not turn out right. This is particularly the case when there is a lot of uncertainty
  • We embellish things we like or dislike about our present moment experience
  • Around what we believe is possible for us in life, and around what we deserve/do not deserve
  • If you have a creative imagination, you will notice that it is capable of producing entire worlds and characters!

To be mindful around your imagination means to be aware of this process of imagining, and notice whether, for you, this process is helping you to create a better experience or a worse one. Your imagination is capable of creating heaven or hell, of influencing your energy levels substantially, and opening or closing doors regarding what is possible in your life. Possible ways of working with your imagination include:

  1. If you notice that your imagination is working in a negative manner, then simply hold the recognition of that, without buying into the image and narrative. Perhaps try and understand why it is that you are prone to imagining things in this manner?
  2. If you are going to think abut the past, or a past event, deliberately pick out and recreate images that identify good memories, and frame the experience in a way that is enjoyable and positive for you
  3. When you are imagining the future, why not deliberately imagine the best-case scenario, or a future that would be deeply fulfilling and where it all works out well? Its just as possible, and you’ll feel more energised about it than if you always create images around the worst-case scenario!
  4. Notice the images and ideas that you are creating about what is happening to you right now. Be suspicious of the ones that are sabotaging your ability to enter fully into and enjoy the moment. Work with images that open up possibilities for you in the moment, and that invite fuller participation in your life!

Sundays 6-6.50pm – Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)These are Qi gong meditation sessions to activate and enhance the flow of ‘qi’ or subtle energy in your body. We will then be using this flow for:

  • Enhancing physical health and healing
  • Increased emotional wellbeing and mental balance
  • Access to deeper, more dynamic meditation states to transform and regenerate your body, mind and soul…Full details of session

Saturday 16th May 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever This is a truly practical and super short (90min) workshop that teaches you:

  • What meditation is and how it works
  • How to start your own effective daily meditation practice with just a five minute a day commitment
  • Provides you not only with the workshop but also with support materials; MP3 meditation recordings (1×15 minute and 3x 5 minute), short articles and diagrams to help you keep meditating after the workshop.

Read full details

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

In a sentence: Learn how to work creatively with uncertainty, imperfection and life’s inherent messiness to realize your leadership and self-leadership potential.  Manage stress and anxiety better using mindfulness in combination with the practical philosophy of Wabi-Sabi.
Full details of the workshop

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classesBuild focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Thursday 7th May, 6.30-7.30pm – Online Wesak Meditation on Compassion

Saturday 16th May, 4-6pm – Mindful Envisioning – A meditation, visualization & imagining masterclass

Saturday 16th May 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Sat 23rd 6-7pm, Tues 26th 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 27th 7.30-8.3pm May  – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

Integral Meditation AsiaOnline Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
creative imagery Energy Meditation Greenworld Meditation Inner vision Integral Awareness Integral Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation Recordings Meditation techniques mind body connection Primal Spirituality Qi gong

On mindful visualization & envisioning (And tree meditation recording)

Dear Integral Mediators,

This week’s newsletter features an 8 minute Tree visualization & envisioning form you can just click the link to listen!

The article below is on the importance of visualizing and envisioning well and how to get started.

In the spirit of mindful envisioning,

Toby

On mindful visualization & envisioning (And tree visualization & envisioning form)

Visualization is the capacity to create and build clear images in your mind. It’s an important aspect of many meditation practices. For some people it is a more visual process, but for others it can be more about feeling, hearing or even smelling the object that is being visualized.
Envisioning is the capacity to use visualized images in the mind in order to connect to existing subtle energies and forces on the emotional, mental or spiritual level. For example, if you visualize the moon, and imagine it connecting to the energy of the actual moon, then the image will act as a ‘conduit’ or conductor of the lunar energy to you. You can basically use images to connect energetically to anything that you want in the world!

You are doing both all the time
If you look at your mind during the day, you will quickly start to notice that it is actually visualizing and envisioning things all the time. Your imaginative process can produce heaven or hell, it can create a good mood within you or it can make you deeply unhappy.
Conscious use of your imagination (that is to say your process of visualization and envisioning) is a super-power. By choosing to take control of the images that your mind produces, you can learn to influence your health, psychological wellbeing, your future, your relationships. You can use images to connect to energies within ourself and our environment that support, empower and invigorate us.

Combining visualization & envisioning an example: Tree envisioning form

Stage 1: Take a tree that you know, perhaps that is nearby your house or apartment. If you can, take a bit of time to study it physically by going to see it, even take a picture of it for reference.
Stage 2, visualization: Then, sit down and try to picture that tree clearly in your minds eye. By seeing it, sensing it, smelling it, try and build a clear image of it in your mind, and hold that image using gentle focus. Spend a few minutes jut focusing on building your visualization skill.
Stage 3, envisioning: Be aware of the sky and stars above the tree, and the living earth beneath it. Imagine the tree drawing down light and energy from the sky and stars above, and up from the earth below. See this energy as a light rising and descending into the tree, filling it with power, health and energy. Next, imagine yourself AS the tree, with the sky and earth above and below you. Feel the drawing down and rising of the energy through your branches and roots, rising up into your trunk. Notice any energy flow that you experience in your actual physical body as you are sitting, up through your feet, and down from above. Allow it to gently balance, harmonize and energise your body, mind and heart. Conclude when you are ready.

Listen to the recording of this here: 8 minute Tree visualization & envisioning form

Closing thoughts
This is an exercise that you can use to practice your visualization skills, the image of the tree. It then combines it with your envisioning skills, using the image of the tree to connect to the living energy of sky, stars and earth, as well as the tree itself. It’s a visualization form that I have practised versions of in my Qi gong meditations over the years, as well as in various western traditions I have been involved with (Druidic, Tree of Life etc…).
If you understand the basic principles of visualization and envisioning, you can use them to create your own meditations to connect you to qualities and energies that you want to build in your life!

Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2020, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Sundays 6-6.50pm – Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

These are Qi gong meditation sessions to activate and enhance the flow of ‘qi’ or subtle energy in your body. We will then be using this flow for:

  • Enhancing physical health and healing
  • Increased emotional wellbeing and mental balance
  • Access to deeper, more dynamic meditation states to transform and regenerate your body, mind and soul…Full details of session

Re-starts Sunday 10th May – Qi gong workout class

This is a Qi gong session that begins with movement, breathing and energy work to thoroughly energize and refresh your body, nervous system and energy meridians  and regenerate your physical, energetic, mental and spiritual being.

Saturday 16th May, 4-6pm – Mindful Envisioning – A meditation, visualization & imagining masterclass

A picture speaks a thousand words! Learn how to build powerful meditation states through your imagination and visualization that can be put to many practical uses…
Read more about the workshop

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

In a sentence: Learn how to work creatively with uncertainty, imperfection and life’s inherent messiness to realize your leadership and self-leadership potential.  Manage stress and anxiety better using mindfulness in combination with the practical philosophy of Wabi-Sabi.
Full details of the workshop

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Thursday 7th May, 6.30-7.30pm – Online Wesak Meditation on Compassion

Saturday 16th May, 4-6pm – Mindful Envisioning – A meditation, visualization & imagining masterclass

Saturday 16th May 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Sat 23rd 6-7pm, Tues 26th 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 27th 7.30-8.3pm May  – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

Integral Meditation Asia

 

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
A Mind of Ease Inner vision Life-fullness Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Mindful Self-Leadership Mindfulness Motivation and scope Presence and being present

Controlling the future

W

“On a practical level I find that if I am being effective in the moment, then what I do tends to set up ‘waves’ of energy where a good, successful and/or unexpectedly pleasurable future emerges alive and well from the here and now”

Dear Integral Meditators,

The unpredictability of the future is a big thing right now, in the article below I outline a few mindful positions will help you set up a way of working with the future that is both sustainable, enjoyable and effective!

The Men’s Group starts again on the 27th April, online of course, as is this Saturdays Livestream Beginners meditation workshop.

In the spirit if the present dancing into the future,

Toby

Controlling the future

Mindfulness is not just about being ‘in the present moment’, it’s also about developing a conscious relationship to how we approach and think about the past and future.
If you look at the source if much of your anxiety and fear, much will be about the future. Because the future is by definition uncertain, a certain degree of anxiety and concern is natural. However, if we respond to this anxiety by obsessively trying to control and predict the future, then that won’t help us too much. Reasons for this include:

  • We aren’t very good about trying to predict the future. What actually happens in the future often defies and contradicts our best predictions
  • Trying to hard to control the future leads to mental rigidity, where we close ourself off to options arising in the present moment that could give rise to a better future than the one we are trying so hard to create through control

Having said this, General Eisenhower also said:
“No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one…plans are useless but planning is indispensable”

For me this captures very well the dilemma about how to approach the future. You have to think ahead and plan, but you also have to let go and meet the future as it arises in this moment, and be prepared to dance and improvise!
With this in mind, here is a simple mindful pattern or process that you can establish in order to work effectively with the future:

  1. For a short period of time in your day, bring your attention to your future. With all your mindful wisdom and intelligence, plan, strategize and set up tasks for the next 24 hours or so that you think gives you the best chance of getting you to your best future.
  2. Then, stop dwelling on the future! Focus on relaxing into the present moment, keeping your attention on what you are doing. Avoid rumination, unnecessary anxiety, and trying to predict or trying control the future.
  3. Set aside a ‘next time’ when you are going to think about the future. Before that time, if you notice yourself dwelling anxiously on uncertainty, or trying to predict or control, let go of it and come back to the present moment, Just stop! Focus on relaxing, and on the execution of your chosen tasks.

This practice enables you to set up a positive polarity between:

  • Effective, conscious thinking regarding the future, and
  • Enjoyment of the present moment, and the effective execution of your activities in that moment

The funny thing is, on a practical level I find that if I am being effective in the moment, then what I do tends to set up ‘waves’ of energy where a good, successful and/or unexpectedly pleasurable future emerges alive and well from the here and now.
Enjoy dancing from the present into the future!

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2019.

Starts April 27th 7-8.15pm – The Men’s Group Online – The path of conscious manhood

How can you move from coping to thriving in your life as a man?

Much is asked of men in their traditional roles as fathers and sons, partners and husbands, students and teachers, employees and employers….read full details

Get Your Meditation Practice Started Now Online – The Shortest and Most Time Effective Meditation Workshop Ever

This practical and super short (90min) workshop teaches you:

  • What meditation is and how it works
  • How to start your own effective daily meditation practice with just a five minute a day commitment
  • Provides you not only with the workshop but also with support materials; MP3 meditation recordings (1×15 minute and 3x 5 minute), short articles and diagrams to help you keep meditating after the workshop.

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

Online Class schedule:

Sunday evening, 6-.45pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/675470535

Monday lunchtime, 12.30-1.15pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/590663680

Tuesday lunchtime, 12.30-1.15pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/321314189

Tuesday Evening: 7.30-8.30pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/555319558

Wednesday Evening: 7.30-8.30pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/609271461

Thursday evening, 18.30-19.15 – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/757015034

All classes in Singapore time. Not in Singapore? Check the time for your country HERE.

How to sign up: Simply message info@tobyouvry.com or +6596750279 with the time of the class that you wish to attend. The link to attend each class is next to the class. Then make payment using the methods detailed below.

Cost: SGD$30 per class, or set of 4 classes for $100

Payment can be made in Singapore using PayNow on +6596750279, Or you can use the PayPal Link HERE to pay from anywhere in the world.

To pay for a set of 4 classes on PayPal, click HERE.

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Saturday 25th April 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Starts April 27th 7-8.15pm – The Men’s Group Online – The path of conscious manhood

Friday, Sat, Sunday 17,18,19th April Online – The Qi Gong Foundation Program & Program for coaches and trainers 

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Ongoing  – The Integral Mindfulness & Meditation Online Program, January-July 2020

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology