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Gigi Langer

Worry Less Now!

 Love More Now!

Tag: meditation

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Want to Improve Your Life? TRY MEDITATION!

meditate on beach
Like me, do you struggle to meditate?

Even though I know the impressive research on the benefits of meditation (it actually shrinks the part of the brain involved with stress!), it’s SO hard to do first thing in the morning.

Right out of bed, I so enjoy my cup of coffee with Peter, chatting, and watching our cat, Murphy’s, antics. And then, about half the time, I’m off and running–and there goes the meditation right out the door!

I need “training wheels” when trying to establish new routines, so I love it when Deepak Chopra & Oprah Winfrey offer their 21-day meditation series. It’s free and every 4-6 months it’s a different theme, so I learn new stuff.

For example, the one I just listened to was about the role of attention in attracting our desires into our lives. Deepak was his usual clear self as he explained, “What we pay attention to will grow!”

The power source for manifesting our dreams, desires, and intentions is attention.
When attention is focused from the level of true self, our desires easily reach fulfillment.   
Desires that arise from a worried, confused, or agitated mind struggle to be fulfilled.
When we meditate, the intentions arise naturally from the silence, and the energy of attraction automatically obeys what the mind desires.
So, there’s another reason to meditate!! Tapping into my quiet, wise self always yields insights, valuable nudges for action, and great ideas for writing. In fact, I found I couldn’t write my book “Worry Less Now” without it.
If you too need some “training wheels” to learn to meditate, download the app, Insight Timer, or check out some of Kelly Hine’s fabulous guided meditations.
Finally, here’s a little something to make you laugh.
       ??   HOW NOT TO MEDITATE (Susan Morales)
Wear your tightest jeans; not the stretchy kind; the ones that pinch at the waist so your midriff folds over and it’s hard to breathe.
Recall a recent conversation where you felt misunderstood, and analyze what you should have said. Visualize what you’ll do next chance you get.
Find something on your body or clothing to help you fidget, like cleaning your fingernails, picking the pile off your sweater, or winding hair around your finger.
Don’t set an intention or an alarm, look at the clock every time you think of it.
Focus outside yourself, inhale short and shallow. 
Tell yourself you can’t meditate.
PS: I better stop writing this and go do my daily meditation–I didn’t get to it this morning!

gigilanger_worrylessnowGigi Langer is a former “Queen of Worry.” She’s also an educator, speaker, and author of 50 Ways to Worry Less Now, winner of the 2018 Indie Excellence Award. Learn to defeat negative thinking, find inner peace, attain clarity, and improve relationships–no matter what is going on in your life! Available through Amazon (5 stars), Barnes and Noble, and e-book sites.

Langer holds a PhD in Psychological Studies in Education and an MA in Psychology, both from Stanford. As Georgea M. Langer, she’s published several books for teachers and school administrators.

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Reject Worry & Stress with Mindfulness Meditation

stress worry mindfulness

I’ve felt pretty stressed lately as I’ve been learning about book launches, pitches, press releases, tip sheets, and so on. It’s a dizzying array of information!  I keep saying to myself, “I was a Psychology major, not a business school grad!”

Since most of my book budget went to wonderful editors and designers, I decided to study up and do the promotional work myself. Often I worry whether “I’m doing it right.” Ahhh: the achievers’ dilemma:  We try so hard, it can be tough to let go of the results.

Yes, I get the irony: The book’s title is “Worry Less Now.” But now you can see why I’ve needed every one of those 50 tools!

Anyway, I needed to do something to get my head screwed on straight, so I turned to mindful meditation.  A few years ago, I took the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course with Madeline Ebelini at Integrative Mindfulness. After eight 2 & 1/2-hour live sessions, I finally began to get the hang of it.

Research by the developers of the course (Jon Kabat-Zinn & his colleagues at University of Massachusetts Medical Center) shows that consistent use of mindfulness meditation actually DECREASES the area in the brain responsible for stress and anxiety.  Amazing! The MBSR course is offered in person all over the world and also online. Click here for more information.

The meditation I used today, “Mindfulness for Releasing Anxiety,” by Glenn Harrold, is offered free on the app, Insight Timer.

After 20 minutes, I got up feeling centered, confident, peaceful, calm, and receptive to intuitive nudges. I can relax, take action, and let go of perfectionism. Whew! What a relief!

PS: I get no kickback from Insight Timer; it’s just a helpful tool I share with you.

worry , recovery, sanityGigi Langer, Ph.D.  Based on her work in psychology and personal experience in therapy, recovery, and a variety of spiritual teachings, Gigi is a sought-after speaker and award-winning writer and professor.  She holds a Ph.D.  in Psychology and Education from Stanford University.

Gigi lives happily in Michigan with her husband, Peter, and her cat, Murphy. Her new book, 50 Ways to Worry Less Now: Reject Negative Thinking to Find Peace, Clarity, and Connection will be released in early 2018.  Learn more at https://gigilanger.com/new-book-worry-less-now/

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Super Tools for Worry

Worry Less, positive thinking
Don’t Worry!

 

If you’re like me and sometimes worry about a challenge you’re facing, here are a few tools that  help me through it. I usually emerge free of fear and ready to enjoy life–stress-free!

First,  I get honest with myself that I’m a little rattled. (Quite often I try to deny how I’m really feeling by trying to “put on a good face”– even with myself!!)

Then I admit that fear has been in the driver’s seat of my mind and I invite a  power bigger than my fear to take over my thinking. I often merely ask for help to see things differently.

Next, I choose to take the necessary actions to find peace of mind. This requires a commitment to my own happiness and serenity.

Finally, I apply growth tools to dissolve my worries so I can connect with wisdom and love. I persist in using tools such as a simple prayer, affirmation, or calling a healthy friend to share my concerns. Sometimes I use the app Insight Timer to help me relax and trust that all is well.

Insight Timer is great; you can select guided meditations by the amount of time you have, person, or topic.  I just used the one by Tara Brach to calm myself about the next phase in my book-writing adventure: Doing publicity, another whole new challenge!

Here’s the link to the app: https://insighttimer.app.link/HQZbB2ezuF

Tara Brach’s  15-minute meditation helped me access the courage, inspiration, and peace of mind to move forward with my project. Her wonderful books and other products are at www.tarabrach.com

I know that honesty, power, choices, and tools like these can help you  connect with the power of your true self—unfettered by fear, ego, and limitation. The sky’s the limit!

(PS: The advance reader copies of 50 Ways to Worry Less Now will be printed next week! Check it out out https:// Gigilanger.com/new-book-worry-less-now/) Release date: March 2018…unless you subscribe (-:

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Meditation: A sure cure for fear & worry

Meditation to the rescue!

Meditation overcomes worry
Possum Hill Press (my publisher)

 

Fear blocked my dream: To write Worry Less Now!  

IT’S DUE IN SEPTEMBER 2017  

After I stated aloud my dream to write this book, I experienced a period of turmoil and resistance I refer to as the backlash effect. My whispered lies seemed to wake up and say, “What? This can’t be! There’s no way you’re going do that!” “You can’t get this honest about your life; people will think you’re neurotic,” and “You can’t handle it if people criticize you.” Suddenly, I found myself unable to write.

A quote from Goethe sums up the coincidences that followed soon after I hit that block: “The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.”

Despite knowing about the many benefits of meditation, I had never been able to get the hang of it. I just couldn’t quiet my incessant thinking long enough to feel successful. Then providence moved in a surprising way.

• While at lunch with my friend Chris, who had just completed her first book, I shared my fears about my writing. She told me how meditating had calmed her mind and given her a connection to a source of wise guidance in her work.

•Soon after, I made a new friend, Mara, who meditates for twenty minutes twice a day. I became envious of her unflappable sense of peace.

•Later that month, a woman in my book club mentioned she recently began meditating as part of her treatment for shingles, and had not had an episode since.

•After spontaneously deciding to attend a women’s retreat, I found when I arrived that the topic was meditation! As the weekend progressed, I began to believe I could actually adopt this helpful practice.

•Soon after the retreat, a friend asked me to join her for Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey’s twenty-one-day online meditation challenge.

At that point, I looked up to the heavens, and said, “OK, OK!” and began to meditate most mornings.

I find if I skip my morning meditation, I have less serenity and bravery to deal with my challenges. For example, I recently began my day by reading many emails about a retreat I was leading. When I later went to my desk to piece together some new ideas for this chapter, I noticed I was tense and couldn’t find the right words. I then stopped, asked myself, “What’s wrong?” and remembered I had neglected to meditate.

Instead of criticizing myself, I gave myself kudos for noticing my tension. Recalling that it’ s never too late to start a day over, I did just that. As I entered the stillness, I could almost hear my body saying, “OK, the wise one is driving the bus now. We can stop the high alert.”

I received a wondrous result: I wrote the exact the words I had been searching for earlier. I was no longer stuck!

Gigi Langer is a former “queen of worry.” She’s also an educator, speaker, and author of Worry Less Now! Coming out in Fall 2017, the new book contains 50 powerful tips to defeat negative thinking, find inner peace, and be happy.

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