There are many, many teachers and forms of meditation, or listening for that inner voice. That inner voice is a still, small voice -- it won't boom out at you like Charleton Heston from the movies.
The first and still the best book I read on this subject was The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson. This is a learned and practices response for your body when faced with stress or the "fight or flight" instinct. Wikipedia says, "The response is an autonomic reaction elicited by a mental device and a passive attitude that has been used for altered states of consciousness throughout various religious traditions and cultures. The scientific characterization of the relaxation response was initially prompted by research studies on Transcendental Meditation ("TM"), a yogic meditation technique, that was presented primarily to people in the Western world."
Learning to calm your "monkey brain" through breathing and visualization techniques is a very beneficial tool to learn. There are many videos on YouTube, along with apps for smart phones that teach these techniques. We urge you to take the "mystical" fear out of it and just teach your body to relax, instead of wanting to fight or flee!
What a person finds through a regular practice of stilling the mind and breathing deeply and consciously, is that the "monkey brain" will still and you will begin to get impulses, thoughts, and pictures that are inspiring and satisfying. Don't be surprised if your "still small voice" sounds a lot like your own voice. Again, it won't be Yul Brenner or Charleton Heston booming in your head. It will sound just like your own voice and you will be tempted to discount it because of that. You'll think, "oh, those are just my owns thoughts... my brain coming up with something from my imagination." First of all, what's wrong with that? Realize that your thoughts and imaginary pictures are inspirations from that deep connection that you have with your own "Spark of God." Remember: your Inner Being kind of sounds just like it could be your imagination!
Develop your own connection!
The first and still the best book I read on this subject was The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson. This is a learned and practices response for your body when faced with stress or the "fight or flight" instinct. Wikipedia says, "The response is an autonomic reaction elicited by a mental device and a passive attitude that has been used for altered states of consciousness throughout various religious traditions and cultures. The scientific characterization of the relaxation response was initially prompted by research studies on Transcendental Meditation ("TM"), a yogic meditation technique, that was presented primarily to people in the Western world."
Learning to calm your "monkey brain" through breathing and visualization techniques is a very beneficial tool to learn. There are many videos on YouTube, along with apps for smart phones that teach these techniques. We urge you to take the "mystical" fear out of it and just teach your body to relax, instead of wanting to fight or flee!
What a person finds through a regular practice of stilling the mind and breathing deeply and consciously, is that the "monkey brain" will still and you will begin to get impulses, thoughts, and pictures that are inspiring and satisfying. Don't be surprised if your "still small voice" sounds a lot like your own voice. Again, it won't be Yul Brenner or Charleton Heston booming in your head. It will sound just like your own voice and you will be tempted to discount it because of that. You'll think, "oh, those are just my owns thoughts... my brain coming up with something from my imagination." First of all, what's wrong with that? Realize that your thoughts and imaginary pictures are inspirations from that deep connection that you have with your own "Spark of God." Remember: your Inner Being kind of sounds just like it could be your imagination!
Develop your own connection!
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