We are in that mode again. Either already back at school, or anticipating the change from the summer months to the academic year. This is true for students, teachers, parents and anyone who is involved in any way in the educational system. Come the inevitable cycling of the seasons from summer to fall and we all experience an inner realization of the echoing internal shift of energy. If you are a teacher, as I am, no matter how many years you have been teaching–in fact the longer your teaching career–the more easily able you are to recognize the subtle internal signs of the approaching transition.

This blog could be, but is not about the ways different personalities react to transitions, it is about transitions themselves. Our entire lives are about transitions. We are in the womb, and then we transition to being alive in this physical reality. We breathe, we are alive, and then one day we stop breathing and we are no longer alive. This is the greatest mystery; we are no longer here. While we are here we live in a realm of duality. Every meeting implies a parting. We are born to our parents, but sooner or later we will be parted from them. And before that final parting there are many other transitional meetings and partings–friends, long-term loving relationships, career changes, moving year by year from grade school to college and even graduate school. We all go through so many transitions, even those from awakening in the morning and returning to sleep at night.

Transitions, the way we view them, and the energy we create around them are vitally important for us to understand if we are to live our lives more steadily in a way that can lead to stability, less reactivity and more inner spaciousness allowing us to be proactive and not at the whim of life’s changing patterns.

1) The only constant in our lives is change. Think about this, it is often a startling idea when you first hear it. Minute-by-minute, day-by-day, month- by-month, year-by-year, we change. We grow older, we learn more, we adapt our lives to our own expectations and the reality of those expectations. Medical research tells us that physically every cell in our bodies is changed every seven years. It makes sense then to grapple with ideas of transitions and change.

2) If the only constant is change, then all we have is each passing nano-second. In that moment try to be present to yourself, to the people around you, and to your current situation and  environment. Try and be fully present to every moment; avoid future-tripping,  or looking back with regret and nostalgia. This state of mind sounds so simple and yet is so hard to achieve. Staying present in the moment is among the greatest mind-training challenges you will ever undertake.

Have a meaningful and aware transition to this fall.

Tags: adolescents, Children, colleges, consciousness, creativity, cyberspace, E-model, E-types, education, Enneagram, Generation E, high school, Janet Levine, janetlevine.com, meditation, Parenting, Parents, teacher, Triads Personality Inventory, www.janetlevine.com

Many young people want to know about meditation. Nowadays meditation practice is more accessible and more acceptable than ever. In every corner of the United States, Europe, Asia, and many other parts of the world, yoga studios have sprung up and most of them offer meditation as well as yoga classes. Hospitals everywhere have meditation sessions for patients and health professionals alike. Martial arts dojos, Buddhist and other spiritual centers, all offer their own traditions of meditation practices.

Among the immediate benefits of meditation is a sense of relaxation, a slowing down of our body rhythms to a more natural pace. Practicing deeper breathing carries more oxygen to our blood vessels and muscles. Most of these benefits arise from beginning meditation practices that teach us to focus on the breath while sitting cross-legged on the floor or sitting in a straight backed chair with our hands on our knees. The straighter our backs, the more aligned our vital organs, especially our fully opened lungs. The breath is a constant reference point; it is always with us from the moment we are born until the moment we die; so the first exercise in mind-training is to always return to concentrate on our breath when our mind wanders (as it always will because that is what minds do.) At the end of most yoga classes we assume shivasana or “the corpse pose” where we put ourselves into a comfortable position prone on the floor, cover our eyes, and sink into the darkness. This is another good time to meditate.

Meditation, however, has other attributes. Practiced correctly by preparing the ground in easy stages can help us master advanced concentration techniques. That is why many types of meditation practices are called mind training. Concentration on mantras, guided visualizations, chanting, a blank wall or just sitting and watching the breath can help us distill our mind to the most complete one-pointed concentration. The benefits of mind-training are to improve our focus and general concentration, as well as to foster a greater sense of inner awareness and spaciousness.

1. It is easy to get started. Find a quiet spot; sit cross-legged on the floor or in a straight backed chair with your feet on the ground and your hands on your knees. Close your eyes and become aware of your breathing. Follow the in breath and the out breath for as long as you can concentrate. Start with three to five minutes and build up slowly.

2. Make sure you return consciously to your immediate surroundings before you open your eyes.

3. Books on meditation written by meditation masters abound in book stores and there are many good web sites where you can learn more.

Tags: adolescents, Children, consciousness, creativity, cyberspace, E-model, E-types, Enneagram, Generation E, Janet Levine, meditation, Mind-training, Parenting, Parents, Triads Personality Inventory, www.janetlevine.com