Meditations [Livre audio] [Anglais] [CD]

I bought these cassettes expecting guided meditations from a woman who is considered to be a "master" in the field of meditation. During the first listening of the first tape, I had to wait while Shakti talked for nearly fifteen minutes about meditation, and nothing she said during this introduction was very earth-shaking. I don't have time to listen to the same lengthy introduction every day, so I have to fast-forward through it, which is inconvenient. She has a nice voice, but I found several things distracting. First, it's apparent that she was working without a script (I never expected this from a writer!). She hesitated often, indicating that she was trying to think of the next thing to say. Second, she was apparently nervous because I could detect her voice shaking a bit and her mouth was dry. I understand nervousness very well, but hearing it definitely strained my meditation! Her tone of voice was not focused; sometimes it had a "sing-song" quality that undermined the importance of what she was saying. And, throughout the tapes, I can hear her swallowing between phrases, and I can hear what I can only describe as "mouth noises"; it seems she had the microphone much too close to her mouth. These surely cannot be the best meditation tapes available. (As a side note, I am enjoying reading Shakti Gawain's book, "Creative Visualization".)

THIS REVIEW IS DEDICATED TO GOD,WHO IS,WAS,AND WILL BE....Nigel.

I could remember as a young kid wanting to meditate and not having a clue as to what it really is.

Looking at television and hearing people's opinions about meditation can be a bit misleading.

Firstly,what you see on television,more often than not,is just an exaggeration and can be the use of the camera,as used in movies.

Secondly,people tend to have all sorts of myths and negative views about meditation(I am talking about the word "meditation" in general).So say that it is ungodly,others say that it is just wrong,not justifying their reason for their misleading and wrongly concluded comment...

I am going to put this as bluntly as I can....Meditation means deep concentration....It is not just going on a classical "lotus position" and making Mantra sounds(ohmmmmmmm)...

As you would see in this book and become to understand...In everything we do,we meditate.

The problem is how effective we do it.

For example:you can watch a televison show and not understand the movie because(more often that not),you were not concentrating on the movie itself,but on other things,for example:what you are going to do after the movie or what is your husband doing or what is the neighbour doing...Am I right?

In a busy world as ours we need to learn to give "ourselves" time and space and alot of understanding.(by "ourselves",I mean what is spiritually inside us).

Because if what is inside us(spiritually)is not in "order",we can run into alot of mental,spiritual and physical problems.

Stress is a big problem in our daily lives and it can be unquestionably Conquered with the simple steps written in this book.

We have to also understand that undoubtedly meditation is something that happens inside ourselves and is manifested in our actions,habits,believes.

There is so much to know and alot of it is hidden within our hearts and minds.We just need to learn to unlock what needs to be free.We owe ourselves at least half an hour a day to meditate.It does more than you think.

It helps to boost your:Confidence

Self esteem

physical strenght

It reduces stress significantly and heart problems.

This is the first meditation book for me to get my hands on and it is short and conscise.It contains more information than you might think.

And,did I mention,anyone can meditate.You don't have to be strong and healthy or weak and sick,or old or young.You just need to be your self and just let nature and your heart do the rest..

While reading this book you would(I guarantee it)discover parts of "you" that you don't think exists.

There is so much I would like to say,but I guess I would just let the book do the rest.

This book contains meditation and Visualization techniques.

Each exercise is first introduced and discussed,then the reader is lead through the actual meditation.

This book is divided into sections:

1)Creating an inner sanctuary(a peaceful,nurturing place inside yourself)

2)Contacting your inner Guide(a source of intuitive,inner guidance)

3)Discovering your inner child(a rejuvenating source of joy,creativity and self healing)

4)Expressing your creativity(Remove obstacles to your creative expression and discover its limitless possibilities)

5)Balancing the male and female energies within("The union of masculing and feminine energies within the individual is the basis of all creation.Female intuition plus male action equals creativity")

.There are lots more in this book.Initially I read the older,original version.This version contains a couple more stuff.But the most important I have covered in this review...

Enjoy.............this review was written by Nigel.

The meditations are fine, but I suppose I've heard better in the past. Her discussions are less than stellar, though, in particular leading into the "Find your inner male/female"... which is a place where "male" and female" just aren't the right words to use. If you're a woman you may dig it because it SOUNDS LIKE "women are in tune with the universe and men are just the muscle necessary to get things done". Sure, people do have those aspects within themselves: that part which is the decision-maker and is in tune with your surroundings, and that other aspect that has the drive and desire to get things done. But why call one "female" and one "male"? Gawain herself goes to great pains to make the listener comprehend that she doesn't REALLY mean male and female... but she then continues to draw EXACTLY that parallel with the world we live in. I think she should remake this and some other terms (e.g. "Yin" and "Yang", "feeler" and "doer", "id" and "ego"... whatever), which essentially mean the same stuff, but wouldn't hit you with a non-stop barrage of, essentially, "females should be in charge".

The other two meditations are very nearly worth the price of the CD package though: I imagine I will continue using those ones for meditation for quite some time. But, as one other reviewer suggests, her voice isn't as smooth as it could be. Sooner or later I'll look for something better, but if she would release a "2nd edition" where she cleans things up a bit, both in her discussions and in the overall smooth delivery during the meditations, I'd consider getting that even though I already have this.