What's even cooler? David Lynch is gonna make a movie about him.  According to Lynch though, it's not going to be a traditional documentary or a typical narrative. And it definitely isn't going to be a typical David Lynch movie. This looks like it's gonna be an awesome film.

In fact, David Lynch has been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique twice a day, for 20 minutes each time, for 32 years.

Check out the article below to find out more about this movie. Can't wait till it comes out!

David Lynch to make documentary on meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

From GordonAndTheWhale.com

David Lynch is making a movie about meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is best known as the Beatles’ spiritual guide during their visit to India in the late 1960s. The filmmaker known for films such as ERASERHEAD, LOST HIGHWAY, BLUE VELVET, and MULHOLLAND DRIVE will be traveling to India this December to start filming.

The movie won’t be a narrative, but it won’t be a traditional documentary either. “It won’t be a so-called David Lynch film, really; it will be about Maharishi and the knowledge he brought out,” Lynch told New York Magazine. “It’ll have to go in the documentary department, I think. I don’t think it’ll be a ‘talking heads’ kind of thing, but we’re going to do a lot of interviews with people. We’ll interview — I hope — in India, a 97-year-old man who was with Maharishi from the beginning and get stories of times that weren’t so well recorded.”

The Beatles attended Maharishi’s meditation classes and made references to him in songs like “Sexy Sadie” and “Jealous Guy.” John Lennon wrote the song “Sexy Sadie” about the guru’s alleged sexual advances on actress Mia Farrow. The Beatles later renounced these accusations, saying the incident had been a misunderstanding. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died in February of 2008.

Click here to continue reading >>

A couple weeks ago, both Bill Harris and I were speaking at the Engage Today event in Calgary along with the Dalai Lama and Richard Branson.

From left to right: Brad (Centrepointe's CEO), Vishen, and Bill Harris (the genius behind the Centrepointe invention)

I also managed to have breakfast with Bill and his lovely wife.

If you don't know who Bill is, he's the owner and creator of Centerpointe and Holosync. I told him how great of a response our company had with Holosync. Even our COO, Juan, has been using Centerpointe on a daily basis in the mornings and it takes him into states of meditation he's never experienced before. Recently, Juan was able to meditate for 1 hour non-stop for the first time because of this!

Now, given the number of people at my company and all my friends who rave about Centerpointe, I really wanted to make sure all the readers at FinerMinds knew about this CD.

Basically it works like this: by listening to specific sounds engineered by Bill, your brain will go into a deeper state of consciousness.

To learn more about Centerpointe and to get the free CDs (yes shipped to you for free), click here >>

Traditionally, zen, meditation, yoga, or "being present" aren't what you would call your typical career attributes. But this is shifting drastically.

Companies like Google, Apple, are starting to realize the benefits of meditation and personal growth workshops for their employees. Even athletes like Tiger Woods claims that his path to success comes from "staying in the present."

Check out this cool article on the new trends that are taking over the business environment. Maybe you can even show it to your boss and see if the company will sponsor some meditation classes

But if your company isn't as advanced as say Google or Apple are, what are you doing to keep zen at the workplace. Drop a comment below with your tips. I'd definitely love to hear them

Zen and success at work

By Philip Delves Broughton

If you have ever watched Tiger Woods play golf, you know the look. Brim pulled down over the eyes, which are locked on some point far down the fairway.

Despite all the hubbub, he is locked into the moment.

His opponent stands off to one side gnawing his knuckles, knowing another defeat is just a few holes away. Credit meditation for Woods' extraordinary focus.

An essential part of Tiger Woods' success is what he calls "staying in the present" and not letting his mind wander off to hoisting a trophy or depositing another million-dollar cheque.

While other golfers may live in the future, at the moment Woods plays his shots, he is apparently free of the conscious worry which plagues the weekend duffer.

And he puts much of this down to meditation and the Eastern philosophy, mostly Buddhist, he learned from his Thai mother.

In addition to his early morning workouts and hours on the driving range, he also meditates daily.

The value of meditation has long been known to those who practise it. David Lynch, the director of Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, established a foundation for "consciousness-based education and world peace" inspired by his 30 years' practising transcendental meditation.

Click here to continue reading >>

It's nothing crazy but these simple exercises will do your mind and body a world of good.

Check out this simple guide on how to get started with breathing meditations. After you do some, I'll bet you'll be addicted.

Breathing Meditations

From How-To-Meditate.org

Generally, the purpose of breathing meditation is to calm the mind and develop inner peace. We can use breathing meditations alone or as a preliminary practice to reduce our distractions before engaging in a Lamrim meditation

A Simple Breathing Meditation

The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make our mind clearer and more lucid. This can be accomplished by practising a simple breathing meditation. We choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. We can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any other position that is comfortable. If we wish, we can sit in a chair. The most important thing is to keep our back straight to prevent our mind from becoming sluggish or sleepy.

We sit with our eyes partially closed and turn our attention to our breathing. We breathe naturally, preferably through the nostrils, without attempting to control our breath, and we try to become aware of the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. This sensation is our object of meditation. We should try to concentrate on it to the exclusion of everything else.

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But are all meditations the same? And I'm talking about the actual results here. Not just the length, words, or feelings used in meditations. This gets a little scientific but it's worth a look at. The brain is an amazing and uncanny thing.

So if you want to know what happens to your brain and body as you go through different types of meditations, check out this presentation given by Dr. Fred Travis at the Science of Consciousness Conference in 2006.

"Are All Meditations the Same?"

Comparing the Neural Patterns of Mindfulness Meditation, Tibetan Buddhism practice "unconditional loving-kindness and compassion," and the Transcendental Meditation Technique.

By Dr. Fred Travis

The idea for this talk came when I was reviewing a grant to fund the application of Mindfulness Meditation to deal with pain in terminally ill cancer patients. In the rationale section, the author had 60 citations to support the use of mindfulness meditation in this grant. However, 60% of these references were for studies that used the Transcendental Meditation technique as the meditation intervention.

Was the author being scientifically dishonest?

I don't think so.

Many individuals think that all meditations are the same. Thus, many people feel that scientific research using one meditation tradition can generalize to effects from any meditation practice.

Are all meditations the same?

Short Answer Is "No".

The short answer is: No. As we will see, meditations differ in procedure, neural imaging patterns, EEG patterns and benefits.

For a full answer....

I direct you to a book that Jonathon Shear has written discussing in detail the procedures, contents, objects, beliefs, and goals of 10 meditation practices. He asked the abbots of monasteries and the leader of ashrams to write their own story.

For diagrams, presentation slides, and the rest of the presentation, click here >>

So not only does Sting perform up to 8 hours of tantric sex, it appears Heather Graham is also on that same track. I wonder what other celebrities are onto this.

While Tantric sex is going great for Heather, she's yet to achieve levitation, which is her next goal. But her biggest goal, and I will definitely applaud her on this one if she accomplishes it, is to fly above cities and save people like a superhero.

For more on this story, check out the article below from the Huffington Post.

Heather Graham: Tantric Sex 'Works For Me'

Heather Graham and Sting have something in common.

While promoting her small role in "The Hangover," Graham told a UK paper how she enjoys tantric sex. Graham is currently dating director Yaniv Raz.

She told the Daily Mail of tantric sex:

I first got into it when I was filming The Guru in 2002 and I haven't looked back. What most people know about tantric sex is that Sting does it and it lasts eight hours. But he's not having sex continually. You can take a bath, massage your partner, listen to music. The idea is that you let the whole thing build very slowly until finally you merge with your partner. It works for me.

What's not working for her is levitation, although Graham claims she has a goal to do that:

Click here to read the rest of the article >>

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/tyliner/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

This probably has happened to you before. You're out at a party, dinner, or a coffee shop and the topic of meditation comes up. You throw in your 2 cents but there's always someone in the conversation who's a skeptic.

They may make a comment, a joke, or even a sarcastic remark. Well, if you've ever faced anything like that then you need to show them these 4 reasons why everyone, them included, needs to meditate.

Sleeping Problems? Meditation Could Be Your Answer

At one point or another, we all face sleeping problems. As much as I love lying on my back staring at the ceiling for hours on end, I think I prefer to catch some Zs. So check out this article on how and why meditation could put your sleep troubles to rest. No pun intended.

Click here to read this article >>

Me & Meditation: Trying To Get Beyond Staring At A Candle

This is a very personal guide to the Silva Life System. A discussion of how and why it works and what were the actual results of this meditation program. A must read for anyone thinking about going into an intense and dynamic meditation system.

Click here to read this article >>

Your Brain on Meditation

So just what exactly happens to your brain when you meditate? Tons of studies have been pouring out of the scientific community on the effects of meditation and all have been positive. Check out this article to find out what actually goes on in your brain during meditation.

Click here to read this article >>

Enhance Your Life And Mind In As Little As 10 Minutes A Day

Many people dismiss meditation as an art that takes years to master, especially when we think of Zen monks. But this couldn't be farther from the truth. Anyone can change their life just by dedicating 10 minutes a day to meditation. Don't believe me? Read this article then.

Click here to read this article >>

Meet Max Simon. He is the founder of the Self Centered Tour (getselfcentered.com) and his goal is to get 1 million people meditating by 2010.  It's a big goal but I don't see any reason why he can't accomplish it.

Max is an astounding character and he's already hosted several Public Displays of Meditation already. This video is a great way to look at the power of meditation and its positive force as a tool for global change and peace.

Even Burt Goldman a.k.a. The American Monk is a huge supporter of Max and his ambitions.

Check out the video and let me know what you think. Do you believe his ambitions are plausible?

To read more on Max Simon and what the American Monk has to say about this young man, click here >>

But just exactly how is it valuable. Meditation is so varied and it's benefits are just as diverse.

Well I found an interesting article that explains how Buddhist deity meditation can actually increase your visual-spatial abilities. Now some of you may be asking just what the heck does this mean.

According to the article, "...[Buddhist deity meditation] allows practitioners to access a heightened state of visual-spatial awareness that lasts for a limited period of time." Basically, your mental imagery is heightened and you will be able to access higher levels of visual-spatial memory resources.

What's special about this is that the implications of deity meditation are more than just self-discovery and increased awareness. This type of meditation and visualization can also be used for therapy, memory loss prevention and treatment, and mental training.

For more details of the study and its findings, check out the article below.

As always, we'd love to hear some feedback from you. What do you think of this type of meditation. Do you think the results are specific only to Buddhist deity meditation or all other visual meditation techniques?

Study suggests Buddhist deity meditation temporarily augments visual-spatial abilities

Meditation has been practiced for centuries, as a way to calm the soul and bring about inner peace. According to a new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, there is now evidence that a specific method of meditation may temporarily boost our visuospatial abilities (for example, the ability to retain an image in visual memory for a long time). That is, the meditation allows practitioners to access a heightened state of visual-spatial awareness that lasts for a limited period of time.

Normally when we see something, it is kept in our visual short-term memory for only a brief amount of time (images will begin to fade in a matter of seconds). However, there have been reports of Buddhist monks who have exceptional imagery skills and are able to maintain complex images in their visual short-term memory for minutes, and sometimes even hours. Led by psychologist Maria Kozhevnikov of George Mason University, a team of researchers investigated the effects of different styles of Buddhist meditation on visuospatial skills.

The researchers focused on two styles of meditation: Deity Yoga (DY) and Open Presence (OP). During DY meditation, the practitioner focuses intently on an image of deity and his or her entourage. This requires coming up with an immensely detailed, three-dimensional image of the deity, and also focusing on the deity's emotions and environment. In contrast, practitioners of OP meditation believe that pure awareness cannot be achieved by focusing on a specific image and therefore, they attempt to evenly distribute their attention while meditating, without dwelling on or analyzing any experiences, images, or thoughts that may arise.

Click here to continue reading >>

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”

-Buddha-

“Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson-

These two quotes sum up my beliefs about meditation and music. So then, let me ask you a few questions so we can start a dialogue that hopefully will continue long after you read this article.

Are You Ready To Create A Mindset For Long Lasting Change?

How would you like to create a mindset for personal growth and long lasting change? Would you like to connect with your higher intelligence and use every level of your consciousness so you can effortlessly create positive thoughts that lead to positive choices and actions everyday? Are you ready to expand your potential and create a life beyond anything you thought possible?

Welcome to a world I know very well. Where you can effortlessly utilize the power of music and meditation to inspire you to release your limiting beliefs, change your mindsets, habits and behaviors and encourage you to step into the real power and greatness of who you are.

There are all sorts of scientific evidence, which I’ll share in a moment to support the power of sound and music to shift your state and your consciousness.  But first, I’d like to share with you my personal experience of how the effects of music and meditation powerfully opened my heart and transformed my life.

My Story: I Wasn't Always The Positive Change I Wanted To See In The World

I am blessed to be sober for 20 years, free of my past addiction to drugs and alcohol. I turned my life around because I committed to a journey that brought me to the very core of my being. The pain of living my life in the dark depths of despair became so great I was willing to try anything that would help get me out of my spiral of self-destruction. I was desperate for the answers that would bring me out of my darkness. I had reached the end of the line. I was beaten and one step away from giving up.

I was spiritually bankrupt, personally adrift, isolated from my friends and family and spending my days in a heightened state of fear lost in a sea of emotional despair that was smothering me.

The multi-million dollar business I had built was crumbling all around me; my associates and clients were jumping ship because I was a nightmare to be around.  Not a pretty picture. I didn’t even want to hang around me!

Maybe some of you have experienced a time in your life that clearly wasn’t working and you didn’t know how to change it.  I had to take an honest look at where I was and come to a point where I was willing to change no matter what.

The Start Of My Journey: The Discovery Of Meditation

So the journey began. Whatever the fad of the day was, I tried it. As I look back I sometimes laugh at the crazy stuff I did. But it all had a purpose and it led me to a discovery that changed my life.  That discovery was meditation. I realized that by going within and connecting with the real source of my inspiration, my heart, I was able to find my way and re-ignite my passion for music.

I became a student of how to create real transformation. I read everything I could get my hands on, studied the masters, sought out the experts and because of my composing and producing background, I became fascinated with my discoveries of how the power of sound and music can shift people at a subconscious level.

Through my company, The Success Creation Institute, I develop tools and programs using the power of sound and music to support the inner work that creates new mindsets, habits and beliefs so people can achieve goals that in the past were out of their reach.

The Science Of Music And Change

What I learned from countless studies and now personal experience is that there is an awakened personal power that comes from meditating to music and sound at certain frequencies.   These frequencies have a profound effect on how you think act and feel. It changes your state of mind, raises your consciousness and ignites your spirit.  These frequencies allow you to become more connected to your creativity and purpose.

My personal experience with this is that when I listen to music with these positive messages and frequencies, my meditations are deeper, my spirit is renewed, and my imagination is more vivid. I connect with the harmonic vibration of the music causing me to see hear and feel the universal energy of possibility that surrounds me.

It has been scientifically proven that it takes 21 days to change a habit. That calls for a commitment to wanting to change. I encourage people to do something everyday that gets them out of their comfort zone. The only way to do this is by practicing new habits. Did you know that most people give up after they try something 5 times without getting the results they want?

Attitude Shifters: 7 Techniques To Create New Mindsets And Habits

Here are a few exercises that you can do each day that will create new mindsets, behaviors and habits. I call them Attitude Shifters.

• When you wake up each morning, connect with your Inner Spirit and write down 3 things that you are grateful for. This will get you out of your head and into your heart.
• Stand in front of a mirror, look yourself in the eye and tell yourself how much you believe in and love yourself.
• Create some quiet time for yourself and plan out the three goals you want to accomplish for the day. Quality not quantity is important here. Knowing what you want creates clarity and focus.
• Create a daily affirmation that will lead to setting an intention for your day that empowers you.
• Practice visualization so you can see what you want to create
• Find a program that helps you go deeper in your daily practice of meditation. Click Here to Download A Free Meditation Track From Paul >>
• Each morning, use these tools to effortlessly move you into a state of mind that opens you up to the infinite possibility of who you are.
• During your day, listen to empowering music that affirms the brilliant genius of who you are.

What we listen to, watch, read and how we communicate to ourselves has a profound effect on the thoughts we think, the decisions we make and the results we create during our day.

How Combining Music With Meditation Will Help You Tap Into Your Deepest Brilliance And Genius

Just think about how powerful a piece of music can be when it encourages a call to action. Companies spend millions of dollars to produce music that will create a shift in people’s state and move them to buy their product.  You too can benefit from the power of music in your life. When you create a practice of meditation by using the power of sound, you gain access to tools that will tap into your deepest brilliance, genius and greatness.

In his book “The Healing Power of Sound,” Dr. Mitchell Gaynor discusses the remarkable results gained by integrating, music, meditation and visualization so we can stay vibrant and healthy. The “universal” language of music and the inspired energy created through meditation has been shown to cause our brains to secrete the same chemical responsible for the feeling we know as love.

When you combine the power of guided meditations set to inspiring music and then follow it by listening to songs whose messages are positive and empowering, your path becomes a vision of possibility and opportunity. You connect to the vibrant Spirit of who you are. You become energized as you hear life from a higher vibration.

Albert Einstein one of the smartest men who ever lived said he used music to inspire his thinking. He said:

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”

Whole-Brain Functioning: Why You Need It And How To Get It

Today, science has validated the power of music and meditation.

What this means is you can use meditation and positive music to actually balance both sides of your brain and tap into what scientists call whole-brain thinking, or whole-brain functioning.

So just what is whole-brain thinking? It's using both sides of the brain to think, instead of using one side at a time, as we usually do.

Whole- brain functioning is associated with increased creativity... insight... learning ability... problem solving ability... memory... and what some people call vision!

Using meditation and music changes the way you look at your life, what you can accomplish, creates new habits and behaviors and lifts and elevates you to reach for your goals.  In fact it will assist you in formulating your goals and in setting the intentions needed to attain them.

How Positive Music Affects Your Ability To Learn, Relax, Grow, and Empower

Here are some characteristics of positive music:

• Music can calm you thus counteracting the negative impact of stress.
• Music activates various areas within the brain, it captivates and maintains attention so that learning is enhanced when the whole brain is engaged.
• Music increases the endorphin level within the body to increase euphoric feelings.
• When the melody and harmony of a song produces a positive mood, the listener feels more energetic.
• Repetitive learning embedded within music engages the mind. Increasing the creation of new neuro-pathways.
• Song lyrics can generate positive, empowering, and uplifting feelings, creating actions that support your passion, purpose and vision.
• Music therapy is being used with success in medical settings and has been beneficial in pain management as well as treatment for learning disabilities. The use of music has been of value in patients with Alzheimers Disease.
• Music’s ability to relax the listener produces enhanced physiology such as lower blood pressure, better heart functioning, and reduced tension in muscles.
• Music aids in memory retention and shifting how one thinks

Want More Scientific Proof On Music And Meditation? Here It Is:

According to Donald A. Hodges, director of the Music Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. “Nothing activates as many areas of the brain as music.”

Dr. David Hawkins conducted a twenty-nine year study that shows the human body becoming stronger or weaker depending on a person’s mental state. His research is based on the science of kinesiology which tests muscle response to positive and negative stimulus. Positive music thus creates positive stimulus.

Music alters the performance of the nervous system primarily because of entrainment. Entrainment is the rhythmic manifestation of resonance. With entrainment, a stronger external pulse does not just activate another pulse but actually causes the latter to move out of its own resonant frequency to match it.  Thus positive songs that affirm ones desires will shift how someone actually thinks.

Rhythmic entrainment is contagious: If the brain doesn't resonate with a rhythm, neither will the breath or heart rate. In this context, rhythm takes on new meanings. Not only is it entertaining, but rhythmic entrainment is a potent sonic tool as well - be it for motor function or other autonomic processes such as brainwave, heart, and breath rates.

Take your consciousness to the highest level and manifest all the abundance that is available to you. Say yes to your dream and begin to live your life the way you choose to see it. Activate the brilliance and creativity that is within you as your heart, mind and soul become one and all the richness of who you are is brought to the light.

It all can happen by simply shifting your mind through meditation and listening to the universal language of music. Awaken to the real you, share your gift and shower the world with your talent. The world is calling you…it’s time for you to answer the call!

Click Here To Download The Exclusive Meditation Audio and The Success Song  From Paul Hoffman - A Free Gift For Readers of FineMinds >>

For Your Success,

Paul

P.S. I look forward to getting to know you better and connecting with you. I will answer all your questions personally. I appreciate feedback and your thoughts will help me continue to answer my call. Enjoy the downloads and keep stepping into your power >>