Meditation this morning started with heartbeat, then I used Mulabhanda (anal lock) to ground myself, found the spark of light at the third chakra, and breathed down into these first four until I achieved a solid framework of light.

Then I visualized a triangle at my third eye. And then allowed my heart to extend light up there, and rotated through my three major goals. You have to visualize/represent the end point of your goals, and then feel the emotions associated with successful fulfillment of them.

If you can see the end point of your goals then back away and "ask" the following questions:
1) Are my goals in alignment with my beliefs?
2) Are they in alignment with my core values?
3) Have I any negative or positive emotional charges that will interfere?
4) Can I see the intermediate steps to achieving my goals (what must I do this month, this week, and TODAY to bring them to being)?
5) Will I enjoy the journey, even if I don’t ultimately reach the goal?
6) Will my actions along this path make the world a better place?
7) Are my worldly goals in any way out of alignment with my spiritual path?

Trust me: once you've been through this cycle a few dozen times, it gets automatic. You wake up, find your heartbeat, find your breathing, anchor into your body, generate light, align with your goals... all in sixty seconds.

You will need some activity that takes you into flow state. And you need to do it daily. Flow state for most people triggers after about 20 minutes of some steady-state activity: painting, sex, gardening, poetry, writing, dancing, working out, meditating.

If you have stress-related emotional problems, you're well advised to meditate. Go straight to the source and drink from the fountain, people.

This is preventative medicine at its best. And preventative medicine is ten times more effective than emergency care. This, by the way, drives me crazy when people suggest that the emergency room can substitute for Universal Health Care. If you wait until you're sick... well, you end up with a 60 percent obesity rate, and people who treat their bodies like garbage bags. Of course, that's the direction too much of America is going in. People, after you hit 35, your body is done with you. Your genetics are programmed to kill you off so that the next generation can come in and clean up the mess you made. After that, all you get in terms of health and aliveness is what you can take and hold.

And that requires PREVENTATIVE maintenance. Otherwise, it's like not changing your oil. Twenty dollars every three months... or five thousand dollars for a new engine. You take your pick.

And health starts with MENTAL/EMOTIONAL health. Otherwise, you are viewing reality through a skewed lens. How can you know if your lens is skewed? Look at your body, your relationships, your career. Unless you are turned on by all three, your safe bet is that something is wrong.

Do your daily work. No one else can do it for you.

-Steve Barnes, http://darkush.blogspot.com/2008/02/daily-work.html