Meditation is important for attaining high levels of success among athletes. Candles were once a popular tool for developing Concentration, Jin (release of power) and Qi (energy) during martial arts training. This candle training is rarely seen today, but can add great value to your meditation practice. I will show you a few examples in this article of how candles can be used to deepen your meditation practice and fine tune your energetic coordination. 1 – Concentration Training The most popular use of the candle in a meditation practice is to visually focus on its flame in order to enhance mental concentration. To start, sit in a dark room and watch a lit candle as you meditate. Focus on the flame; try to notice every detail of how the flame moves. Do this for at least 20 minutes. When in a high-level competition, leading a team, or looking for creative inspiration it is essential to be in the moment and notice every single detail to deliver your best response. In the beginning you will notice that following the flame is not easy and even a few minutes can be quite challenging. Through consistent practice you will be able to develop and maintain focus and concentrate both visually and with your mind. Once you have reached this elevated level of practice […]

This is a great active meditation practice to learn and add to your meditation toolbox. Exercising the lungs is important for maintaining good health. If you do not actively exercise the lungs they become stiff this lack of activity can lead to disease. Then average adult uses about 10% of their lung capacity in a single breath. This is called tidal volume, which is about .5 liters of air. But the lungs have the capacity to hold about 4-6 liters of air, which is close to 10 times the tidal volume or average breath. This will vary from person to person depending on their health, level of physical activity, gender, size, age, smoking habits and even will vary according to the elevation they live in. If you work at a desk for example and spend 8 hours a day hunched over a computer with poor posture and no regard to your breath you are suffering whether you see it or not. If this is you this exercise will be life changing for you. By having poor posture in a stationary position such as this you will only be using the front side of your lungs and a small percentage at that. This can lead to respiratory disease, allergies, asthma and even lung cancer. To begin this practice start by establishing a deep relaxed breath expanding the lungs and stretching the lung tissue.  Inhale and bring in as much […]