Middle Earth Meditations

We at IBS-Life have posted many articles on the different remedies we have tried in our effort to cure, or at least alleviate the condition.I have long known that anxiety exacerbates my IBS. Certain foods can trigger it, but I have come to know what they are through painful experience and can avoid them. Stress is something I cannot avoid, and therefore I primarily look into ways of reducing my anxiety to avoid the long attacks, for want of a better word of diarrhea, nausea, trapped wind, and extreme pain.

I was advised several years ago, that mediation would probably help me, and I do know those who have benefited extraordinarily from mediation. There is just one problem: I find it impossible to for instance, listen and become aware of my breathing or emptying my mind. I write a great deal and any attempt to empty my mind, soon results in scenes of a story leaping in to fill it up again.

Not long ago, Richard and Kevin introduced me to what is called Guided Meditation, where, for 20 minutes or so, a guide talks one into a state of relaxation, taking one into imaginary worlds while describing the scenes over a backdrop of ambient sound such as birdsong and water. I did indeed find this easier and more relaxing than the other exercises I had tried to enter a meditative state, although having some-one describe a fantasy realm to me, is inclined to trigger an idea for a story. However, I believe that any level of relaxation is healthy and good for me.

Richard, Kevin and myself were discussing this, and there was an off-the-cuff remark made about wanting to listen to a guided meditation that would take us into J.R.R Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Many people have seen the films and the wonderful sets used for the different lands, but having read the books long before the films were released, I knew that the lands Tolkien described were simply supposed to be our own world, but long before recorded history. The scenery was not so alien we would think we were on another planet with a green sun, and the plants and animals were those that would have existed on the Earth many thousands of years ago, and still do today.

Middle-earth was written as a mythic pre-history of the primary world, and is rich in so-called fantasy races. Tolkien did indeed create Hobbits, but dragons, shape-shifters, Gods and Goddesses, trolls, and of course Elves, have long existed as part of our mythology, which may be why many Tolkien fans found his work strangely familiar, as if we are reading something we knew, but had forgotten.

We began to think of some of the peaceful and beautiful places of Middle-earth and how it would be like to step through a portal into them.

If quantum physics, and the theory of parallel universes is correct, then the legends of these elder races, of the lands where they dwell which go by many names, are the last faded pages of an almost-forgotten reality.

The three of us at IBS-Life have experience in audio/video production, and writing, therefore we decided to produce our own Guided Visualization audio experience and we called it Middle Earth Meditations.

Middle Earth Meditations are audio recordings designed primarily to relax you, with use of beautiful ambient and three dimensional sound, and for those writers, artists and poets among you, you may also find inspiration for your special Muses.
Richard's calming, English voice helps you to relax as he gently guides you into the tranquility of a hidden Elven valley, leads you through a peaceful summer shire, and shows you the majestic waters that lap the last haven of the sea-Elves in this world.

We do not call this guided meditation, but rather guided vizualization. I have found that imagination has rescued me from traumatic times in my life, is my refuge and indeed has always been my own portal.

Imagination is a gift that has been with humankind since our distant ancestors tried to find answers to what they thought of as mysteries. They did not know what the stars were, or why the sun set and days grew shorter in the autumn, where the lightning came from or what caused floods or drought, and so they wove stories to try and explain them.

Mankind is wonderfully prone to what is known as Magical Thinking. It is our heritage and perhaps more, to be able to travel to any world and time simply by thinking; writers, artists, film-makers and games developers create worlds for others to enter, but nothing is more powerful than ones own mind.

And perhaps we can wonder, before we sleep: where do our ideas truly come from?

If you want to get your hands on these very effective and enjoyable guided meditation audio recordings, we have a Middle Earth Meditations website where you can hear samples and get hold of them as instant downloads. Click here to visit the Middle Earth Meditation website.

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