Steve Kramer is President of the Board of Directors at Spirit Fire, a teacher of The Practice of Living Awareness meditation technique, and a host of Spirit Fire Radio. He is a student of the trans-himalayan teachings known as The Ageless Wisdom, as well as a certified teacher and practitioner of Esoteric Healing through the International Network for Energy Healing, and the National Association for Esoteric Healing.
Central Channel – Day 1 This week’s meditations bring awareness to the stream of energy which connects all aspects of our being: the physical body, emotions, mind, and spirit. Now that body and ground are part of our meditation training, we can lean into them for the stability required to focus on some of the … More Your Aspiration Mechanism
Ground of Being – Day 3 Numerous astronauts have described the experience of seeing the Earth floating in infinite space as one that generates a keen sense of awe, wonder, and blissful curiosity. Many also say that they saw the Earth is a living organism of which they are a part. With humility, I … More The Human Experience
Ground of Being Meditation – Day 2 “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. Perhaps you’ve chosen to meditate to get closer to the truth of things… … More Interconnectedness
Ground of Being Meditation – Day 1 Human being. Being human. Being still. Still being. Being grounded. Grounded being. Yes, meditation accentuates all of these states of being. Working directly with the mind for the last two weeks may have generated a bit of reverence for the incredible vessel, your body, which made those experiences possible. This … More Your Body, Your Ground
Luminous Perception Meditation – Day 3 This meditation is always worth pulling out of the archives at this point in the practice… the time to go universal! Within the light of the mind, anything is possible. Today’s meditation is a journey into the realms of the creative imagination, where your luminous self resides, waiting for the … More Universal Beingness
Step #10, Luminous Perception – Day 2 A dimly lit room allows for general vision – you can see objects and have a general idea of the space. As you turn the light up on the dimmer switch, everything becomes clearer and you may see objects that you hadn’t seen before. Details emerge. As we … More Perfect, Whole and Complete
Luminous Perception Meditation – Day 1 Activity can generate energy – rub your hands together for 30 seconds and you’ll notice energy being generated. The acting of rubbing your hands together also requires energy; it’s an exchange. The mind is no different. As we aspire to higher vibratory levels of the mind (put energy in), … More Your Luminous Perception
Mind Meditation- Day 3 Awareness is omnipresent; it just is. Our mind operates within the field of awareness and wisdom precipitates from it. As we create stability in the mind through non-judgmental attention (mindfulness + concentration), we create a doorway into the vast field of awareness. This doorway can easily become obstructed or even slammed shut … More Vastitude
Mind Meditation – Day 2 The Eightfold Path was consistently presented by the Buddha as a guide to end suffering. The eight suggested directions of the path are divided into three groupings: ethical conduct (right speech, right action, and right livelihood), mental discipline (right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration), and wisdom (right thought and … More Samadhi
Mind Meditation – Day 1 Meditation teachings have one clear purpose: befriending the mind. In order to do this, you have to spend some time together. Make a date, find a quiet place and ask, “how have you been?” After the steady intensity of the last seven days… prepare yourself for an earful; that’s what friends are for! Let’s … More “How are you, friend?”
Asana Meditation – Day 3 In sitting upright and lengthening the spine, the breath has an opportunity to become balanced. A sloppy posture usually means a sloppy breath, a sloppy attitude, and a sloppy response to that which arises during meditation. An upright posture usually supports a poised mind and a poised attitude. From this … More Asana as Altitude
As we tally… meditate! Asana Meditation – Day 2 How do you sense your body? How do you sense your body’s alignment? That may depend on how you define your body. Proper asana is not limited to the alignment of your physical body; it also includes your emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies. Perhaps you experience … More Cooperative Components
Asana Meditation – Day 1 It is a common misconception that meditation is a way to escape or check-out from physical reality. We would say that the contrary is true; that meditation is a way to check-in. It is full immersion into the now – and that includes the body, the mind and the spirit. … More Inner and Outer Posture
Interlude Meditation – Day 3 Squared breathing engages the parasympathetic nervous system, which is often referred to as the body’s rest & digest system. Typically this system works autonomously, meaning it is involuntary – it does its own thing in its own time. Nonetheless, squared breathing is voluntary and it shifts, or seems to down-shift, the nervous system … More Squared Breathing
Interlude Meditation – Day 2 Noticing is a skill. It reveals the incredible abundance of life on earth. Why? Because there is just so much to notice. Sensing when to shift your attention to the next noticing or perhaps noticing when you have received enough from this moment and releasing it all together. What a skill to … More Within the Stillness
Interlude Meditation – Day 1 We will work with interludes this week, which means we will be paying attention to the space between: the space between thoughts; the space between breaths; the space between moments. As always, paying attention requires a bit of allowing… allowing the precious space between to become the noticed space. In doing so, a … More The Space Between
Heart-Mind Meditation – Day 3 As the national US election nears, it is easy to default to focusing on our differences and on that which separates us. It is the perfect time within the practice to generate some heart focused positivity and offer it to those in need… most likely each and every one of … More Loving Kindness
Heart-Mind Meditation – Day 2 When we center our awareness in the heart, we are accessing the space within ourselves where we find presence; where we often put our hand when we refer to “I” or “me” in earnest. As we breathe and gently focus upon the heart, we begin to expand and include. The … More Heart Connection
Heart-Mind Meditation – Day 1 We are all a part of the expression of life… each and every one of us. Those we love. Those who challenge us. Those we admire. Those we fear. Those who shape us. At times this human experience can seem merciless and at times it can seem blessed beyond belief; … More Heart-Mind Awareness
Soften, Open, Release Meditation – Day 3 Peace starts with shaping our interior; molding, trimming, and creating space for it. Peace can then move out into the world. You need only sense into the experience of judgement, blame, and divisiveness to feel the heaviness. Peace feels lighter and more free. Creating space for peace, naturally makes room for experiences such … More Let Go. Find Joy.
Soften, Open, Release Meditation – Day 2 Receive, release, and receive again. This is the natural flow of occurrences that affects our lives in the grandest and the most subtle ways. Yet, this process can easily become distorted. We often resist receiving and releasing. It is easy to cling. We cling to the past. We … More Release Into Spaciousness
Soften, Open, Release Meditation – Day 1 It is autumn in New England. Each day fresh colors splash across the tree-line to create an ever-new, ever-colorful, ever-changing landscape. It is a spectacle that we look forward to each year… and a celebration of release. It supports this week’s meditation theme: Soften, Open, and Release. Receiving … More Gold, Then Gone
Soften, Open, Receive Meditation – Day 3 To inspire another person is to fill them with the desire to be creative, to be expansive or to experience more. When we are inspired, we naturally become receptive. The word “inspire” is derived from the Latin word inspirare meaning, ‘to breathe or blow into.’ in (into) + spirare (breathe) = inspirare: to excite, to inflame; to put life into … More Experiencing More
Soften, Open, Receive Meditation – Day 2 We are constantly receiving. During waking hours, our sensory perceptions are constantly translating our experiences. At the same time, we are choosing where to land our awareness and what to allow in. Softening to an experience and allowing it to linger in the field of awareness takes practice. … More The Art of Allowing
You receive a new breath every few seconds. There are great teachings within this natural occurrence; you need only to make yourselves fully available it. Softening and opening to the breath makes one receptive to the meditative experience. As this practice begins to permeate your awareness, you begin to sense whether you are rigid or soft, … More Present and Receptive
Flow Meditation – Day 3 “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu, author of Tao Te Ching. There is a time to take a stand, to act, and to say, … More Flow Forward
Flow Meditation – Day 2 Are you able to go with the flow? Do you meet change with open-mindedness and with little resistance? Fact is, adaptability is essential to our longevity; at very least, it helps us get through the day with ease. Practicing flow helps us cultivate lots of positive qualities – a willingness … More Drip. Drop. Drip.
Flow Meditation – Day 1 Thoughts can line up in the mind like airplanes cued on the runway for take-off. As soon as one disappears in the distance, a new one revs its engines. It is called a thought-stream after-all. “What is that noise?” “Oh, it’s the dryer.” “Did I clean the lint filter when … More Observing Flow
Tip of the Nose Meditation – Day 3 Meditation is an exercise in choice. It brings forward a particular aspect of our beingness – the observer. As we move into this role, as we observe the mind and its thoughts, emotions and their sway, and the physical body and its sensations, we may choose how … More The Freedom to Choose
Tip of the Nose Meditation – Day 2 The essence of this week’s theme, Tip of the Nose, is captured in the photo above. This child is still, focused, captivated, and fully present. Perhaps the outer environment is crowded and hectic; needless to say, the plane is moving 600 mph… but no worries because from … More Taking It All In
Tip of the Nose Meditation – Day 1 We meet here again to meditate. Wonderful! Meeting places can be quite specific. Perhaps you have readied yourself for meditation in a specific place, a designated quiet zone for an allotted time which allows for peace of mind… your own specific meditation place. This week we are … More The Meeting Place
Smile Meditation – Day 3 London, 1968. In a recording of a live performance of “Ain’t Got No – I Got Life,” Nina Simone sings about struggle – hardship and struggle – finally asking, “What have I got nobody can take away?” And then she smiles a beautiful smile. “Got my hair, got my head, got my … More I Got Life
Smile Meditation – Day 2 May your smiles be filled with juicy sweetness. A smile is a bowl after all, and that’s not only considering its shape. A smile contains. It makes room for and allows. It says, “yes.” A smile holds you in pristine presence. In today’s meditation, we sit with the subtleties of the smile and … More Fill Your Smile
Smile Meditation – Day 1 We’re back with a new round of meditations and we’re so glad you are joining us. On behalf of Spirit Fire, welcome. Gentleness, peace and openness will be themes throughout. These can be the qualities of the moment, any moment. We can create space for them, allow them in and … More A Breath and a Smile
The meditation is preceded by five minutes or so of introduction to Scorpio.
Let us find the power of the heart within and live from it. Let us generate the great light of the heart.
Virgo is an earth sign. It is also one of service, care, selflessness, and humility. The changes that the Earth are going through require that humanity serve one another and future generations through honest acknowledgement of change and of the opportunities that change provides. Service to and of one another and all life on Earth … More Virgo Full Moon meditation
This full moon is accompanied by a lunar eclipse and Mars conjunct the Sun in Leo. In many ways, these energies portend the solar eclipse in two weeks on August 21 which will be accompanied by a Grand Fire Trine. The planets involved then will be the Sun, Mars, Saturn, and Uranus. Mars conjunct the … More August – Leo – Full Moon meditation
We are beings of vibration. Everything about us is constantly chiming into and through existence. Likewise, vibrations from all sources are pouring through us. We are strings being played, and we also are the player. Meditation provides a further refinement of our vibrations and the ability to understand, thus work with, them. We begin a … More Intermediate: the Vibration of Presence
Using meditative creative imagination, we hover in space looking back to planet Earth. So beautiful. Radiant with auroras at both poles, the power of storms and lightning flash across the surface of the planet in various locations, yet a serenity prevails overall. This meditation elicits awe, gratitude, and dedication to the amazing planet that we … More World Service: The view from space
An elder member of the Spirit Fire community passed on in February. In completing her incarnation, she entered into the peace that she had generated through a life given to activities of compassion. She began her spiritual life as a devout young Catholic, served as a nun for twenty years in a service oriented order, … More Generative: Living Compassion
Changing one habit for another is an ongoing human endeavor. The goal is to have the new habit be a better one, better determined by the benefits it provides. Transforming habitual patterns for in-the-moment Awareness and recognition is a process that can be powerful unto itself, however, the results are where the lasting benefits lie. … More Intermediate: Creating the habit of Awareness
We are beings that perceive through the lens of duality. Even if a person says that he or she believes in soul or higher nature, that same person will most likely live from the habits of the personality through the day. One of the benefits of meditation is that is cuts through the various ways … More Intermediate: Using duality in one’s practice