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.
Step #11, Ground of Being Meditation – Day 1 “Hello world. I’m here!” Yes, the world sees you. You are in it and of it. You are experiencing the world around you – responding to it, moving through it, and shaping it. Your thoughts arise from the data stored in your brain, yet … More Simple Enjoyment
Luminous Perception Meditation – Day 3 Energy follows thought; this is a fact. Scans of a brain that is processing thoughts of a dramatic event show that its response is the same as if the dramatic event where real; that is, if it were happening in the physical world. Perceived stress is every bit … More Universal Beingness
Step #10, Luminous Perception – Day 2 “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” — Elie Wiesel “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” — … More May Peace Prevail. May Justice Prevail.
Step #10, Luminous Perception – Day 1 Have we mentioned the soul yet? Perhaps not. The word soul derives from the Gothic saiwala and the Old German saiwalo, both meanings speak of origins; it is also connected etymologically with the greek aiolos, which means ‘quick moving,’ ‘twinkling,’ or iridescent,’ and with the latin anima, … More Soul Light
Step # 9, 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 … More Vastitude
Step #9, Mind – Day 2 Have we been experiencing the breath or observing the breath? Have we been experiencing the mind or observing the mind? Most likely, both. Experiencing and observing can be markedly different, though both collect data. As we experience, we register information with our perceptions in a subjective way. The data we receive … More The Observer Mind
Step # 9, Mind – Day 1 All teachings that surround meditation have one clear purpose, which is getting to know the mind. Why? The Buddha would say that the source of our suffering is to be discovered within the mind. If we’re feeling stressed or worried, it originated in the mind. If we … More The Mind’s Landscape
Step #8, Asana – Day 3 Proper asana is about free-flow. It’s not necessarily about uprightness… which may come to mind when we think about posture. Proper asana is about the absence of resistance, obstruction, and distortion. Proper asana allows for energy to move freely, insights to be received spontaneously, and expression to … More Truth in Form
Step #8, Asana Meditation – Day 2 Pranayama is the formal practice of controlled breathing. There are many techniques… each one is as accessible and beneficial as the breath itself . Squared breathing is one of those techniques and it has a calming effect. It engages the parasympathetic nervous system, which is often referred … More Calm Breathing with Pranayama
Step #8, Asana – Day 1 What does it take to align with joy? Engagement with your surroundings? Engagement with your emotions? Engagement with your mind, your body, your heartspace? Yes, and more. Energy follows thought; this is factual. As we marry the body, breath, and mind through gentle guidance, we can create altitude … More Aligning with Joy
Step #7, Interlude – Day 3 The richness of an interlude is apparent through meditation. Is meditating not an interlude in and of itself? As we meditate we detach from outer activity – from rushing to and fro, from responding to life’s daily demands, from planning, from reminiscing, from tasking. Meditation offers an opportunity … More Peaceful Abiding
Step #7, Interlude – Day 2 Inspiration is big part of the creative process which allows for expression. It is a process of receiving (inspiration) and releasing (expression). You guessed it… sounds like the breath! Yes, but it’s not so simple. In fact, it couldn’t be more dynamic and unique. Why? Because each breath … More Inspiration and Expression
Step #7, Interlude – Day 1 This week will will meditate on the theme of interludes. Interludes create space for noticing the usually not noticed. We leverage this every time we meditate. Learning to quiet the mind, create peace in the emotions, and bring stillness to the body requires that we simply observe them – … More Interludes
Step # 6, Heart-Mind – Day 3 “The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love.” – Marianne Williamson We are born with two fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. The rest is learned. The unlearning is a mental process, which does not exclude the heart. … More Open Heart, Open Mind
Step #6, Heart-Mind – Day 2 As time spent at a distance from one another becomes more of a long-term reality than a short term one, the potential to default to focusing on our differences and on that which separates us increases. It is the perfect time to generate some heart-focused positivity. A loving-kindness … More May You Be Well
Step #6, Heart-Mind – Day 1 In 1947, Alice A. Bailey wrote The Problems With Humanity. In many ways, it was a response to WWII in its exploration of evil expression on our earth. The current world situation has been described as “life during wartime.” Although the “enemy” is a virus and not a coalition … More Releasing Separateness
Step #5, Soften, Open, Release Meditation – Day 3 We live in a material word. We hold things. In the summertime, we hold sunglasses & beach towels. In autumn we hold caramel apples. In the wintertime, we hold snowballs. In the springtime, we hold wildflower bouquets. And then the sun goes down, our sunglasses come … More Release and Let Go
Step #5, Soften, Open, Release Meditation – Day 2 Second only to our consistent release of the breath, is our consistent release of sound in the form of words… talking, talking, and more talking. We are creative beings so our tendency to make conversation is strong. Words are thoughts clothed in speech. We use our … More Golden Silence
Step #5, Soften, Open, Release Meditation – Day 1 Paying attention to the breath inevitably leads us to the lungs, those masters of receiving and releasing. Notice that the bronchi pictured above look like branches? Tree branches? Well, your lungs have a lot in common with the other masters of receiving and releasing – trees. Have … More Loveliness and Your Lungs
Step # 4, Soften Open and Receive – Day 3 Now is the time to tap into our creative minds. Now is the time to embody our compassionate and wise hearts. The mind and body are vessels; they receive. We need only to soften and open to new ways of seeing and new ways … More Illumination
Step #4, Soften, Open, Receive – Day 2 Every meditation practice brings awareness to three powerful choices: softening, opening, and receiving. We’re innately equipped to choose these actions; after all, we soften, open, and receive each breath that enters our body. Becoming intimate with this occurrence creates powerful shifts toward being fully present in the moment. … More Softness
Step #4, Soften, Open, and Receive – Day 1 The meditative experience is found in the allowing. It is found in the softening. It is found in the opening. It is found in the receiving. When the body, mind, and spirit are receptive, we catch a glimpse of our innate interconnectedness. Connected to what? … More Receptive and Serene
Step #3, Flow – Day 3 How you ever watched a jazz musician become the music as if they were a mere channel for spontaneous audible genius from on high? Have you ever watched a gymnast tuck, twirl, flip and fly through the air in ways that seem to defy physics? When these performers are … More Flowing in the Zone
Step #3, Flow – Day 2 Today’s meditation combines the energetic architecture of the throat chakra with the hand mudra pictured above. We will flow spaciousness into the mind, clarity into the lungs, and a deep sense of inner peace into our being. Our hands, heart, mind, body, and spirit can be used in … More Holding and Being Held
Step #3, Flow – Day 1 We begin a new week and welcome a new theme: flow. Perhaps at this time, more so than any other time in our memories, we are considering the concept of flow and its impact on our lives, our psyche, and our well-being. The flow of time. The flow … More Free Flow
Step #2, Tip of the Nose Meditation – Day 3 We meet here again to meditate. Wonderful! Meeting places can be quite specific. Perhaps you have readied yourself for meditation in a specific place; perhaps this has become a designated “peace zone” for an allotted time each day which allows for quiet reflection. Whether … More Starting Over
Step #2, Tip of the Nose Meditation – Day 2 Meditation can assist in bringing forward a particular aspect of our human beingness – the observer. As we simply observe the mind and its thoughts, emotions and their sway, and the physical body and its sensations, we create space for that which is unfolding … More The Freedom to Choose
Step #2, Tip of the Nose Meditation – Day 1 As the saying goes, sometimes what you are looking for is right under your nose. Could it be the ease of a smile? Certainly that’s right under your nose. It turns out these two bodily features have a beautiful relationship, at least in meditation. Both offer … More Steady As We Go
Step #1, Smile Meditation – Day 3 This week we have been working with the basic premise of mindfulness: paying attention to what is happening right here, right now… without judgement. Why the last segment – without judgement? Well, judgment is another way of saying we create stories around what’s happening. We label what’s … More Allowing for What’s Next
Step # 1, Smile Meditation – Day 2 Smiles not only make us feel happy, but they also help reduce stress levels in the body and lead us in the direction of optimistic mental approaches to situations. Smiles have a positive effect on many areas of your life and the lives of the people … More At Ease
Step #1, Smile Meditation – Day 1 As we begin a new round of meditations today, we do so with a gentle smile; smiling upon a world in need of gentleness, in need of the warmth of a smile. We’ll be here (or in your inbox) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next … More Smiling with the Now
Join us March 17-19 at the Foundations of Living Awareness Retreat to find out more about Smile, Step 1 of The Practice of Living Awareness, and every other step that we are covering in our Entry Level practice. Each and every one of these meditative steps can be used in your everyday life, on and off of the … More Foundations of Living Awareness – a meditation retreat for everyone!
We continue with evening number five of meditations focused on the upcoming election. May the light generated from our hearts and minds serve to foster positivity, kindness, tolerance, and unity. Included below are slides from the dialogue preceding 15 minutes of silent meditation. Enjoy and let your light shine.
Live meditations will resume on Wednesday with Step 14: Living Awareness. This is the last step of The Practice. We’ll engage what already IS for the remainder of the week and continue into the following week. Awareness is every moment. Awareness is also in every moment. We can come to a fundamental understanding: that in … More Awareness is every moment.
Step 10 of The Practice of Living Awareness is Luminous Perception. Simply stated, luminous perception is enlightened awareness, or noticing the inherent lighted quality in every experience, observation, and occurrence. Luminous Perception is both a result and a fact. Result? Yes, it is the result of alignment and equipoise. These can be effectively achieved by … More Luminous Perception Is Factual
Take a weekend to learn the fundamentals of Spirit Fire’s Practice of Living Awareness Meditation. If you are a beginner to meditation, this retreat is the perfect way to build a strong foundation for a lasting meditation practice. Becoming familiar with The Practice first hand allows you to engage with our online meditations in a whole new way. … More A Meditation Retreat For Everyone!
Have you heard? The Practice of Living Awareness is on the air! Each week, hosts Tim Darter and Steve Kramer invite a guest to Spirit Fire’s brand new talk radio show who emulates a particular step of The Practice. We’ve just completed the current round of live meditations which means that we’ve had 14 unique guests whose … More Living Awareness on Spirit Fire Radio!
Human life begins with the heart and unfolds from it as a centerpiece of unity. The torus does the same; the toroidal flow of energy expresses from the center ‘zero-point’ and moves around the outside and returns again to the center. These cycles of movement create the expanded nature of the universe and all that … More The Heart: Grandest Torus of Them All
Wonder. Appreciation. Eagerness. Curiosity. Excitement. These are the words we have been drumming to this year and it seems that youth was intended to keep us in step to the beat. Our meditation practice and the retreat center saw an influx of children and teenagers. Who better to bang the drum of those fun-filled words? … More Youth Reminds Us – Reflections On 2015
Magic is in the air in New England as the towering maples release their leaves and create a delightful new landscape. We take this into meditation today as nature often reveals to us the many ways that the outside world can guide us through the landscade of our inside world. Release creates space. Ah! We … More 5b: Soften, Open, and Release
This week, we continue with the Interlude, Step 7 of the practice. And today’s meditation considers the space between breaths – as all interludes take place in that lovely space in-between. With a gentle transition from the in-breath to the out-breath, the whole body relaxes. Extra attention to the quality of that transition can bring insight into … More Peace Between Breaths
Forgiveness is simply softening to the moment, opening to a new experience, and receiving the all that life has to offer. The body and the breath offer us the experience with every breath. Out the window, here in New England, nature offers us remarkable examples as well… the snow and ice are softening to the … More softening to forgiveness
