What do you like to do when you wake up in the morning? Do you have a regular practice of any kind, apart from the coffee ceremony, that is?
The way you start your day is reflected throughout the rest of your day, that is why I like to make meditation my first priority in the mornings. Through this practice, my thoughts are filtered, and my reactions observed. It is comparable to clearing, and sorting the file cabinet before deciding which files to take action on. This leaves my mind clear for the day, without any thoughts nagging or demanding my time and energy. Once I’ve taken the time to observe my cravings and reactions, I also no-longer need to run after everything which draws my attention during the day. Meditation is like a huge energy saver, using the precious resources of time and energy so sufficiently.
Yet, sitting still and watching your breathing, is simply not everyone’s cup of tea. Writing a journal is another practice that can help you focus and start the day off on the right foot. Be sure to always end the writing on a positive note, especially if you have been venting about all that bothers you, as once again, what you do in the morning set the tone for the rest of your day.
Writing in rhyme is even more fun, as you blend the use of both left and right brain function into a piece of art. Allowing poetry to flow out of you, bridges the wakening of the conscious mind to join the mysteries of the subconscious, which is in top form as you are waking up. I can hardly think of a more joyous way to wake yourself up in the morning.
Having an inspirational book by my bedside is an absolute must for me. Face it, some mornings we need a little help from sources outside of ourselves and a well written high energy book is sure to wake you up to a high vibration, setting you up for a stellar day. A few of my favorites are: “The Artist’s Way,” “The Tao Te Ching,” and B.K.S Iyengar’s “Light on Life.”
There are some mornings where starting the day with physical activities such as light stretching, or a long gently walk out in nature, is the best medicine for a morning achy body, an active mind, and a receptive soul. The gentle movements of the body soothes me into a easy waking that allows me to feel the freshness and potential of a new day, reserving mental activity to the observation of the coolness on my skin and the freedom to move.
Happy awakenings!
 
 

 
Forgive and forget, they say, although some of us have been blessed with very sharp memory skills, and as much as we try, these two actions just don’t come that naturally for us. Every detail of an event creates an imprint in these highly genius systems we call ourselves. Emotionally bland incidences seem to roll off easily, yet the highly emotionally charged memories are here to stay, and no matter how many times we chant the mantra, “I forgive that, I forgive this, I forgive him, I forgive her, I forgive them …;” haunting memories can be triggered in a flash, and attached to those memories are involuntary feelings of anger, panic, fear, hatred and perhaps rage.
While sitting in silence in the ashram, my hart was filled with so much love, compassion, and forgiveness. I forgave everybody, I forgave myself, I forgave and accepted. It was unimaginable that out in the world, the same memories, people and events, behind all that forgiveness could cause emotional reactions of anger and seeking revenge.
The unconscious need for understanding the root of these reactions became visible once I have again removed myself physically from the aggravating situation. With this physical distance, moving into the self becomes much more manageable. Self-work is such a courageous  thing to do, and I don’t find that a constantly triggering environment is very supportive of it. it is very hard to do deep work while contantly being triggered.
In doing this work my beliefs about spirituality got challenged. My understanding of the ultimate truth of oneness did no longer provide me with the life skills to prevent anger, blame and revenge. It is identifying with the truth of being human, with individual emotions, individual motives, and an individual path that facilitated the necessary healing. It is acknowledging myself as a small child with emotional needs, that unlocked the memories of long ago where the wounds were created.
Identifying with the dualistic nature of being human, becoming self-centered and self-important allowed the value of myself as human being to come forward, and the need to forgive no longer existed.
 

Courage is a path of self-love. Self-love is a term, less easily understood.
Understanding love itself can be abstract, as it exists within, without, and all around us, independently. Love is. Love can be felt, directed, and shared.
The way to experience love is to relax into it. Relaxing into love may be initiated through another who fell into this place through one way or another. Relaxing into love may be inspired through seeing beauty, or simply by closing one’s eyes in receptivity of it. There is no judgement in love, love is unconditional, and without boundary.
The link between love and self love is courage. The self identifies with that which divides, compares and distinguishes. The self uses judgement to achieve discernment, assisting in a process of growth.
It takes courage to see one’s mistakes and apply love to it. It takes courage to perceive separation and bring love to it. It takes courage to feel rejection, and bring love to that feeling. Most often, once love is directed, those negative feelings disappear into a lovely sense of acceptance. Acceptance is a feeling so deep and wise, and truly fulfilling to a soul’s desire to grow.
Yet, often times, even most of the time, when unpleasant feelings such as rejection, doubt and fear surface, we subscribe to some doomsday fantasy, driven by a false belief that we are not good enough. We react by accepting unpleasant feelings as a conclusive judgement, and then punish ourselves by repetition: “Maybe he/she doesn’t love me anymore,” “Maybe this situation isn’t right anymore, have I wasted my time?,” “Maybe I’m not living my truth anymore,” “Maybe I was wrong all along…..”
What is eve worse is that our beautiful minds are highly suggestive, and does not consider “maybe” significant in a sentence. It simply accepts the statement it follows, as true. Can you see how this can turn into a problem? Can you see how self-doubt has potential to become self-abuse? Can you see how it is imperative to apply courage and make self-love a priority?
Allowing oneself to become aware of the love that permeates our cells at times like these takes courage, yet a single moment of such courage leads to the understanding of life itself. Understanding life as an ebb and flow of motion, change, and growth that exists independently of our awareness to it, is both humbling and freeing, and so empowering to now that we are part of this. May we all have courage, from moment to moment, and slip into love.

Have you ever wondered why you behave in fear-based ways, even knowing that it will bring only more fear and disaster. For example: Your boyfriend goes on a trip, a certain female individual who you’d rather not have in the picture, miraculously is in the same city. These are facts, yet based on the facts you have mental pictures of events in the past, and possible events in the future. Based on these mental pictures, your heart starts racing, you become anxious, you develop a knot in the stomach, and the only good that comes out of it is that you lost a few pounds of weight, being too worried to eat.
You have been asking for this time alone for so long, and now that you finally have it, it all goes into feeling horrible over a potential future event, or hurts of the past.
You have learnt that you should not react to negative stimuli, you have tried to train yourself to be complete in yourself- no matter what, you have read books, meditated; and you understand the concept that no-one can hurt you, you are your own master.
Yet, your stomach is still tied in a knot. After all this work you have done on yourself, you had hoped to attract better circumstances for yourself.
Here is the thing. We don’t choose our experiences. We don’t even choose how we react to our experiences. It is automatic. We have been programmed, conditioned since birth, and even before birth, to behave in certain ways upon certain stimuli. In that sense we are all experiments and in this present moment, you have the opportunity to witness yourself as an experiment.
Therefor, based on the example above, can I choose to not feel my stomach tightening in a knot? Can I choose to not have my heart race uncontrollably? WellI can try, but ordinary human beings’ autonomic response do not respond to anything else but the direct signals it receives from the brain.
Therefor no, you cannot change your physical reaction, however you can create different brain stimuli which will result in more agreeable physical sensations. This is the opportunity you have to get really intimate with yourself. This is where you have the opportunity to realize how negative fearful thoughts are hurting, and this is where you have opportunity to share the experiment of life with yourself.
So, choose your thoughts to serve yourself. Choose your thoughts in moments of fear-based reaction, to acknowledge the positive. You are not your thoughts. You are not your thoughts. I repeat, you are not your thoughts, therefor, you can choose our thoughts any moment, so why not experiment with thoughts that put your bodily sensations into an agreeable place?
Be part of your own experiment. Yes it takes a little courage. Yes it takes a little playfulness. Yes, it takes a little self-righteousness. As long as your experiment includes thoughts that is not harmful to yourself or others, do it!

Touch in the early stages of life may seem like a normal nurturing experience to some, but its effects could actually be much more than a simple nurturing experience, according to research that examines the influence of touch, and the effects of touch deprivation during infancy. The basic needs for human survival as described by Deane Juhan in his book “Job’s Body” are: “oxygen, liquid, food, rest, activity, bowel and bladder elimination, escape from danger, and avoidance of pain” (47). However, research reports that without tactile stimulation during infancy, chances of survival are slim, and those who may survive are highly likely to suffer negative physical emotional and behavioral consequences, suggesting that touch during infancy is a basic need for survival. Therefore, although touch is not considered a basic need for human survival, because of the physiological, psychological and behavioral complications touch deprivation, especially during infancy, can cause, it should be considered necessary for human growth and development.
Touch deprivation is discovered to be the cause of many cases of mortality. Around 1915 an observation was made that about 99% of infants in orphanages die within a year of admission, even with sufficient medical and dietary care (Juhan 43). These deaths were known to be the result of a disease called “mesmarus,” Greek for “wasting away” (Juhan 44). As one would hope, investigation into the cause of these deaths was being spurred in Europe and America, but similar cases where reported elsewhere. Rene Spitz documented what happened to 97 children in a South American orphanage when lack of funds reduced the amount of staff to care for children between the ages of three months and three years. Nurses where available only to change diapers, feed, and bathe the children. After a few months the children started showing signs of abnormality, resembling malnutrition, and after five months of this minimal tactile care, Spitz mentions that “Often, when a doctor or nurse would pick up an infant, it would scream in terror” (Sell). It is stated that the majority of children died from lack of touch and nurture, while the 21 who survived, suffered serious psychological damage. (Sell). At other orphanages it was reported that when extra staff were available to hold and care for the babies, mortality rates plunged, and so did “stunted growth” and “mental retardation” (Juhan 44). The “nutrient” that was left out of their reach was touch. Touch deprivation is described by the medical-dictionary online as:
Lack of tactile stimulation, especially in early infancy. If continued for a sufficient length of time, it may lead to serious developmental and emotional disturbances, such as stunted growth, personality disorders, and social regression. In severe cases a child who is deprived of adequate physical handling and emotional stimulation may not survive infancy.
Although touch is not considered to be as important as food and medicine, one can assume that lack of touch during infancy can cause death or growth retardation.
Many studies have been done on animals to gain insight into human nature and the relationship between touch and behavior. One of the most significant studies performed in relation to touch, was in the 1950’s by Harry Harlow, head of the Primate Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin. Harlow’s study was done on monkeys who were given two surrogate mothers, one made out of wire, and one made out of cloth. His studies show that in a stressful environment the monkey chose the comfort of the cloth mother, even above food, where the wire mother did not seem to provide even the slightest bit of comfort (Juhan 51). Without the cloth mother, the monkeys behaved frantically, “screaming their distress,” much like the behavior noted by Rene Spitz in the orphanage (Juhan 51). Touch deprived monkeys rock themselves and hit their heads to the ground; these movements are typical in the behavior of institutionalized and neglected children, and in autistic behaviorism, with autism being an illness growing in numbers in the United States (Juhan 51). Another part of Harlow’s study shows that when two monkeys who have been deprived of touch are put together to form a relationship, they attack each other and physically harm each other. Tests were done on monkeys; because there is such a close relationship between their behavior and that of humans, which raises questions about the cause of domestic violence. Facts about domestic violence in the USA, as stated by the office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, are shocking:
In 1992, the American Medical Association reported that as many as 1 in 3 women will be assaulted by a domestic partner in her lifetime — 4 million in any given year. Nearly three out of four (74%) of Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence. There are 16,800 homicides and $2.2 million (medically treated) injuries due to intimate partner violence annually, which costs $37 billion. (“Fast facts on domestic violence”).
When looking at the close resemblances between the behavior of monkeys and humans, and the statistics of domestic violence, the theory about touch deprivation as a cause of violence seems relevant, especially in societies where touch is associated with contamination, inappropriateness, and violation of privacy.
Further associations have been made between tactile deprivation and violence in humans. Dr. James Prescott, a neurophysiologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development states the following: “I believe that the deprivation of body touch, contact, and movement are the basic causes of a number of emotional disturbances which include depressive and autistic behaviors, hyperactivity, sexual aberrations, drug abuse, violence and aggression” (qtd. In Juhan 54). Prescott finds that cultures that exhibited minimal physical affection toward their young children had significantly higher rates of adult violence, and vice versa, those cultures that showed significant amounts of physical affection toward their young children had virtually no adult violence. His studies may be understood in light of observations done on two tribes of New Guinea. Members of the Arapesh tribe carry infants on a sling around their bodies all day long, nursing may continue up to three or four years, and every adult assumes this position of affection towards the children. The result is “easy, receptive and unaggressive adult personalities” (Juhan 55). The Mundugamor tribe is said to leave their babies in baskets and nurse with anger and hostility. They are known to be aggressive and hostile adults who live in distrust, and are cannibals (Juhan 55). The people of the United States have their own behavioral concerns, domestic violence being only one. Prescott reports of studies on child abuse, and mentions that “parents who batter their children have a history of touch deprivation” (CTV Toronto). He further implies that the design of the American prison system is making the [violence and crime] “problems” worse, because of the “isolation and deprivation which contributed to the problem in the first place” (CTY Toronto). Touch deprivation does not only lead to domestic violence, causing dysfunctional families, but on a bigger scale creates a dysfunctional society.
The importance of touch, especially during infancy, can be seen in terms of what actually gets communicated with touch. An interesting evaluation was done by Dacher Keltner, Ph.D. a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, examining the perception of human emotion through mere touch. Two strangers made contact through a barrier allowing only their arms to go through. One of the two had a list of emotions to convey through a one second contact to the stranger’s forearm, and the other was to guess the emotion. It was observed, that not even anger or disappointment was perceived as accurately as compassion. He states that compassion was guessed correctly 60% of the time, through no other means of communication but touch. Keltner marks this as significant, considering there is about an 8% chance for each emotion to be experienced. What is noteworthy about the organ of touch, the skin, is the vast amount of information it receives as the largest sensory organ of the body. To touch and feel does not only perceive physical sensations such as hot or cold, but also emotional sensations such as love and nurture. According to Deane Juhan, the skin can be perceived as the surface of the brain, since it acts as an interface between the body and the world, and thus, between our thought processes and our physical existence. It is through touch that most of an infant’s existence in this world is perceived and it is through this skin-to-skin contact, that babies convey subtle needs. (Goleman 4). Through this communication, the baby creates a sense of belonging and security and purpose, which can result in positive self esteem and body image, the opposite of “withdrawal, low self-esteem, nightmares, self-blame and aggression” seen in witnesses of violence (“Fast facts on domestic violence”). Compassionate touch during the early stages of life, especially when other sensory perceptions such as sight, hearing, taste, and smell are less developed, is a wholesome base of experience to start the life process with, and facilitates the communication of care and emotion that assists healthy development.
During the first years of life there are many obstacles to survival, that adequate care can overcome, but even with good care the occurrence of SIDS is a reality most mothers and caregivers are aware of. Yet it appears that regular touch and physical interaction could be preventative to SIDS. SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a complete post-mortem investigation (Sears). Dr. Sears advises regular touch, or “attachment parenting” as one of the seven ways to prevent SIDS. Mothers who follow this method have reported the following: “I can read him,” “I’ve developed a sixth sense about my baby,” and “I’m so aware of her changing needs” (Sears). When African mothers where interviewed on why they wear their babies on slings on their own bodies, some of the response was that the babies grow better, are happier, cry less, and it makes it easier for the mothers. It is noted also that these mothers spoke from pure observation, and did not attend any parenting class or read any books to influence their answers. The constant tactile contact between the mother and baby seem to create a type of harmonious intelligence in the relationship between them, in which they are intuitive to each other’s affection, which is likely to have a positive influence on their adult relationships. The reason for these desirable effects are said to be because of the vestibular system which gets regulated by “babywearing.” The vestibular system is a system of fluid in the inner ear, which regulates the sense of balance during movement, such as when a baby is rocked or carried, and researchers believe that vestibular stimulation has a regulating effect on an infant’s overall physiology and motor development. Faster growths in the babies, a healthier level of oxygen in their blood, and more stable heart rates have been reported as result of vestibular stimulation (Sears). By being more in touch with one’s baby, literally and figuratively speaking, a mother can be more receptive to its needs, and thereby diminish chances of SIDS, and lead to a more harmonious relationship between mother and baby as well.
While touch deprivation can cause undesirable results, plentiful comforting touch can have many advantages to the development of an infant. Physically speaking, changes in growth rate, metabolism, memory, and motor development are a few benefits noted. Emotionally,children develop to have a positive self esteem, and on a social level, Dr. James Prescott sums up the implication for tactile stimulation by saying “presence of physical pleasure categorically inhibits violence” (Goleman 3). A study with premature infants indicates that there may even be economical benefits to tactile stimulation. Premature infants, who were massaged fifteen times a day, showed 47% faster weight gain compared to those babies not being massaged, even though they had the same amount of food (Goleman 1). The babies who were massaged, where discharged from the hospital on average six days earlier than those who were not massaged, resulting in $3,000 reduced hospital cost per baby (Goleman 1). Why figures like this are not a challenge to the policies of minimal touch in hospital services and nurseries, may be because of the lack of awareness about the benefits of early tactile stimulation. Much of the information goes lost in scientific journals, according to Dr. Sears, and is not presented in a practical way to caregivers. As Dr. Field reports : ”The standard policy in caring for premature infants has been a minimal-touch rule” (Goleman 2). The clear benefits of touch, observed by so called “uneducated” cultures, have been overlooked for so long by the scientific approach we are familiar with in the west, that it seems unlikely a change in procedure will be made. However, the research overwhelmingly supports the use of touch as a necessity for one’s growth and development.
The results of research regarding touch, point in the direction of compassionate touch as a great contributing factor to a wholesome life experience, showing benefits to the body and mind. Nevertheless, baby seats, toys and products, distancing mothers from their babies are made in abundance and sold, as a typical advertisement would accentuate “for your comfort.” Who would be the first to challenge the minimal-touch policy in hospitals and to whose advantage is the no- touch policy in schools? In fact, education about the appropriate use of touch and the benefits of compassionate touch may be a much healthier alternative to no touch at all. The complexity of the effects of touch, should be understood and can indeed be used to build societies of healthy children and adults, instead of the action of touch, being feared and misused. Maybe Prescott’s suggestions to involve compassionate touch to the prison system, instead of touch deprivation, may have real benefits to the healthy integration of inmates into the society. Considering the negative effects of touch deprivation, and the beneficial results of regular healthy touch, touch should be considered necessary for human growth and development.

“Do you believe in star people,” she asked. “what is there to believe in? he replied. Oh don’t you have any imagination?” she sighed in disbelief. “The people that come from stars of course.” Again he asked: “So what is there to believe? Almost desperately she wants him to believe. “And what if I do,” he answers, “will that change anything in my human experience?” Yes, she says, well now that you believe, you know that there is somewhere out there we can channel information from and call home…… “Sure,” he replies, “Many of us come from stars, that is no mystery, but why would that acknowledgment change anything about my current life?”
The thing is, whether you believe in star people or not, why would it make any difference to your human experience. Indeed some of us may have been stars before we incarnated as human beings, like many of us have been stone, and animals. What is the structure of a star – a ball of fire, right? Why would the experience of being a star outweigh the experience of being human?
The experience of being a star is different from being human in the sense, that you no longer operate from an individual point of view. You belong to a whole family of constellation, all as one. You have no gravity to hold you onto earth, which means you can travel between dimensions.
As human beings we no longer remember this connection of oneness we had in the lifetime of being a star. We don’t remember this collective sense, rather our drive has created a very acute sense of individualism. We become lonely and isolated. Yet, we are born as human beings to fulfill a purpose.
The isolation of the human experience yearns for the experience we had as star, that of operating as a family – a constellation. If this is your yearning, identify the very core of your yearning, rather than over-identifying with your history as a star. Acknowledge the amazing gifts of being human, rather than indulging in reminiscence over previous lifetimes. People even base businesses and philosophies on the basis that once upon a time, in a previous incarnation, they were stars. Being on earth, being a human being is an honor and task. Taking responsibility for your human actions and reactions is your first priority.
Use your remembrance of the oneness to guide you in knowing we are all essentially one, yet, we have the honor and task to self-improve our human state. No denial in the name of being a star person will improve the resonant healing we are here to facilitate.
No so called “star person” can read you your fortune, or has special powers to apply to you. Accepting responsibility for your heritage as life in star form, brings with it the remembrance that we are one. With enough regression work, you may yourself have the experience of being back in star form, as I myself, and many, many others had. Start by taking steps to empower yourself, knowing that you are here, as human being. Your task is to raise vibration, not by the magical power of some star being, but by acknowledging your own human condition, and working through its challenges. The beauty is that every human challenge can be overcome with the help of your spirit, which is the same spirit of the oneness, you once experienced as a star.

So you find yourself in a position of emotional defeat. Your partner has left you, you’ve loss a dear one, or perhaps even worse. You cannot seem to come out of the thoughts, the memories, the injustice of life, and the pain! “Why, why, why” keeps mulling on in your head, and you can’t get out of it.
Remember, your loss is never just yours. Your pain is never only yours. You may be feeling like you’re the only one going through this intensity of misery, or even worse, seeing someone else’s misery just increases the load for you. Stop. If this is where you are going, it is time to look outside. Other people too have invested, others too have experienced loss through the very same event you have. What makes you think you are the special one to carry the whole load?
Through acknowledging the pain and suffering of others, automatically your own pain is put on hold. In that moment of release and realization, you are no-longer stuck in the mind. This is a jewel. Use it to notice that life is about more than the repetitive thought pattern you have been on loop with.
Seeking relief through the company of another can be effective because others too have experienced suffering, and through their own experiences are empowered to assist in the relief of yours.
Yet, taking responsibility for yourself is the only way to feel better. When your whole inner world seems to fall apart, this is no easy task, but you must muster the courage to take the first step, even for a moment. Even though courageous, this does not have to be a big step. Simply pray for the inspiration to want to let go of the perpetual story, and feel better – even for a second. Sooner or later a spark of inspiration will hit you.
If too much time have gone by and still no inspiration, you have probably missed it, try again. Once you feel even the slightest inspiration that you yourself want to let go and feel better, even for a second, act on it by setting the intention to let go. Sooner or later, you will realize a moment where you weren’t thinking about your story, in fact you were feeling good, “normal” even just for a moment. Good, now you have the confidence to know that within you the possibility to experience a different reality exists! This is enormous!
Now, when you show up for a massage, a therapy session, a music concert, a nice meal, ect. you no longer expect the other to make you feel better. You have the power to use the therapeutic benefits of the occasion to feel better, more and more and more. You have the self-responsibility to let go, and enjoy the delicacy of flavor, the touch on your skin, the vibrato of the note, the compassion of your companion. You are empowering yourself, you are healing, and you are stepping away form the experience as a wiser, more compassionate, emotionally resilient, more integrated, and more beautiful version of yourself. Congratulations on the upgrade!
All my love <3

I often get asked where I get my unique touch from, while doing bodywork. Am I praying while I work? Do I do Reiki? Is it some technique I learnt? The answer is really, really simple. I am simply being present. Being present in any kind of interaction, bring an element of magic to the interchange. Presence is the most valuable skill you can contribute to the healing, and happiness of another, and yourself. It is the most valuable skill you can bring to any interaction.
Presence has to be cultivated, practiced and be made part of a lifestyle. You cannot maintain presence through the blessing of a spiritual teacher. You cannot maintain presence through some breakthrough of the past. No plant, no teaching, no promise, or no journey has the power to keep you present in the now. You cannot maintain presence from reading books, or any other form of intellectual information. Attending satsang, this workshop, or that workshop will not qualify you as being present. Being present is a practice. In order to be present during your daily activities, you have to sit still in the morning, observe, and become present through sensitivity. You have to extend you presence, and train your mind to become present periodically during the the day.
It is said that the mind needs to be reprogrammed every twelve hours. So, therefor you can also do presence practice before going to sleep, in order maintain a level of presence in your life and even some level of presence during your resting time at night. When you become present, you discover life. What a gift.

Yes, it is necessary to warm up for meditation.
The body and mind is one unit, they influence each other, they react upon each other, and they govern each other. During meditation, it is desirable to bring the function of the mind and body closer together. This feels something like slowing down the mind and waking up the body.
When the connective tissue, is warmed up through stretching; when there is blood flow, and when breathing is unobstructed, you will find it is much easier to let the mind settle into the sensations of the body. When you cannot feel your own body, the only place for your mind is to be in the mind. Essentially the practice of meditation makes use of the mind, to observe the mind, yet, it is impossible if you’re mind is stuck with everyday thoughts and fantasies.
Think about being in a box, and trying to describe what the box is like on the outside…it is impossible, unless you get a view from the outside. The same way , you need to engage your mind in something outside of it, in order to get glimpses of it’s functioning. It is essential to focus your attention on something else, in order to observe the deeper parts of the mind. When you are able to to so, you gain the benefits of confidence and peace.
Of course there are much deeper aspects to meditation – moving beyond the mind, but that is for another time. So what has the body got to do with it? Why not just focus on a candle, or single thought. Sure, that is another technique to focus the mind. Once the mind is focused, only the can you enter meditation.
A focused mind can bring amazing results to your life. A focused mind is the groundwork for meditation. Yet, focusing on your own body is closest you can get to understanding life through the working of your own mind. Even if your object of meditation was outside of your body/mind, when the body has been through some physical motion like stretching and other warm up exercises, your focus automatically becomes easier.
Being able to feel your body, and be aware of the changes in your body and breath during mediation is the pathway to generating compassion and love. It is because you become aware of the subtle changes in you own body, that you are able to truly accept, and let go. Being able to feel your body is essential in any meditation practice. At the very least you should be able to feel yourself breathing. Your breath is connected to your body, and you will find that your breathing rhythm and depth responds 100% to your thoughts.
This is much easier to notice, when your body functions are already warmed-up.