26. Meditation as a Way to Be with Jesus with Shauna Norton
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[00:00:00] Jesus Christ did a lot of the doing, but yet he was a being. He was present. He was whole in those moments with people. And so I think when we meditate, it gives us the opportunity to become like Jesus Christ. What I realized is if I can be with him in meditation and in stillness, the doing part takes care of itself Welcome back to Girl in the Lights.
I'm here with Shauna Norton, and Shauna is a beautiful mentor to me in meditation. A- at night, my son and I have been using Shauna's meditation app called Refill My Soul, and separately, I was using her husband Oak's app about scripture notes. And until I discovered that they were married, and that those two beautiful parts of my life coincided.
And so Shauna and I met, and it has just been a delightful friendship, and you will just love Shauna and all the wonderful things she has to share. So Shauna, can you introduce yourself to our listeners? Yes, I would love to. Thank you for inviting me on. Um, I think the most important thing about me is just that I love Jesus Christ.
Mm. Yeah. And I want to serve him. And I also love being a wife and a mother, and I'm a grandma to five grandkids with two on the way, so we'll, we'll have seven. And I think like a lot of your listeners probably, I've had a lot in my life of plan Bs, Cs, Ds. Like lots- Yeah, where it hasn't gone as you thought it would.
Has it... Exactly. Not according to script. Exactly. Uh, and so that's happened a lot in my life, but the amazing thing as time has gone on, I have learned that those weren't backup plans, they were the plan. And so it's been beautiful to step back and look at my life and be like, "Oh, I thought that was a detour," when that was actually the path.
It's been a great opportunity, this life for me of learning, and I've gone through, um, so many wonderful experiences. I've also gone through a divorce and a remarriage, and there's just been a lot of, uh, twists and turns, but they've all been perfectly designed for me by the Lord, and I felt that. I also, like you said, I'm an app developer, not because I wanted to be.
But because you are also a consecrated soul. Because God asked me to. Exactly. I'm like, "Okay, I'll do it." Um, I love walking. I love working in my yard. I love popcorn. Um, I'm just, just a, a normal everyday person. So how does meditation play into that journey of being able to find the purpose and the direction of the hand of God when things are not going according to plan?
Yeah. How has meditation played into that? So the reason I started meditating was because things didn't go according to plan, and I was doing all the right things I thought of prayers and scriptures and temple and serving and magnifying my calling, all these things, and I was still lacking peace. And I just thought, h- how...
What else can I do? And I had the strongest prompting, "You need to start meditating." And I was like, "Okay. I mean, I've heard of meditating," you know? So I get on and I download some apps, and I loved it. I loved it. Then I realized that there's power in meditating on truth. And, and so I thought, "Boy, I wanna meditate on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I wanna meditate on Christ's teachings, his words, on the words of apostles and [00:04:00] prophets," and, and I couldn't find any- anything like that. And then one day in my house, I heard the Lord as I was thinking about it say, "Create it." And so He knew that me developing that app was going to help me and develop me.
Uh, but as the Lord is, it also blesses other people's lives. So when we have a prompting that blesses us, most of the time there are layers of reasons why we do what He's asking us to do and many blessings. And so it- it's hopefully through the Lord's... the way He's magnified it , He's helped the app to, to bless other people as well.
So meditation has been this smoothing and grounding and calming presence in my life connecting me with the Lord when the twist and turns came so I wasn't thrown off the wagon. I love that. And I wanna slow it down a little bit because you talked about all of the things you were doing that were the right doing things, and so often we think if we're doing all the right things, then we should feel the blessings.
But sometimes we are missing that connection with stillness in our being. So how does meditation play into that? Not another thing we are doing, but a, a way it is teaching us to be present in a way that we weren't present in our lives before. Yes, that is such a great question. I think, so if we roll it back even a little bit more, Jesus Christ did a lot of the doing, but yet he was a being.
He was present. He was whole in those moments with people. And so I think when we meditate, it gives us the opportunity to become like Jesus Christ. That, for me, it is a tool to become like him. It changes you physically like him, mentally like him. You have an awareness of your thoughts, and, um, and it, it brings this inner peace that can't be shaken.
And so for me, I was Mrs. Doing, actually. I was like the more I can do, the better. I just prided myself in fitting in more than anybody could fit in in 24 hours. I was just gonna list after list. And what I realized is if I can be with him in meditation and in stillness, the doing part takes care of itself I have literally had times when he has expanded my days, expanded my energy, my abilities, my inspiration, because I chose to be with him in stillness.
And so if we feel like, "I don't have time to meditate," I would encourage everyone to lean into that a little bit because I'm not sure if there's anything more important, because meditation actually is prayer. Meditation is scripture study. Meditation is pondering. Meditation... You know, in- instead of having all these isolated things, meditation can completely encapsulate all of that worship into one beautiful moment with the Lord and the Savior.
I love that. President David O. McKay has said that meditation is the language of the soul, and I love that because we are focusing this whole year here at Grow in the Light on being whole souled. And understanding how fundamental this is to unite our body, spirit, heart, and mind means that we need to slow down and find this [00:08:00] grounded place.
You share a story about being in the car with your kids and about being able to be comfortable with stillness and silence. Will you share that with the listeners? Well, I'm, I'm like the biggest talker ever. I love to talk. And so... Not normally in front of a camera or a microphone, but, but with people. I love to visit, and my kids know that and they think it's hilarious.
And so I don't know which one of them thought it would be so funny on a family trip. They're like, "What if..." Because they could tell I was uncomfortable with silence. "What if, you know, we all hop in the car and nobody says anything? Let's just see how long mom can go with it being quiet in the car." And it...
I did not go long. I can't even tell you. I think it was like five seconds, 10 seconds tops. You know, when I get in there, no one's saying anything, and I just felt this discomfort. And this... It was just like, "Oh my gosh, what... How's everyone's day? You know, we're gonna have fun on the trip." And you know, just trying to fill that silence with something.
And when we choose to not fill the silence... So I've gotten better. I guess I'm giving everyone hope because there, there's not a person that was least still than me. Okay? So if I can do this, I promise you can do it. But really, when we create that space and that silence- It allows God to pour stuff in.
Yeah. Because we are so worried about refilling our sodas, our gas tanks, our ink cartridges, all of these things. Like, we are in a constant state of refilling things. I don't think very often we sit and think, "Oh, my goodness, I need to refill my soul." Yeah. Our soul need to be refilled. And when we go into a meditation with an intention and a purpose, and telling the Lord what we need, like what we need from him.
We need to feel his love. "I just need to feel your love today." Or we need an answer, we need revelation, we need comfort. Whatever it is, when we set that intention with him in meditation, then we go into stillness. He can refill. He can pour in everything we need. And I, I will testify that is true. He wants us to feel him.
He wants us to hear him. And so it's just a beautiful opportunity of connection, heavenly connection, when we go into meditation. I love that so much, and I just wanna shine a light on that. Just review that a little bit, 'cause those are such powerful principles. Yeah. That is that as we set intention with clarity in our spirits, in our souls of what it is we need, what we desire, what we're asking for or seeking, that that is a powerful way to open the heavens and focus our mind.
And then being able to sit or enter into that expectation of stillness, of quietness, and just to hold that space as a beautiful welcoming invitation for the Lord to pour in to our souls. Yeah. Whatever it is he needs, in his language, right? Yeah. And in- Open our souls to that Yeah. And in his perfect way.
Yeah. He knows exactly what we need, and he asks us. You even think of the temple. He says, "What is wanted?" He wants to know, what do you want? Yeah. And God gives liberally to them that ask. And so when you go- Wow ... into a meditation asking, He will give liberally, and He will pour in more than you can even imagine.
More than you've asked for. More blessings, more joy. And, um, [00:12:00] He's, He's... That's just the kind of father He is. Yes. I think of that invitation to ask, seek, knock. Mm-hmm. And, and what a beautiful pattern that is, that setting our intention is asking. And, and doing the work of preparing our minds, and our hearts, and our bodies to be in stillness, and holding open that space is the knocking.
And then trusting that, that He will respond. Yeah. That, that reminds me. I had a story of a lady, um, who had been trying to get an answer for a couple of years. Revelation. And she... And you don't need the app for this, you guys. Everybody. You can do all this on your own. But she used, um, one of my meditations.
It was a personal revelation meditation. And the mantra, the thing that I had you think over and over is, "I am seeking, I am knocking, I am asking." Along those lines. And so she listened, she meditated, and she just found herself saying that. "I'm knocking." You know? "I'm seeking. I'm asking." And she messaged me and she said, "Finally, after a couple of years, I received, like, what the Lord- Mm-hmm.
And that's all it took, was knocking through meditation and stillness, and just keeping her heart and mind tuned into Him. You know? And, and just reinforcing to the Lord, "I'm knocking, I'm seeking, I'm asking." And, and when you ask and you receive, and then you do- It's the most- It's a beautiful combination.
It is. It's just, it's miraculous what happens in your life when you ask, you know, receive, and do. Yeah. I love that. And I wanna encourage listeners, there are lots of different ways to meditate, and especially as we are beginning, how powerful it is to have the guidance of a guided meditation. And I love the balance in the meditations you do of, of being guided, like you saying something and we repeating it, but also that you're like, "Just repeat that mantra for a whole minute, and then you just sit in silence and repeat that in your head as you breathe in and out."
And just that combination of listening and repeating and also finding that beautiful dance. It's almost like a dance in the language of the soul of- Yeah ... of learning to feel that. Yeah. One- another thing that I love you include in your meditations is lots of breathwork. Mm-hmm. Tell me about the importance of breathwork in understanding our own soul, body, spirit, heart, and mind, and also in meditation.
Well, we could talk for hours and hours on- ... breathwork, but if you stop and think that the Savior is the breath of life- Mm-hmm ... if you stop and think the first thing you do when you enter this life is take a breath, the last thing you do is take a breath, the breath is important. It bridges that gap for us when we are seeking to connect.
And so be aware of how you breathe during the day even. It can be life-changing when you do deep belly breathing. Um, there's lots of... Everybody can go and research on their own as far as what they want to do, but there's breathing in through your nose, out through your nose, in through your nose, out through your mouth, breathe in and hold.
All of them produce different, um- Different responses in your nervous system ... and effects, yeah, in your body. And so I just, I, I really believe that just even starting your meditation with a few big cleansing breaths, it can just bring stress levels down. It can center you and get you to that place where you can be fully present and [00:16:00] not fettered with the things that are going on in the world.
That's beautiful. One of the things I love that, that I've learned from you that I'd love to talk about for a minute is the power of assurance- in our lives, and how learning this language of the soul better helps us understand the assurance of the Lord without our minds getting scared or getting in our stress responses to just rest our soul in the assurance of the Lord.
And I'm wondering if you can share with listeners your witness about- Assurances ... how God is a God of assurances. Yeah. So there's a scripture in 2 Timothy 3:14, and it says, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." And I have learned, especially these last couple of years, that the Lord loves to assure His children.
It's not seeking a sign. It's not... I think that's Satan coming in and saying, "Oh, you shouldn't ask for a sign." No, if you are getting a feeling or a prompting and you need the Lord to assure you that you're on the right path or to reassure you, it's such a blessing to ask for that, and it happens. So I'll give you one example in my life.
Um, right after I got remarried, I was still working full time, and I was at work, and I had the thought, "I wonder if God wants me to quit so that I can be with my husband's children, even though they're older." It was just this thought. It wasn't mine. I think it was just planted, you know? Wow. But I thought about it, and I'm like, "Hmm.
Okay. God, maybe I'll pray about it." So I was working for my brothers, and I just prayed to the Lord and said, "Look, I think maybe you're saying, like, I, I should quit. Like, is, is this... You'd have to provide somebody for my brothers." Anyway, and so basically that night I went to go get my wedding dress altered, and this lady, as she's helping me, she asks what I'm doing and my job and says that she's doing something similar.
And then out of nowhere she says, "Oh, this is kind of weird, but if you didn't want your job, I would love it." And that was a very quick assurance of the Lord, like, "Okay, you're on the right path." Like, you had this little thought, should I quit? Here's a lady. You said you needed someone to, you know, take your job, and here's this lady that just said she'd love your job.
Well, you know, I still needed assurance, 'cause after that... And so a few months later- That's a big choice. I know. I was like, "Oh, Heavenly Father, it's just so, gonna be so hard to tell my brothers that I'm quitting after a year. Are you sure this is the right thing? I need another assurance. Please, is that okay?"
Anyway, go to the temple just needing... I was planning on just that feeling because those feelings can be assurances. Mm-hmm. So I was planning on the, that feeling. Well, I'm sitting there in the chapel, 4:15 on a random Saturday, and who walks in? The lady that said she wanted my job. And talk about an assurance.
Like, okay. You know, that was... Like, okay, He has now assured me over and over again that I'm on the right path, but it's okay to ask Him and say, "Okay, I think this is what you're telling me." I've had assurances in meditation where I take something to the Lord in meditation and He assures me. So sometimes it can come in an e- external way, like the woman walking in or the woman saying that, right?
Things that happen. But sometimes it comes in the language of the soul, in these moments that we create of stillness where we can hear- Yeah ... God. Yep. Yeah. I love it. So just don't, don't [00:20:00] hesitate to seek those from the Lord, because I can promise you that He is willing, not even willing, but wants to assure us.
So... And it's almost sometimes an act of faith to go with that intention into the meditation, saying- Yeah ... "My desire is to consecrate my life and follow your will. I just really need to be sure before I move forward with that, that this is your will. Can you just help me know?" And that is an intention of faith, right?
And, and the Lord delights in us wanting to partner with Him. So that is one way that, that your mentoring has been an assurance to me as I've navigated some things, and I just think that's a beautiful part of your story, of your witness. We're gonna include in the show notes a link to a podcast that you did with your husband, Oak, on Scripture Notes.
It just tells more about some fabulous principles and about your stories and examples from your life if listeners want to learn more. We also are going to include at the end of this an example of a meditation that Shana leads you through in your app, which is called Refill My Soul. And once again, I highly recommend that.
It's a beautiful way for both adults and children to learn and to practice this act of meditation, just like we practice learning a foreign language, right? To learn this language of the soul better. One of the phrases that I've heard you use before is recognizing the divine signature in your life or in a situation.
Can you tell us more about that? Yeah. I feel like there's times, um, in my life when something has happened or there's a feeling or an event where I just feel like God is signing His name and saying, "I am here," or, "I was here." And for me, that means that I'm on the right path, you know, that I haven't been abandoned, that He's hearing me and, um, helping me, and I, I just feel like He wants us to see His hand and His little signatures everywhere.
In fact, uh, in our family, we have what's called an anchor journal, and basically what it is is just those divine signatures that are an anchor to our faith. And so in our family group chat, if somebody has seen God's hand or His signature in their lives, they'll send it out to the family, and then I print it off and put it into our anchor journal.
And it's those things that anchor us because there's times when you're like, "Ah, you know, I just, I don't, I feel like God's abandoned me." And you can go back and you have a history, and you've recorded, "No, He hasn't. Look, He's been here, and He's been here, and He's been here." That's beautiful. How can meditation help us- Um, be in a place to see or receive those moments of, of divine signature in our life You make a good point, because I think a lot of times He leaves His signature and we don't see it.
Yeah. We don't see it. We don't recognize it. So meditation basically tunes us to the frequency of heaven, and you see things differently. You s- Okay, I'm gonna slow that down and say that again. Meditation tunes us to the frequency of heaven Instead of heaven being something you're reaching for, it's with you Yeah.
It's in us. We learn to have that kind of equanimity. We learn to function in that frequency more. So, Shana, if you were to express t- to [00:24:00] listeners, what would you, what do you want your takeaway message to be for them? I think the takeaway that would be most important for me to get across is that meditation is a powerful tool for you to not only become like Jesus Christ, but to connect with Jesus Christ.
To hear him in ways you have not heard him, to feel him in ways that you have not felt him, and to see him show up in your life in ways you have not seen him show up in your life. And I just would encourage everybody to pray for the capacity, the desire, to spend a little bit more time with him in stillness and in meditation.
He will guide you through that process. It doesn't have to look perfect. It doesn't have to look like everybody else says meditation should look. It's really something that you carve out with him, and you figure it out with him, and he will teach you how to feel him through stillness, and he'll bring thoughts and impressions to your mind to, to let you know how best to, through your breath, through everything, he'll let you know what to do, and he'll provide you with the resources and the way because he is the way.
He is the truth, and he is the light. And I love him, and I'm so grateful to be able to be here and, and visit with you, Emily. It's been delightful. Mm. Amen. Thank you for sharing your witness with us, Shana. Thank you.
I loved this discussion with Shanna, especially how she said that meditation basically tunes us to the frequency of heaven, and that instead of heaven being something you're reaching for, it's with you. I'm sure you could feel the beautiful energy of Shanna's witness and the power of meditation. I encourage you to check out her app for gospel principle-themed meditations called Refill My Soul.
You can find links for it in the show notes. We're also including here a mini meditation about Jesus Christ. I hope you enjoy that and get a good feel for how Shanna mentors us in embracing meditation as a beautiful language of the soul
In the New Testament, Christ extends to you a beautiful invitation. He simply says, "Abide in me." When you abide, you stay, you remain, you reside, and you dwell there As you seek to abide in Christ, you will stay with Him, remain with Him, reside with Him, and dwell with Him When the Savior came to Gethsemane, He said to His disciples, "Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.
Tarry ye here, and watch with me." The Savior wants us to sit with Him and tarry with Him Take one deep cleansing inhale, and as you complete your exhale, notice the sacred stillness that surrounds you. In this moment of silence, [00:28:00] invite Christ to be with you as you seek to be with Him
See the Savior coming to you and sitting by you. You can feel His love and that He hath all the time in the world just for you. He is not in a rush. He is fully present with you In this sacred moment, focus on abiding in Christ. Feel yourself physically and spiritually soaking up everything that is emanating from Him as He sits next to you.
You feel His presence permeating every part of you Breathe in his love
Breathe in His forgiveness
Breathe in his peace
Breathe in His whole presence
Inhale and think, I will abide. Exhale and think, in Christ. Inhale, I will abide. Exhale, in Christ. Continue thinking this powerful mantra during the next moment of silence. I will abide in Christ
No matter where you are today or what comes your way, you can abide in Christ. You can breathe deeply and feel Him with you at any given moment. He is your safe place, your haven, your habitation, your refuge, your home. As you seek to abide in Christ, He will abide in you
