by Noah Long

We got more Noah Long for you this week as he presents his preparation techniques, which include meditating with rocks!

I got to say preparing for Worlds was really one sided. On a technical level, I didn’t really do much testing and my deck choices were basically given to me from teammates a couple weeks before. Then how did I do so well? I meditated to focus my internal energies to serve me in specific purposes. Mine being playing cards with the highest potential of focus.

Since the summer I’ve been dabbling in becoming more and more mentally enlightened through the art of meditation using some awesome YouTube videos and Chakra activation CDs. What I mean by this is literally lying down and listening to guided Gong meditations or simply listening to enlightened teachers on YouTube which put into perspective what we as human beings actually are. I’m not going to get into all of that crazy stuff but if you’re interested feel free to listen to Abraham Hicks who is my favourite teacher at the moment. If you just want to be with your thoughts while meditating and not be guided, I recommend just listening to the Pineal Gland frequencies which can be found on YouTube. These vibrational frequencies allow for you to focus on what you’re manifesting about for longer periods of time and actually can send you into a deeper state of consciousness which include out of body experiences.

As far as my mental preparation for worlds are concerned, all I did was meditate over and over thinking about what I wanted the end result of my experience to be. Each meditation was about 30-60 minutes and all were focused on one specific topic, me holding that $45,000 check. Other meditative tools included me going out and purchasing a bunch of different rocks or stones which all vibrate and affect the human condition differently. Just holding different rocks and knowing their different uses can mentally and physically empower oneself to the point they can accomplish anything just by putting their mind to it. A lot of ancient cultures used rocks to focus one's thoughts and energies to eventually become one with themselves and with the universe.

I know this is all pretty deep shit and can sound pretty out there but until you give it a try, you can't really know what power you are holding in your body…

When I used these rocks during my Worlds prepping meditations, I would place one on my forehead which helps stimulate my 3rd eye. The 3rd eye is the 6th Chakra which is in charge of insight, intuition, mental focus and physic potentials. The more the 3rd eye is stimulated and opened, the more your abilities to see heightened future details which are very important when playing a strategy game. The more you know what your opponent doesn’t, the greater the advantage you have.

These rocks also work when you’re not meditating. I carry different rocks with me at different points of the week depending on what I want to manifest about.

When I’m in a competitive mood I carry my Black Obsidian around. It is a stone of honesty, sincerity and truth which helps to bring out the Warrior spirit in you. It's also shaped like a spear head which also helps paint that picture nicely in my mind. This stone really helps to keep me grounded so I don't lose my cool due to negativity.

When I meditate before an event I put Sodalite on my forehead which is where the 3rd eye is located. Sodalite helps access the subconscious and intuitive abilities, enhanced insight and mental performance with deepened intuition. Basically one of the best stones for your 3rd eye Chakra.

Now that you're getting the picture of what this is all about, let's take a look at my mental ups and downs from Worlds and how I used both sides to my advantage. Let's go day by day and break down the rounds where my emotions shifted the most.

Day 1 Standard:

At the start of this event my vibrations were though the roof! I had meditated and manifested about this moment everyday for about 2 months and nothing was going to bring me down.

In the 4th round when I earned my 4th win and I was in game 3 against Valakut I had some pretty crazy psychic powers . From turn 3-8 I called every single card off the top of my deck, including the type of land it was, and then called my 11th turn card which was the only card I could draw to hold off his last threat. I felt on top of the world!

Round 6 was where I made my first lapse in judgement and lost my vibration level a bit. After that misplay I unconsciously started to dwell on the past experience instead of just staying in the moment and accept the fact that I made the mistake due to lack of focus and then just learn my lesson. I caught myself and actually started laughing at myself… Queue the theme song for creepiness, but I seriously did. Being able to turn something “bad” into something “great” is always a great tool to have up your sleeve, especially in a scenario like this one. Remember, “bad” things are only “bad” once you attach an opinion on an occurrence. Once you can detach opinion from experience, you can eliminate the need for things to be “bad” at all. This leads to long and fulfilling lives with very little negativity.

Before the day was up I ended it by meditating. I put my Sodalite on my forehead and started feeling it pulse on me. While the pulses were gradually increasing in force I manifested for about 30 minutes on what card I wanted to open in the first draft then eventually passed out. Sleep after meditating is the best sleep ever by the way!

Day 2 Draft:

Well, I didn't open Skithirix, which I wanted, but I was close enough with opening Carnifex Demon. I 3-0ed that pod, no negative emotions there. I ended up 2-1ing the next pod but the round I lost didn't have any negative thoughts involved. I learned from my day 1 experience and just excepted that I lost and moved on to win the 12th round. I was proud of myself which only heightened my level of positivity going into the last day of swiss.

Day 3 Extended:

The only part of the day I felt down on myself was after losing to Bertil Elfgren in round 16. I made a questionable play which ended up costing me my 5th loss eliminating me from the top 8. I started saying “I'm playing like shit” and “WTF are you doing?” ya I lost myself for a second… Thankfully my Canadian teammates were all there to help me out of my funk which I was very grateful for. Thanks guys!

If you ever find yourself in that kind of breakdown, all you have to do is first recognize you're in a breakdown and force yourself to do one simple little thing: remember 10 things you are sincerely grateful for in your life and how those things make you feel. Once you are done with that list I promise your vibrations will be much higher than they were and you will be able to carry on with what you were doing…

Overall I was very happy with Worlds but probably would have had an easier time if I put the effort into testing. At the end of the day though, I am again very grateful for all the learning experiences I encountered and can't wait for Paris in 2011. Without experience in general we cannot learn and grow as individuals which is why we should all be grateful for every experience on a day to day basis.