Sat for 20 minutes. After a couple good hugs and "Take a break," the dog sat with me, which means he lay next to me, his paw just touching my leg. I was skeptical, but he lay still the whole time. A meditating dog? Who knew? OK, he really was snoozing.
Focused on slow breathing initially and came away supremely relaxed. Question: Is that okay to do? It is easier to me to focus inward if I can at least start out doing the breathing, instead of just watching it. I'm assuming the goal should be watching, not manipulating.
Often people start off doing something -- counting, for example -- to settle in. Can't see any problem with it. We *do* all kinds of things in order to launch our meditation -- sit down on a cushion, straighten our backs, shut the door, hug the dog -- I don't think deliberate breathing is really different from any of those.
One of the tong-len aphorisms admonishes us to "rely on the principal witness" i.e. ourselves, in our practice. If there's something not-right about starting that way, I think it will rapidly become apparent.
I'm not sure what you mean by "supremely relaxed" -- it might or might not be a desirable state. If you're vividly aware at the same time, it probably is. It's possible to be relaxed and sluggish -- kind of fuzzy and only half-conscious -- and that's something that (in my tradition) is thought of as something to watch out for.
Can't help you there. I learned from Tibetan Kagyu folks and have stayed with them.
In general, if you have a teacher or a group to sit with, I'd follow the teacher's instructions or do whatever the group was doing; otherwise, I'd just do whatever seems to work best.
I think having a teacher you trust would be way, way more important than sticking with any particular technique or tradition.
(Unless of course you find yourself changing every week, which would probably just mean that you were bored :-)
I see your point about "supremely relaxed." In this case, I felt very rested, very aware, very physically relaxed, colors seemed a little brighter... as if I'd just woken up from a good sleep, but not drowsy. Just very relaxed. It felt very good, like I wish I felt more often.
Moose, its interesting you write of an extremely relaxed state.
This morning, for some as reason, coming to my seat, I found my physical state extremely 'light' to begin -- for me not typical--it usually takes a while to settle in. And this translated mentally, to a what sounds like a similar relaxed state--aware, focused and yet at ease. I ended up having what for me was a long meditation that was also relatively effortless. I don't know how to describe it...clean?
I am a little confused about this. On very rare occasion, I've experienced a similar place before, but not without some intention and effort (though saying that now seems contrary to logic.) And with the struggles I have encountered recently it was so wildly unexpected.
John, I am probably not the one to respond to your question as I think my practice would probably be considered unorthodox by any one tradition.
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Is it really already day 42?
Sat for 20 minutes. After a couple good hugs and "Take a break," the dog sat with me, which means he lay next to me, his paw just touching my leg. I was skeptical, but he lay still the whole time. A meditating dog? Who knew? OK, he really was snoozing.
Focused on slow breathing initially and came away supremely relaxed. Question: Is that okay to do? It is easier to me to focus inward if I can at least start out doing the breathing, instead of just watching it. I'm assuming the goal should be watching, not manipulating.
Often people start off doing something -- counting, for example -- to settle in. Can't see any problem with it. We *do* all kinds of things in order to launch our meditation -- sit down on a cushion, straighten our backs, shut the door, hug the dog -- I don't think deliberate breathing is really different from any of those.
One of the tong-len aphorisms admonishes us to "rely on the principal witness" i.e. ourselves, in our practice. If there's something not-right about starting that way, I think it will rapidly become apparent.
I'm not sure what you mean by "supremely relaxed" -- it might or might not be a desirable state. If you're vividly aware at the same time, it probably is. It's possible to be relaxed and sluggish -- kind of fuzzy and only half-conscious -- and that's something that (in my tradition) is thought of as something to watch out for.
Can't help you there. I learned from Tibetan Kagyu folks and have stayed with them.
In general, if you have a teacher or a group to sit with, I'd follow the teacher's instructions or do whatever the group was doing; otherwise, I'd just do whatever seems to work best.
I think having a teacher you trust would be way, way more important than sticking with any particular technique or tradition.
(Unless of course you find yourself changing every week, which would probably just mean that you were bored :-)
I see your point about "supremely relaxed." In this case, I felt very rested, very aware, very physically relaxed, colors seemed a little brighter... as if I'd just woken up from a good sleep, but not drowsy. Just very relaxed. It felt very good, like I wish I felt more often.
Oh, that sounds like a very desirable state!
Moose, its interesting you write of an extremely relaxed state.
This morning, for some as reason, coming to my seat, I found my physical state extremely 'light' to begin -- for me not typical--it usually takes a while to settle in. And this translated mentally, to a what sounds like a similar relaxed state--aware, focused and yet at ease. I ended up having what for me was a long meditation that was also relatively effortless. I don't know how to describe it...clean?
I am a little confused about this. On very rare occasion, I've experienced a similar place before, but not without some intention and effort (though saying that now seems contrary to logic.) And with the struggles I have encountered recently it was so wildly unexpected.
John, I am probably not the one to respond to your question as I think my practice would probably be considered unorthodox by any one tradition.
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