Good morning! The sky is a luminous seamless grey, the temperature just above zero - but neither windy nor raining, so for Germany in winter this counts as "good weather".
Sat for fifteen unruly minutes this morning, had to keep myself on a very short leash as it were. Too much on my mind, from having accepted too many obligations and not getting enough exercise.
Hugs and best wishes to all. A belated happy birthday to Ruth, sounds like you had a good day.
Belated birthday to Ruth: my, what a time of it you've had!!!
I haven't yet practiced today, having decided that I should be allowed to read the paper, check email, and otherwise be lazy upon first arising on a Sunday morning, like any other person. :-)
Well, I didn't sit today, I lay. Does that count? :)
Once a month on a Sunday our masseuse and friend M comes round and gives both Dr B and me an aromatherapy massage. She hasn't been for three months because of all the recent alarms and excursions but she came today.
Usually one adult is on the table while the other deals with the children and dog for the 1 1/2 to 2 hours the massage takes. Then we swap.
This time there was only me, b2 and Maizy in the house, a problem because the latter certainly and the former probably would scratch and whimper outside the door if excluded and left alone.
We ended up all three in the living room, child and dog curled on the sofa slightly anaesthatised by exposure to one of M's more powerful sedative oils. I put on Tony Scott's Music for Zen Meditation, on repeat, and all four of us entered the zone. A zone of our own.
It was very lovely.
Peace and a zone to all who sit... and stretch out!
A day where we let ourselves be... how inspiring everyone's comments are!
My nightly meditation is proving interesting. All the concerns of the day rise up and I realize that this is normal, that usually they fall into dreams, but I am not used to this in meditation, which I've always done either morning, mid-afternoon, or after work if I'm working outside my home. Meditation then is a respite from the day; well, on good days...
On the brink of sleep, though, I am surprised at the urgency of the issues that arise, pointedly, into my consciousness. As I accept and acknowledge the insistent importance of each rising or worry or concern or area of focus, and then let it go, it takes longer for me to find the silence within, where it is empty, radiant. Instead of 15 minutes, it might take 20 or 30 minutes, or longer.
I'm not sure how to handle this, either. These issues and concerns obviously need to be addressed and worked with and through. To let them rest while I rest deeply in meditation... could extend difficulty?
Or should I just recognize each one, and place it in the dreamtime, to be worked on through the night?
Meditating on my hard foam mattress against the cool wall just before I lie down to sleep is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be.
The sleep afterwards is deep and unbroken, for the most part, and very, very refreshing.
I didn't sit this morning. Slept badly, and went back to bed later to try to nap. Took awhile, but finally got another few winks in. I think I'm going to try meditating before bed to see if that helps. Brenda - it sounds like it works for you. I too have stuff come up that wants to be dealt with. It's a pattern that I sometimes get into and can be hard to break. I have the best sleep when I don't follow any thoughts at all. Sometimes it also helps if I have a lot on my mind to write in my journal before bed so that I've noted everything that needs to be dealt with...but tomorrow!
Sometimes I need a break from the computer, so I haven't been on line since Friday afternoon. I don't need a break from you though, and feel like I've been away a long time and missed a lot.
Ruth's birthday! Glad to hear you took care of yourself, and hope you and Julian had a lovely day when you got home.
And continuing hard times and sadness - please know that I think of you all and wish you well, whether or not I'm checking in. qB, I will be thinking of you and your partner and his father. And MB and you friend. And Leslee and Beth, many hugs.
Janice, you're walking with me! Woohoo! How lovely.
Please don't get the idea I go around telling people that meditation makes me a better person, or would benefit them! I don't. But I don't want, either, to say nothing at all when friends say dismissively, 'oh I couldn't do that', the implication being that they are too active/energetic/outgoing/unselfish. But tend, also, to keep it very short and simple. I largely can't articulate it to myself, anyway.
Yesterday, for example, sat for 40 minutes and then, having more time to think at weekends, fell to thinking 'why do I do this?'. Mostly, 'because it feels right', or 'because something in me wants this', is enough. But from time to time I get caught in wanting to articulate something I probably never can, because it's profoundly unintellectual.
So this morning sat for only 20 minutes, and then resolutely didn't think...
Good evening, everyone! After being blissfully lazy for most of the day, tonight around 9pm I went to our new late-night grocery store & did this week's shopping, an activity that always brings me an inordinant amount of pleasure. There's something about having a *full refrigerator* that triggers a sense of gratitude & contentment, especially when the forecast says it's going to snow all day tomorrow, I don't need to be anywhere, and I bought fresh flowers for my altar. :-)
Anyhow, I sat for 20 minutes after I'd gotten home & unpacked the groceries. I'm so used to sitting in the *morning,* I'd forgotten how peaceful nocturnal meditation can be: the house is quiet, the dog is sleepy, and my mental "edge" is dulled a bit by the day (a good kind of weariness).
So, soon I'm off to bed. In the meantime, love & hugs to all...
9 Comments:
Good morning! The sky is a luminous seamless grey, the temperature just above zero - but neither windy nor raining, so for Germany in winter this counts as "good weather".
Sat for fifteen unruly minutes this morning, had to keep myself on a very short leash as it were. Too much on my mind, from having accepted too many obligations and not getting enough exercise.
Hugs and best wishes to all. A belated happy birthday to Ruth, sounds like you had a good day.
Belated birthday to Ruth: my, what a time of it you've had!!!
I haven't yet practiced today, having decided that I should be allowed to read the paper, check email, and otherwise be lazy upon first arising on a Sunday morning, like any other person. :-)
Well, I didn't sit today, I lay. Does that count? :)
Once a month on a Sunday our masseuse and friend M comes round and gives both Dr B and me an aromatherapy massage. She hasn't been for three months because of all the recent alarms and excursions but she came today.
Usually one adult is on the table while the other deals with the children and dog for the 1 1/2 to 2 hours the massage takes. Then we swap.
This time there was only me, b2 and Maizy in the house, a problem because the latter certainly and the former probably would scratch and whimper outside the door if excluded and left alone.
We ended up all three in the living room, child and dog curled on the sofa slightly anaesthatised by exposure to one of M's more powerful sedative oils. I put on Tony Scott's Music for Zen Meditation, on repeat, and all four of us entered the zone. A zone of our own.
It was very lovely.
Peace and a zone to all who sit... and stretch out!
A day where we let ourselves be... how inspiring everyone's comments are!
My nightly meditation is proving interesting. All the concerns of the day rise up and I realize that this is normal, that usually they fall into dreams, but I am not used to this in meditation, which I've always done either morning, mid-afternoon, or after work if I'm working outside my home. Meditation then is a respite from the day; well, on good days...
On the brink of sleep, though, I am surprised at the urgency of the issues that arise, pointedly, into my consciousness. As I accept and acknowledge the insistent importance of each rising or worry or concern or area of focus, and then let it go, it takes longer for me to find the silence within, where it is empty, radiant. Instead of 15 minutes, it might take 20 or 30 minutes, or longer.
I'm not sure how to handle this, either. These issues and concerns obviously need to be addressed and worked with and through. To let them rest while I rest deeply in meditation... could extend difficulty?
Or should I just recognize each one, and place it in the dreamtime, to be worked on through the night?
Meditating on my hard foam mattress against the cool wall just before I lie down to sleep is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be.
The sleep afterwards is deep and unbroken, for the most part, and very, very refreshing.
So it's good, too.
I didn't sit this morning. Slept badly, and went back to bed later to try to nap. Took awhile, but finally got another few winks in. I think I'm going to try meditating before bed to see if that helps. Brenda - it sounds like it works for you. I too have stuff come up that wants to be dealt with. It's a pattern that I sometimes get into and can be hard to break. I have the best sleep when I don't follow any thoughts at all. Sometimes it also helps if I have a lot on my mind to write in my journal before bed so that I've noted everything that needs to be dealt with...but tomorrow!
qB: That sounds fabulous! Thanks for the link, too.
Sometimes I need a break from the computer, so I haven't been on line since Friday afternoon. I don't need a break from you though, and feel like I've been away a long time and missed a lot.
Ruth's birthday! Glad to hear you took care of yourself, and hope you and Julian had a lovely day when you got home.
And continuing hard times and sadness - please know that I think of you all and wish you well, whether or not I'm checking in. qB, I will be thinking of you and your partner and his father. And MB and you friend. And Leslee and Beth, many hugs.
Janice, you're walking with me! Woohoo! How lovely.
Please don't get the idea I go around telling people that meditation makes me a better person, or would benefit them! I don't. But I don't want, either, to say nothing at all when friends say dismissively, 'oh I couldn't do that', the implication being that they are too active/energetic/outgoing/unselfish. But tend, also, to keep it very short and simple. I largely can't articulate it to myself, anyway.
Yesterday, for example, sat for 40 minutes and then, having more time to think at weekends, fell to thinking 'why do I do this?'. Mostly, 'because it feels right', or 'because something in me wants this', is enough. But from time to time I get caught in wanting to articulate something I probably never can, because it's profoundly unintellectual.
So this morning sat for only 20 minutes, and then resolutely didn't think...
Good evening, everyone! After being blissfully lazy for most of the day, tonight around 9pm I went to our new late-night grocery store & did this week's shopping, an activity that always brings me an inordinant amount of pleasure. There's something about having a *full refrigerator* that triggers a sense of gratitude & contentment, especially when the forecast says it's going to snow all day tomorrow, I don't need to be anywhere, and I bought fresh flowers for my altar. :-)
Anyhow, I sat for 20 minutes after I'd gotten home & unpacked the groceries. I'm so used to sitting in the *morning,* I'd forgotten how peaceful nocturnal meditation can be: the house is quiet, the dog is sleepy, and my mental "edge" is dulled a bit by the day (a good kind of weariness).
So, soon I'm off to bed. In the meantime, love & hugs to all...
Jean: when my friends dismissively say, 'oh I couldn't do that', I understand them to be confessing that they are too weak-willed and lazy :-)
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