Yes, yesterday had a really exciting feel to me and it has been a huge part of my thrill at the new prospects for 2006.
roy, it's interesting you say 'put off' sitting. I find that the time when the sun goes down is my best time. It may be because of doing an evening job. I love preparing for the sacredness of the dark that way and it helps me form a bridge. However, I often feel guilty that I am 'putting it off' which, if anyting is going to put me of...! occasionally when I do not see that it will be possible, or even desirable, I decide ahead that that's OK today (like yesterday). This seems to have helped with the guilt and I can always sit anyway! Tomorrow I am back on the road so will have to sit mornings again.
Brenda, I have loved doing 5 Rhythms, and infact did a long project in the 'Healing Sounds festival' using them in conjunction with the 5 movements of the Bach cello Suites; working with a 5 Rhythms dancer dancer. It was perhaps the closest I got to playing meditation.
welcome Jude. Breathwalk sounds delicious!
Dale I could feel you reaching out to your ngondro practice as for a much needed friend. may it stay with you this year.
will sit today - my day number one! perhaps I am so used to being a step behind I did this deliberately...
ps a few of us have put up a blog about starting a new 100 days. If anyone else feels simply like mentioning it in theirs and inviting people to join us, it could be available and a support to so many more people...?
Welcome to Patry and Jude!! I meditated for 15 mins this morning, and preceded this by some chanting, which I used to do regularly but have recently let drop. There are other helpful practices - and yoga and mindful walking also come to mind - which for me complement and are linked to sitting meditation and I too am trying to balance these out
I have felt some anxiety creeping in during the last 24 hours re the week ahead, which will have some important stuff going on in it, some of which scares me a lot, freaks me out in fact. All I could do was sit there, watch the thoughts, feel the constriction in the throat and stomach and let it be. And breathe. And when I finished, as always, there is a sense of calm, however, transitory.
Hi all - I have my first question after sitting this morning. I'm wondering how best to deal with distractions coming from various parts of my body - ie 'foot saying getting squashed' or 'feeling tight in the neck'. I suppose I can either move the bit that needs moving and risk fidgeting away for 20 mins, or just observe the feeling and wait for it to go away which it usually does, and then have a dead foot when I'm finished! What have your experiences of this been? Thanks! (hope your week goes ok Mary...)
Hi Fiona, speaking personally, if it doesn't go away after say a minute I do what is necessary to make myself comfortable. I don't know if that is theoretically the right thing but it works for me - otherwise my session is taken over by that discomfort. I don't find really that I contine to fidget, but maybe I've been lucky. I do try and sit it out for a minute or so though just to see if the problem will resolve itself.
fiona, I have come accross lots written about meditation on physical sensations. In my (limited) experience, I have found it very interesting to simply meditate upon/observe the sensation without judging or labelling it painful or pleasant; just looking at it with interest. It always changes. Often it goes away, if it does not I move. also I meditate on a chair as, as a cellist, I am comfortable and alert in this position. best ask the experts among us though (dale, lorraine..)
sat for 20 minutes. going away tomorrow on tour so lots of lists and anxieties drawing me away. i was interested in pursuing some of the things I have been reading in Wallace' book (I try to precede each sitting with some reading), but it was far too lofty. Coming back to the breath was enough to ask of today.
Ruth, what a wonderful way to explore the 5 Rhythms! I'd have liked to hear you play the Bach cello Suites, and dance to them...
Fiona, with regular practice it seems one's body gets used to sitting for whatever time you've decided on and doesn't offer up such discomforts! I remember much of that at the beginning of my practice, the aches, the difficulties, but, like anything, meditating is a learned activity not just for the mind but for the body too. I would recommend making yourself comfortable first and foremost, if you need to scratch, scratch, if your foot is cramped, free it. Eventually everything settles down, more-or-less, and meditation becomes a wonderful moment in the day, to use William Blake's "that satan cannot find" (can't site the reference, books in storage), a place to work out issues, recharge, nourish your spirit, enter the great flow of the universe...
That's my take, anyhow. Oh, I was taught to let each thought, sensation, discomfort be, to give it recognition, and then let it go. So, it's like, foot aching, dear foot, sweet foot, foot that supports my walking in the world, what is it, what ails thee? And sending love to your foot, uncramping it, appreciating it, and then releasing the concern, your foot now happy with the attention. -:)
Welcome to Patry & Jude: it's great to have you join us! And happy Day 2 to each & all.
I sat for 20 minutes this morning. I didn't sit *first thing* as planned...but I sat *eventually*, which is all that counts. ;-)
Regarding Fiona's question about physical distractions, I'd echo what several others have said. First, try to sit with the sensation, neither fighting nor judging it. Just observe the sensation as neither good nor bad, just as you'd observe a thought-cloud passing through the sky of your mind.
Most physical sensations like itches, tickles, etc. pass relatively quickly if you don't fight them. Instead of tensing your body *against* the sensation, relaxing *into* it. Even the sensation of a runny nose won't kill you if you learn how to relax *into* it.
If the sensation doesn't pass, especially if it's a painful one, it's okay to move or readjust. You want to listen to your body, and pain is usually a sign that you're doing something your body doesn't like. And since the purpose of meditation *isn't* to injury or abuse yourself, there's no sense sitting with pain.
If you have recurring pain, find a more comfortable way to sit: MEDITATION SHOULDN'T HURT. I tried for many years to sit full-lotus, and I *can't* sit in this posture: my body won't allow it. So instead of banging my body against a wall, I sit quarter-lotus, with one foot nestled into the knee of the other. And on retreats, I alternate this position with Japanese "seiza," or kneeling position. For good or ill, I can't sit cross-legged for long periods, so I sit how I can, not how I can't.
(Bravo to Ruth for sitting in a chair: I wish more folks would do this rather than trying to twist themselves into unattainable pretzel shapes. Here in the West, we aren't used to sitting cross-legged; we're used to sitting in chairs. So there's no shame in sitting comfortably as long as you find a posture in which your mind is alert.)
If you sit with a group, you'll have to follow their protocol about moving/not moving. But while sitting at home on your own, moving isn't going to distract anyone other than you. :-)
I sat for 15 minutes this morning, plus an extra 5 minutes of readjusting position at the beginning because I kept feeling off-balance. My right foot and calf tend to fall asleep, too, so if it seems like the discomfort is not going to stop I'll eventually stick that leg out straight. Since I haven't been doing my yoga regularly, I'm less flexible. If I've been doing yoga I find my body feels more comfortable sitting cross-legged (on a folded blanket). I like the cross-legged position because my body seems to know it as "meditation position" and it triggers my mind to be ready for it. But I'm just re-starting meditation and I'm experiencing a lot of distraction at this point. I expect over time this will diminish on the whole.
my right foot goes dead asleep ... not painful, just have to be very careful before standing on it. I once fell over, splat, into the middle of the meditation hall ... quelle embarras. I can tell how much time has passed by how far the deadness has progressed.
susan sontag said, "I meditate, I do yoga, and some of my best friends are healers. When none of that works, I buy chocolate cake and cognac."
Hello All! I'd like to join in. I've spent ages reading about meditation and NOT DOING IT! The more I read about meditation, the further away it seems that I would actually plant myself on the floor and begin. So much to fret about: eyes open/shut? focus on breath? candles? image? scene? chanting? mantra? affirmations? Then, where to do it; time of day; enough comfortable cushions, etc etc. What if I start and don't get it RIGHT???! Better not to start... but I'd like to. So, here I am and I'm plunging in.
Ruth, Lorianne, Jean - a special hello! I read your wonderful blogs and they inspire me.
Bashful hellos to everyone. Zhoen pushed me in this direction, so I take it as a sign. It was the last little nudge I needed to get going again.
Here is my (re)commitment: 5 minutes daily.
Zhoen, I just received a working prenatal Yoga video, and will be starting out slowly, three times a week, beginning today. I figure I am more likely to do it if I set a time of day for it; we'll see how that works.
Welcome, Anna! My experience with many years of meditation is that it's really, really hard to do it wrong, and almost impossible to do it so wrong that it's not beneficial.
Which is not to say that you can't make mistakes. But if you're paying attention to what your mind's doing -- even the sporadic hazy attention which is what I usually bring to bear during meditation -- the mistakes just become clear. And they're *interesting* mistakes, because they show you, as nothing else ever will, what your mind habitually gravitates toward and shies away from.
Sat 20 mins this morning, & did 14 "accumulations" this afternoon.
Ruth, yes, it's very much a much-needed friend.
Roy, probably the old-timers here are tired of me repeating this over and over, but I really think that the last-ditch, crummy, just-because-I-said-I-would meditation is possibly the most valuable. Not nearly as fun as the calm rich-feeling meditation when you feel like you're doing it right -- but it's really where you're "changing your mind," pushing hardest against unmindful habit.
Patry, Jude, Anna, welcome! Oh wow, with Jude we have expanded to another continent!
Last day of the holidays and I sat for an hour this morning - didn't plan to, but it was nice and I knew I wouldn't have the time again for a while, so just kept sitting. Until very recently, although I've been meditating on and off for several years, I'd never sat for more than about 20 minutes at a time at home - it just happened one day.
My recollection about sitting still is that in the first couple of weeks of sitting every day there was quite rapid progress in coming to stillness and being less fidgety and finding what postures did and didn't quickly cause my particular body pain. And once having got past that initial barrier, it never recurred. After that, well I too am a disciple of working with the 'edge' of needing to move and seeing if it will fade, but then moving if it persists.
I usually sit in seiza (kneeling astride a cushion) because my hips are too stiff to get my knees below them for a stable cross-legged posture. I prefer this to sitting on a chair because I find there is something very centring about sitting closer to the ground. But kneeling is more conducive to feet and legs going to sleep than sitting cross-legged, I think, and this is a bit of a problem. Have tried a wooden meditation stool, which takes the pressure off feet and legs so they don't go to sleep, but feet and legs trapped under the stool quickly felt unbearably claustrophobic. Find what works best for you and stick with it, I think. The image of sitting cross-legged on a cushion and especially a hall full of silent, symetrical, triangular people is very alluring to me, but not really the point...
I'll chime in. I've got an embarrassingly flexible practice. I sit in the mornings, but depending on the day, will put anywhere from five minutes (unusual) to an hour (also unusual) on the cushion. This is mostly because I don't time myself: I just sit until I feel as though I'm done sitting.
It's a little unorthodox, perhaps, but, paradoxically, it's led to me putting more time on my zafu than a structured half-hour did.
Dale: Thanks so much for your encouraging comment. I'm quite excited about starting as I feel really curious to discover, as you remarked, what my mind will gravitate to and shy away from. I'm setting off on this journey tomorrow (20 minutes). Anna.
Janice, you said "I once fell over, splat, into the middle of the meditation hall." That's happened to me, too: TWICE. Heh. Some of us have harder heads & need *repeated* lessons... :-)
If your legs are falling asleep, that means you've cut off your blood circulation...and there's no sense in doing *that.* So when my legs start falling asleep, I switch positions. Rather than fighting my body, I listen to it, figuring I want my body as a *friend* to my practice, not an enemy.
Warm hellos to Anna, Moira, & Siona: what a festive community this is becoming!
(And Ruth, I'm glad I made you laugh. In my mind, laughter is a precious gift...)
Hey, today's interesting telescoping of two days into one reminds me that we were going to change the blog's time setting to something earlier than US Pacific Time, weren't we? I think only Ruth or Dale can do this :-)
Yes, Jean, I meant to mention that this morning...
This evening I did a very short yoga routine, just enough to get my blood moving & body *awake*. Then I sat for about 5 (untimed) minutes, just enough to savor the stillness the yoga had inspired.
I was sleepy to begin with, but the yoga woke me up. I'll have to remember that...
Did my first Yoga session today, and felt wonderful afterwards. I'm counting these sessions as well, since I take time to just quiet my thoughts and pay attention to my breath.
27 Comments:
Yes, yesterday had a really exciting feel to me and it has been a huge part of my thrill at the new prospects for 2006.
roy, it's interesting you say 'put off' sitting. I find that the time when the sun goes down is my best time. It may be because of doing an evening job. I love preparing for the sacredness of the dark that way and it helps me form a bridge. However, I often feel guilty that I am 'putting it off' which, if anyting is going to put me of...! occasionally when I do not see that it will be possible, or even desirable, I decide ahead that that's OK today (like yesterday). This seems to have helped with the guilt and I can always sit anyway! Tomorrow I am back on the road so will have to sit mornings again.
Brenda, I have loved doing 5 Rhythms, and infact did a long project in the 'Healing Sounds festival' using them in conjunction with the 5 movements of the Bach cello Suites; working with a 5 Rhythms dancer dancer. It was perhaps the closest I got to playing meditation.
welcome Jude. Breathwalk sounds delicious!
Dale I could feel you reaching out to your ngondro practice as for a much needed friend. may it stay with you this year.
will sit today - my day number one! perhaps I am so used to being a step behind I did this deliberately...
ps a few of us have put up a blog about starting a new 100 days. If anyone else feels simply like mentioning it in theirs and inviting people to join us, it could be available and a support to so many more people...?
Welcome to Patry and Jude!!
I meditated for 15 mins this morning, and preceded this by some chanting, which I used to do regularly but have recently let drop. There are other helpful practices - and yoga and mindful walking also come to mind - which for me complement and are linked to sitting meditation and I too am trying to balance these out
I have felt some anxiety creeping in during the last 24 hours re the week ahead, which will have some important stuff going on in it, some of which scares me a lot, freaks me out in fact. All I could do was sit there, watch the thoughts, feel the constriction in the throat and stomach and let it be. And breathe. And when I finished, as always, there is a sense of calm, however, transitory.
Hi all - I have my first question after sitting this morning. I'm wondering how best to deal with distractions coming from various parts of my body - ie 'foot saying getting squashed' or 'feeling tight in the neck'. I suppose I can either move the bit that needs moving and risk fidgeting away for 20 mins, or just observe the feeling and wait for it to go away which it usually does, and then have a dead foot when I'm finished! What have your experiences of this been? Thanks! (hope your week goes ok Mary...)
Hi Fiona, speaking personally, if it doesn't go away after say a minute I do what is necessary to make myself comfortable. I don't know if that is theoretically the right thing but it works for me - otherwise my session is taken over by that discomfort. I don't find really that I contine to fidget, but maybe I've been lucky. I do try and sit it out for a minute or so though just to see if the problem will resolve itself.
Thanks for your good wishes!
Forgot to say: MB, hope the migraine is better.
fiona, I have come accross lots written about meditation on physical sensations. In my (limited) experience, I have found it very interesting to simply meditate upon/observe the sensation without judging or labelling it painful or pleasant; just looking at it with interest. It always changes. Often it goes away, if it does not I move. also I meditate on a chair as, as a cellist, I am comfortable and alert in this position. best ask the experts among us though (dale, lorraine..)
sat for 20 minutes. going away tomorrow on tour so lots of lists and anxieties drawing me away. i was interested in pursuing some of the things I have been reading in Wallace' book (I try to precede each sitting with some reading), but it was far too lofty. Coming back to the breath was enough to ask of today.
Ruth, what a wonderful way to explore the 5 Rhythms! I'd have liked to hear you play the Bach cello Suites, and dance to them...
Fiona, with regular practice it seems one's body gets used to sitting for whatever time you've decided on and doesn't offer up such discomforts! I remember much of that at the beginning of my practice, the aches, the difficulties, but, like anything, meditating is a learned activity not just for the mind but for the body too. I would recommend making yourself comfortable first and foremost, if you need to scratch, scratch, if your foot is cramped, free it. Eventually everything settles down, more-or-less, and meditation becomes a wonderful moment in the day, to use William Blake's "that satan cannot find" (can't site the reference, books in storage), a place to work out issues, recharge, nourish your spirit, enter the great flow of the universe...
That's my take, anyhow. Oh, I was taught to let each thought, sensation, discomfort be, to give it recognition, and then let it go. So, it's like, foot aching, dear foot, sweet foot, foot that supports my walking in the world, what is it, what ails thee? And sending love to your foot, uncramping it, appreciating it, and then releasing the concern, your foot now happy with the attention. -:)
Welcome to Patry & Jude: it's great to have you join us! And happy Day 2 to each & all.
I sat for 20 minutes this morning. I didn't sit *first thing* as planned...but I sat *eventually*, which is all that counts. ;-)
Regarding Fiona's question about physical distractions, I'd echo what several others have said. First, try to sit with the sensation, neither fighting nor judging it. Just observe the sensation as neither good nor bad, just as you'd observe a thought-cloud passing through the sky of your mind.
Most physical sensations like itches, tickles, etc. pass relatively quickly if you don't fight them. Instead of tensing your body *against* the sensation, relaxing *into* it. Even the sensation of a runny nose won't kill you if you learn how to relax *into* it.
If the sensation doesn't pass, especially if it's a painful one, it's okay to move or readjust. You want to listen to your body, and pain is usually a sign that you're doing something your body doesn't like. And since the purpose of meditation *isn't* to injury or abuse yourself, there's no sense sitting with pain.
If you have recurring pain, find a more comfortable way to sit: MEDITATION SHOULDN'T HURT. I tried for many years to sit full-lotus, and I *can't* sit in this posture: my body won't allow it. So instead of banging my body against a wall, I sit quarter-lotus, with one foot nestled into the knee of the other. And on retreats, I alternate this position with Japanese "seiza," or kneeling position. For good or ill, I can't sit cross-legged for long periods, so I sit how I can, not how I can't.
(Bravo to Ruth for sitting in a chair: I wish more folks would do this rather than trying to twist themselves into unattainable pretzel shapes. Here in the West, we aren't used to sitting cross-legged; we're used to sitting in chairs. So there's no shame in sitting comfortably as long as you find a posture in which your mind is alert.)
If you sit with a group, you'll have to follow their protocol about moving/not moving. But while sitting at home on your own, moving isn't going to distract anyone other than you. :-)
I sat for 15 minutes this morning, plus an extra 5 minutes of readjusting position at the beginning because I kept feeling off-balance. My right foot and calf tend to fall asleep, too, so if it seems like the discomfort is not going to stop I'll eventually stick that leg out straight. Since I haven't been doing my yoga regularly, I'm less flexible. If I've been doing yoga I find my body feels more comfortable sitting cross-legged (on a folded blanket). I like the cross-legged position because my body seems to know it as "meditation position" and it triggers my mind to be ready for it. But I'm just re-starting meditation and I'm experiencing a lot of distraction at this point. I expect over time this will diminish on the whole.
Leslee, I've heard that copious amounts of tequila help with flexibility during meditation...oops! The rest of y'all weren't supposed to hear that!
;-)
leslee and lorianne
my right foot goes dead asleep ... not painful, just have to be very careful before standing on it. I once fell over, splat, into the middle of the meditation hall ... quelle embarras. I can tell how much time has passed by how far the deadness has progressed.
susan sontag said, "I meditate, I do yoga, and some of my best friends are healers. When none of that works, I buy chocolate cake and cognac."
you guys should try baroque cello for dead leg syndrome! i hav fallen down during bows after a concert..
lorraine you made me laugh!
Hello All!
I'd like to join in. I've spent ages reading about meditation and NOT DOING IT! The more I read about meditation, the further away it seems that I would actually plant myself on the floor and begin. So much to fret about: eyes open/shut? focus on breath? candles? image? scene? chanting? mantra? affirmations? Then, where to do it; time of day; enough comfortable cushions, etc etc. What if I start and don't get it RIGHT???! Better not to start... but I'd like to.
So, here I am and I'm plunging in.
Ruth, Lorianne, Jean - a special hello! I read your wonderful blogs and they inspire me.
Anna.
Bashful hellos to everyone. Zhoen pushed me in this direction, so I take it as a sign. It was the last little nudge I needed to get going again.
Here is my (re)commitment: 5 minutes daily.
Zhoen, I just received a working prenatal Yoga video, and will be starting out slowly, three times a week, beginning today. I figure I am more likely to do it if I set a time of day for it; we'll see how that works.
It's good to see everybody again.
Oh, how lovely to see you back, Moira!
Welcome, Anna! My experience with many years of meditation is that it's really, really hard to do it wrong, and almost impossible to do it so wrong that it's not beneficial.
Which is not to say that you can't make mistakes. But if you're paying attention to what your mind's doing -- even the sporadic hazy attention which is what I usually bring to bear during meditation -- the mistakes just become clear. And they're *interesting* mistakes, because they show you, as nothing else ever will, what your mind habitually gravitates toward and shies away from.
Sat 15 minutes. Headache is much better today, still trying to figure out the trigger. (Maybe allergies?) My thanks for your good wishes!
Lovely to see all those, new and returning.
Sat 20 mins this morning, & did 14 "accumulations" this afternoon.
Ruth, yes, it's very much a much-needed friend.
Roy, probably the old-timers here are tired of me repeating this over and over, but I really think that the last-ditch, crummy, just-because-I-said-I-would meditation is possibly the most valuable. Not nearly as fun as the calm rich-feeling meditation when you feel like you're doing it right -- but it's really where you're "changing your mind," pushing hardest against unmindful habit.
Patry, Jude, Anna, welcome! Oh wow, with Jude we have expanded to another continent!
Last day of the holidays and I sat for an hour this morning - didn't plan to, but it was nice and I knew I wouldn't have the time again for a while, so just kept sitting. Until very recently, although I've been meditating on and off for several years, I'd never sat for more than about 20 minutes at a time at home - it just happened one day.
My recollection about sitting still is that in the first couple of weeks of sitting every day there was quite rapid progress in coming to stillness and being less fidgety and finding what postures did and didn't quickly cause my particular body pain. And once having got past that initial barrier, it never recurred. After that, well I too am a disciple of working with the 'edge' of needing to move and seeing if it will fade, but then moving if it persists.
I usually sit in seiza (kneeling astride a cushion) because my hips are too stiff to get my knees below them for a stable cross-legged posture. I prefer this to sitting on a chair because I find there is something very centring about sitting closer to the ground. But kneeling is more conducive to feet and legs going to sleep than sitting cross-legged, I think, and this is a bit of a problem. Have tried a wooden meditation stool, which takes the pressure off feet and legs so they don't go to sleep, but feet and legs trapped under the stool quickly felt unbearably claustrophobic. Find what works best for you and stick with it, I think. The image of sitting cross-legged on a cushion and especially a hall full of silent, symetrical, triangular people is very alluring to me, but not really the point...
I'll chime in. I've got an embarrassingly flexible practice. I sit in the mornings, but depending on the day, will put anywhere from five minutes (unusual) to an hour (also unusual) on the cushion. This is mostly because I don't time myself: I just sit until I feel as though I'm done sitting.
It's a little unorthodox, perhaps, but, paradoxically, it's led to me putting more time on my zafu than a structured half-hour did.
Dale:
Thanks so much for your encouraging comment. I'm quite excited about starting as I feel really curious to discover, as you remarked, what my mind will gravitate to and shy away from. I'm setting off on this journey tomorrow (20 minutes).
Anna.
Thanks for the welcome Jean!
Anna.
Janice, you said "I once fell over, splat, into the middle of the meditation hall." That's happened to me, too: TWICE. Heh. Some of us have harder heads & need *repeated* lessons... :-)
If your legs are falling asleep, that means you've cut off your blood circulation...and there's no sense in doing *that.* So when my legs start falling asleep, I switch positions. Rather than fighting my body, I listen to it, figuring I want my body as a *friend* to my practice, not an enemy.
Warm hellos to Anna, Moira, & Siona: what a festive community this is becoming!
(And Ruth, I'm glad I made you laugh. In my mind, laughter is a precious gift...)
Hey, today's interesting telescoping of two days into one reminds me that we were going to change the blog's time setting to something earlier than US Pacific Time, weren't we? I think only Ruth or Dale can do this :-)
Yes, Jean, I meant to mention that this morning...
This evening I did a very short yoga routine, just enough to get my blood moving & body *awake*. Then I sat for about 5 (untimed) minutes, just enough to savor the stillness the yoga had inspired.
I was sleepy to begin with, but the yoga woke me up. I'll have to remember that...
Did my first Yoga session today, and felt wonderful afterwards. I'm counting these sessions as well, since I take time to just quiet my thoughts and pay attention to my breath.
Sat for 15 minutes. Some leg and hip discomfort. Nothing major.
Thanks to all.
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