Happy Day Two! So glad to be here and to see the many comments yesterday. Finding it hard to sit in the intense heat (mid thirties even in London), but doing it.
Everyone go and look at Stray's self-portrait photo of herself reflected in the eye of her dog! Rivalled only by Lorianne's recent photo of herself reflected in Gary's sunglasses. Profound, meditative (and hilarious) stuff.
g'morning, everyone! And welcome & hello to Hanna!
I just my "mini-morning practice" of reciting the 4 Great Vows followed by 27 full prostrations & 81 standing bows. Later this afternoon, I hope to sit & chant...
Janice, I don't know about you, but my body's a little bit achey from yesterday's bows! I guess that tells you how out-of-shape I am: I really need to do this practice again!
And yes, everyone should check out Stray's doggy self-portrait... :-)
i sat yesterday on the edge of the cedar chest with a folded towel under the sit bones. i'm having a hard time with the feeling that somehow this isn't 'authentic' unless i'm using my zafu, sitting in a traditional posture on the floor. it's a really good teaching for me right now.
it felt good to sit and be still for a solid 10 minutes. something i haven't done in a long time.
welcome hanna! jean and lorianne good to see you guys are still here!
Janice mentioned the early days of this blog a few days ago. I remember around the middle of the first 100 days announcing here that I felt I was being really boring turning up most days and just saying what I was doing (or not doing) in meditation. I seem to remember Beth commenting that it could be worse, we could have be discussing dieting .... :-)
Some of that feeling has returned of late, but then I remind myself for all my huffing and puffing that I have been able to sit in silence for longer since this blog started than I ever did prior to its inception.
I tend to be one of life's Eeyores. While I doubt meditation will ever turn me into a Tigger, I would settle for being Winnie the Pooh, a bear of little brain who was happy living each day with his honey ....
Oh dear. My first comment above sounds more downbeat than I am actually feeling. I am more than glad to be here. And I am pleased that everyone else is here too.
Janice, thanks re the Kuan Yin statue - I love the insouciance of her posture.
I've been reading through some of the previous comments, and am so relieved. I no longer feel like something's wrong with me that my "sit still" timer always goes off at 10 minutes. I can usually sit comfortably until then, but after that I'm in a mental whirlwind.
Right now I'm trying to sit for 15 minutes, so let's see how that goes. :)
Elsie, I'm a 15 minute sitter most days, and haven't successfully been able to push that to 20 minutes. But I have been meditating daily with a particular mantra and posture since 1994. It's the Dhrib Dhristi Lochina Karma Kryia, and it's like my soul mate. We've been through a lot together!
Last night I unpacked and repacked my alter objects (no room to set anything up), and found my golden White Tara and Chen Rezig (real gold on the faces apparently, factory made and hand-painted, but beautiful none-the-less), but also my tiny Green Tara (she's on my keychain too) and a tiny bronze Quan Yin holding a baby - ah, single mothers, she moved me to tears as she always does when I hold this little statue.
Mary, I love your Pooh Bear metaphor! And lots of hunny (ambrosia in the crown chakra) to you too, dear!
Good afternoon, everyone. Just a quick check-in to note that I did meditate this afternoon as planned, followed by 2 chants. I was sleepy during the meditation, but the chants woke me up.
Thanks Jean for the tip off to people - I did wonder why suddenly you'd all pitched up :)
Test of meditation tomorrow ... I'm off to hospital to have something horribly invasive and unpleasant done (not to mention seriously painful) and I am hoping that the practice I've had here is going to help me be calm and chipper instead of stressed and awkward!
It's my first time in the hospital since my ex up and left, so, first time alone really. I'm trying to relish the opportunity to explore my feelings about it all when I don't have the distraction of conversation.
I will be doing walking meditation, train meditation, tube meditation, waiting room meditation and then the real deal ... followed probably by a bit of cup of tea meditation with a friendly face afterwards!
Stray, I'll meditate deeply on this procedure being as pain-free as possible.
Because I way over-react to novocaine, I had 17 mercury amalgam fillings removed & replaced without freezing.
My dentist was very gentle & said he was quite impressed with me. I never told him my secrets, but I used a Kundalini Yoga mantra, "I am bountiful. I am beautiful. I am blissful. Excel. Excel. Fearless." And kept my entire body completely relaxed, especially my spine (all the nerves flow through there). What I found was that the pain only lasted a few seconds before the body's natural painkillers kick in; I could feel these opiates rushing to the scene of my mouth, and I believe it's under 7 seconds if I recall from scientific literature I read at the time.
Afterwards was so nice. I didn't have a frozen mouth for upwards of 12 hours, no lingering days of pain where the needle went in, and was blessedly free of the 3 day headache that usually followed a dental appointment.
You'll have local anaesthetic though, I hope! But you can still use these techniques so that the pain doesn't entirely overwhelm you.
What time is your procedure or operation tomorrow - I'll try to meditate and send healing energies.
Oh, it goes probably without saying, keep the breath really, really deep and slow, as slow as you can make it. And focus on the breathing or a mantra, not the pain. If you do, the pain will grab and overwhelm. At least, that's my experience - I have also heard the opposite: focus totally on it, and let it radiate out into the entire body and be released. It can be done, that's all I know (& I am an ultra sensitive person & if I can do it, *yadda* *yadda*...)
16 Comments:
Happy Day Two! So glad to be here and to see the many comments yesterday. Finding it hard to sit in the intense heat (mid thirties even in London), but doing it.
Everyone go and look at Stray's self-portrait photo of herself reflected in the eye of her dog! Rivalled only by Lorianne's recent photo of herself reflected in Gary's sunglasses. Profound, meditative (and hilarious) stuff.
And hello, Hanna, welcome! And welcome back to John!
g'morning, everyone! And welcome & hello to Hanna!
I just my "mini-morning practice" of reciting the 4 Great Vows followed by 27 full prostrations & 81 standing bows. Later this afternoon, I hope to sit & chant...
Janice, I don't know about you, but my body's a little bit achey from yesterday's bows! I guess that tells you how out-of-shape I am: I really need to do this practice again!
And yes, everyone should check out Stray's doggy self-portrait... :-)
good morning all! it's good to be here again.
i sat yesterday on the edge of the cedar chest with a folded towel under the sit bones. i'm having a hard time with the feeling that somehow this isn't 'authentic' unless i'm using my zafu, sitting in a traditional posture on the floor. it's a really good teaching for me right now.
it felt good to sit and be still for a solid 10 minutes. something i haven't done in a long time.
welcome hanna! jean and lorianne good to see you guys are still here!
Janice mentioned the early days of this blog a few days ago. I remember around the middle of the first 100 days announcing here that I felt I was being really boring turning up most days and just saying what I was doing (or not doing) in meditation. I seem to remember Beth commenting that it could be worse, we could have be discussing dieting .... :-)
Some of that feeling has returned of late, but then I remind myself for all my huffing and puffing that I have been able to sit in silence for longer since this blog started than I ever did prior to its inception.
I tend to be one of life's Eeyores. While I doubt meditation will ever turn me into a Tigger, I would settle for being Winnie the Pooh, a bear of little brain who was happy living each day with his honey ....
And so I keep on sitting.
Welcome Elsie and Hanna, and welcome back John!
I meant
... we could have been discussing dieting ....
Me again.
Oh dear. My first comment above sounds more downbeat than I am actually feeling. I am more than glad to be here. And I am pleased that everyone else is here too.
Mary, not downbeat at all, very much to the point! I'm afraid the bit about 'little brain' may be an unsuperable obstacle, though...
welcome Elsie and Hanna ... hope you'll stay awhile ... you'll like it here
Elsie ... I like your Kuan Yin statue very much
Janice, thanks re the Kuan Yin statue - I love the insouciance of her posture.
I've been reading through some of the previous comments, and am so relieved. I no longer feel like something's wrong with me that my "sit still" timer always goes off at 10 minutes. I can usually sit comfortably until then, but after that I'm in a mental whirlwind.
Right now I'm trying to sit for 15 minutes, so let's see how that goes. :)
Elsie, I'm a 15 minute sitter most days, and haven't successfully been able to push that to 20 minutes. But I have been meditating daily with a particular mantra and posture since 1994. It's the Dhrib Dhristi Lochina Karma Kryia, and it's like my soul mate. We've been through a lot together!
Last night I unpacked and repacked my alter objects (no room to set anything up), and found my golden White Tara and Chen Rezig (real gold on the faces apparently, factory made and hand-painted, but beautiful none-the-less), but also my tiny Green Tara (she's on my keychain too) and a tiny bronze Quan Yin holding a baby - ah, single mothers, she moved me to tears as she always does when I hold this little statue.
Mary, I love your Pooh Bear metaphor! And lots of hunny (ambrosia in the crown chakra) to you too, dear!
Hanna, it was meant to be! Welcome.
Good afternoon, everyone. Just a quick check-in to note that I did meditate this afternoon as planned, followed by 2 chants. I was sleepy during the meditation, but the chants woke me up.
Now, back to grading...
Thanks Jean for the tip off to people - I did wonder why suddenly you'd all pitched up :)
Test of meditation tomorrow ... I'm off to hospital to have something horribly invasive and unpleasant done (not to mention seriously painful) and I am hoping that the practice I've had here is going to help me be calm and chipper instead of stressed and awkward!
It's my first time in the hospital since my ex up and left, so, first time alone really. I'm trying to relish the opportunity to explore my feelings about it all when I don't have the distraction of conversation.
I will be doing walking meditation, train meditation, tube meditation, waiting room meditation and then the real deal ... followed probably by a bit of cup of tea meditation with a friendly face afterwards!
xx
Stray, I'll meditate deeply on this procedure being as pain-free as possible.
Because I way over-react to novocaine, I had 17 mercury amalgam fillings removed & replaced without freezing.
My dentist was very gentle & said he was quite impressed with me. I never told him my secrets, but I used a Kundalini Yoga mantra, "I am bountiful. I am beautiful. I am blissful. Excel. Excel. Fearless." And kept my entire body completely relaxed, especially my spine (all the nerves flow through there). What I found was that the pain only lasted a few seconds before the body's natural painkillers kick in; I could feel these opiates rushing to the scene of my mouth, and I believe it's under 7 seconds if I recall from scientific literature I read at the time.
Afterwards was so nice. I didn't have a frozen mouth for upwards of 12 hours, no lingering days of pain where the needle went in, and was blessedly free of the 3 day headache that usually followed a dental appointment.
You'll have local anaesthetic though, I hope! But you can still use these techniques so that the pain doesn't entirely overwhelm you.
What time is your procedure or operation tomorrow - I'll try to meditate and send healing energies.
xo
Oh, it goes probably without saying, keep the breath really, really deep and slow, as slow as you can make it. And focus on the breathing or a mantra, not the pain. If you do, the pain will grab and overwhelm. At least, that's my experience - I have also heard the opposite: focus totally on it, and let it radiate out into the entire body and be released. It can be done, that's all I know (& I am an ultra sensitive person & if I can do it, *yadda* *yadda*...)
Thanks for the welcome. :)
I'm easing into this since it's been a couple of months, but I sat for longer last night, on day two than on the first day, and it felt more stable.
--Hanna
Post a Comment
<< Home