Just sat a lovely thirty minutes before everyone got up in the vines, and with the morning breeze. There was a september edge to the air and the birdson seems to have fallen out of the sky, leaving us with a profound silence. As I listened to the occasional bee, fly, crow, car, hoopoe pass by my hearing, I felt these sounds were like thoughts; that even when there is a constant din, there is always the same silence underneath.
I sat for about thirty minutes last night - a fitful sit. Sensations in my throat and my belly that I'm tempted to name as "anxiety". These are the sensations I resist, struggle against, refuse to just let be. I have abandoned my practice before on their basis...I'm determined to allow equanimity to take hold of me in their presence...
Goobermonkey, accepting all thoughts and sensations that arise during meditation, recognizing them, and letting them go... witnessing the way the mind works, how the body feels, this is one way meditation becomes a way, a Tao, to being at peace with ourselves, feeling comfortable with who we are.
That often happens to me, too, at the beginning, and I am glad it does - it's a way of making sure I'm in touch with what I'm feeling, so often we push away what we're feeling for various reasons - and so I try to recognize what I'm going through and then let it go.
We are the intricacies of our lives, and so much more than that.
If you go back a week or two, Dale and Lorianne have written eloquently and beautifully on discomforting thoughts and sensations during meditation.
Goobermonkey, Janice hits the nail on the head. Anxious thoughts aren't intrinsically different from happy or other sorts of thoughts: they all come & go unpredictably, so there's no use trying to either reject or cling to them.
Sometimes I personify my anxieties by imagining them as fierce little cartoon-like creatures (my inner Beasties!) When I imagine my own anxieties & neuroses thusly, then I can treat them gently as annoying creatures that nevertheless have their own vulnerabilities & are worthy of compassion.
I think this might be what people mean when they talk of "embracing your fear."
It's still dreadfully hot here in NH with a heat index just under 100F: ugh! I haven't done bows in this hot weather, and today I'm feeling physically icky with a sore & scratchy throat, which I fear means I've somehow managed to catch a *cold* in this broiling heat wave.
So, this afternoon my practice has consisted of lying very still atop my bed, trying to keep cool while I rest & drink fluids...
Thank you to both Brenda and Lorianne...I see the wisdom in your words...An intention for me: welcome whatever sensation is there and let it go when it is ready to depart...
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Just sat a lovely thirty minutes before everyone got up in the vines, and with the morning breeze. There was a september edge to the air and the birdson seems to have fallen out of the sky, leaving us with a profound silence. As I listened to the occasional bee, fly, crow, car, hoopoe pass by my hearing, I felt these sounds were like thoughts; that even when there is a constant din, there is always the same silence underneath.
I sat for about thirty minutes last night - a fitful sit. Sensations in my throat and my belly that I'm tempted to name as "anxiety". These are the sensations I resist, struggle against, refuse to just let be. I have abandoned my practice before on their basis...I'm determined to allow equanimity to take hold of me in their presence...
Goobermonkey, accepting all thoughts and sensations that arise during meditation, recognizing them, and letting them go... witnessing the way the mind works, how the body feels, this is one way meditation becomes a way, a Tao, to being at peace with ourselves, feeling comfortable with who we are.
That often happens to me, too, at the beginning, and I am glad it does - it's a way of making sure I'm in touch with what I'm feeling, so often we push away what we're feeling for various reasons - and so I try to recognize what I'm going through and then let it go.
We are the intricacies of our lives, and so much more than that.
If you go back a week or two, Dale and Lorianne have written eloquently and beautifully on discomforting thoughts and sensations during meditation.
Goobermonkey, Janice hits the nail on the head. Anxious thoughts aren't intrinsically different from happy or other sorts of thoughts: they all come & go unpredictably, so there's no use trying to either reject or cling to them.
Sometimes I personify my anxieties by imagining them as fierce little cartoon-like creatures (my inner Beasties!) When I imagine my own anxieties & neuroses thusly, then I can treat them gently as annoying creatures that nevertheless have their own vulnerabilities & are worthy of compassion.
I think this might be what people mean when they talk of "embracing your fear."
It's still dreadfully hot here in NH with a heat index just under 100F: ugh! I haven't done bows in this hot weather, and today I'm feeling physically icky with a sore & scratchy throat, which I fear means I've somehow managed to catch a *cold* in this broiling heat wave.
So, this afternoon my practice has consisted of lying very still atop my bed, trying to keep cool while I rest & drink fluids...
Uh, that should say BRENDA hits the nail on the head. Did I mention feeling physically icky? It seems to have gone to my head... :-(
Thank you to both Brenda and Lorianne...I see the wisdom in your words...An intention for me: welcome whatever sensation is there and let it go when it is ready to depart...
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