90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

[peacenik]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

thanks wip...i'm going to go through these and when she gets home from dance sit with her for a bit and see if she wants to try it out.

peace!

[lorisunshine]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

WIP, thanks for starting this tread and all the great information. Meditation is certainly on my bucket list and for me sooner is probably better than later. I have a hell of a time turning off my head until I read, I think it was Edgar Tolle's latest book, that if you concentrate on your own breathing you cannot think of anything else. Low and behold - it worked. I need to find some time tomorrow and reread what you have posted. It's a lot to grasp all at once.
When I paint I either listen to classical music or I keep the house perfectly still. Most of the time I am concentrating so hard and I am so into what I am painting that no negative thought dares cross my mind. Is that a form of meditation? It's the only time that I keep still.
Lori

[DeeBee]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

Awareness of Our Bodies

Most of the time we go through the day, through our activities, our work, our relationships, our conversations, and very rarely do we ground ourselves in an awareness of our bodies. We are lost in our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions, our stories, our plans.
A very simple guide or check on this state of being lost is to pay attention to those times when you feel like you are rushing. Rushing does not have to do with speed. You can rush moving slowly, and you can rush moving quickly. We are rushing when we feel as if we are toppling forward. Our minds run ahead of ourselves; they are out there where we want to get to, instead of being settled back in our bodies. The feeling of rushing is good feedback. Whenever we are not present, right then, in that situation, we should stop and take a few deep breaths. Settle into the body again. Feel yourself sitting. Feel the step of the walk. Be in your body.
The Buddha made a very powerful statement about this: "Mindfulness of the body leads to nirvana." Such awareness is not a superficial practice. Mindfulness of the body keeps us present

[DeeBee]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

I didn't get to meditate this morning. A combination of waking up late and hubby being home left me feeling like I missed out on something special. I have been doing this for less than a week and already I feel peeved that my time has been interrupted.

Wip, I don't think I've said THANKS yet. Thanks for teaching me and being so patient. BTW I love all the links you give us.

I am very interested in teaching my daughter (14) to meditate. Her school will be starting Yoga soon, every morning before class and she is very interested in meditation.

[DeeBee]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

Wow Peace, great job. I don't think I would've handled it quite so elegantly:-)

[A Work in Progress]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

Hey, Lori, welcome! Thanks for the interesting insights. The observation about painting (and similar activities that require us to be absorbed in our work) is a great one. Most who study these things would say that the "state" one gets into when doing that sort of thing is called "Flow," and it is a very beneficial and rewarding type of mental engagement, but somewhat different from meditation. When we are engaged in "flow," we are no longer monitoring our thoughts or consciously focusing our attention on a single object; in the "flow" state, we have become so absorbed in the activity that we do not need to make any effort at all to stay focused. The activities that get us into "flow" are usually challenging and rewarding: solving puzzles, playing a musical instrument (or painting), engaging in sports...

My thoughts about thinking... while focused on sensations of breathing... are slightly different than Tolle's. Many of us (probably, most of us) find that our thoughts continue to bubble up even while we are keeping our attention focused on the sensations of breathing; but, we can allow them to recede to the "background" or "the backs of our minds," while keeping the "foreground," or the more intense attentional focus, on our breathing. And, often, it is a sense of one's attention shifting back and forth... starting with the breath sensations, then noticing that attention has been distracted by thoughts or noises, then back to the breath sensations, and so forth. It is that act of "shifting back" that is helpful in strengthening our brain's capacity to attend to what we WANT to attend to... and to refrain from giving in to urges and impulses.

Deebs, keep us posted on your daughter's yoga and meditation! That is wonderful!

[irishgal]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

90 days of meditation

I would like to tag along here as well, though I realize you all have a head start.

[A Work in Progress]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

Fantastic, Irishgal! Everyone is more than welcome to jump in at ANY time!

[peacenik]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

didn't sit today, but tried a walking meditation before the big meeting i had at my daughter's school today (dealing with the repurcussions of yesterday's drama)...it helped me to focus on what i wanted to say and to be clear. i felt calm and in control of myself instead of manic and ready to fight. things were resolved with the kids and their teacher today during school. i went into the meeting with a clear vision of wanting to make sure this type of thing never happened again, to any child...school is for learning not a place for fear and violence...the kids really were great and i am proud of them...the other mother never really seemed to resolve her anger and i really tried to deal with her with compassion and understanding (even though i don't get her ways of dealing, but i digress!).

mindfulness is a wonderful tool in so many ways...

peace!

[cymru]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

There was alot of meditation mentioned in my AA meeting last night. It seems that alot of AA members meditate, and it was interesting to hear about it and its benifits. Im going to be starting the 12 step programme soon, so its something I will learn about. An aspect of recovery I had never thought about before.

[A Work in Progress]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

Wonderful, Peace! Walking meditation is a great practice. I'll post something about it later this morning.

Hi, Cy! Yes, meditation is actually mentioned ("prayer and meditation") in the 12 steps. You'll notice, though, that the word is used differently, by different people. During my own time in AA I found that many in AA do a type of "meditation" that involves reading a passage in a "meditation book" (and there are lots of those, for people in recovery from addiction), and then sitting quietly and thinking about the passage, about how it relates to his or her own life. Which is a very helpful practice. It's not the same as the type of "meditation" that is the subject of this thread... in this type of meditation (drawn from Buddhist and other religious traditions), we are making it a practice not to "think about" anything at all, but instead to sort of mentally sit back and observe our own thought processes. It's a type of "mind training," learning how to place our attention where we choose to place it.... instead of just living on a mental "autopilot." Make sense?

[cymru]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

Yes, perfect. An interesting subject for sure. I sometimes feel in a similar state when im having a mid afternoon nap. I sort of go in a half asleep, half awake state, and my mind seems clear of the worries of the world, and its a very 'nice' relaxing feeling.

[peacenik]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

that is how i feel when i am focusing on breath for an extended length of time...sort of like i'm floating or like my body is melting into the space around me...it can get a bit psychedelic if i let it...and sometimes i do!

[DeeBee]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

That is wonderful Peace. I really feel for the other Mom, she is going to carry that anger around with her for a long time, isisn't she?

Hi Irish and Cy.

Wip, I must say that that article you gave us the link to on "teaching mindfulless to children" I am finding so interesting. I printed it out and have started reading it with my daughter to see how much of it she can grasp.

This morning instead of sitting with my legs crossed, which doesn't feel natural and I can feel my knees coming up, so I sat on my haunches OWWWW!! I could barely walk after that. I had the most unusual feeling whist meditating... almost floating feeling, which was more prominent if I breathed using my stomach (does that make sense) . But I don't know if I can do that again as damn it hurts.

This weekend I'm going to listen to a couple of the downloads you have given us.

[peacenik]

90-Day Meditation Practice Challenge!

ooochiwhawha dee! there is a yoga pose where you sit like that and i just don't do it or i put a pillow between my butt and legs...but to sit like that for an extended period, ow!