At the beginning of 2020, I took on a powerful resolution: I would do a daily loving kindness meditation. I love this practice as a way of healing not just me, but all beings and the planet too. It’s a way of expanding the field of love and kindness on the planet. Never was it a more necessary practice than right now.
Most people know that meditation is good for them. But that doesn’t mean it’s at all easy to develop the meditation muscle.I’ve had a patchy history as a meditator. I’m now getting more regular as I see I need it. Savasana, the yoga relaxation, has been a key to open the door to meditation for me.In an effort to make peace with my overactive mind, I did Vipassana meditation courses in the 1980’s.Have you ever done one of these ten-day courses? They are conducted in complete silence. You do sitting meditation, alternating with walking meditation. This makes it less onerous for those of us who like to be physically active.I didn’t think that the sitting would be challenging for me. My attitude was, hey, I’m a yogi. How hard can sitting for an hour at a time be? Apparently, very hard!
I may be an elder but that does not always make me wise. One of my goals in doing regular meditation is to develop the quality of resilience. To be able to get myself out of a heavy mood in a reasonable timeframe. To get up off the floor when I feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck. The Japanese have a saying, “Fall down 7 times, get up 8.”
I may be an elder but that does not always make me wise. One of my goals in doing regular meditation is to develop the quality of resilience. To be able to get myself out of a heavy mood in a reasonable timeframe. To get up off the floor when I feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck. The Japanese have a saying, “Fall down 7 times, get up 8.”
I would like to say that I am an everyday meditator. That over the years I’ve been able to sit for longer and longer periods of time. And that, because of my meditating acumen, I am a better, nicer and more together person.
But no. I’m still totally human, with many frailties.
However, there is no doubt in my mind that there are rich rewards in meditation. I have experienced many of them.
For me, one of the greatest meditation benefits is the head space that sitting in meditation can provide. […]
Recently I learned (or learned for the 1,000th time) a Be Kind to Yourself lesson.If you’re like me, you don’t learn these vital life lessons easily. This is why long life can be a good thing. Because you can buy a little more time, and hopefully more wisdom.Recently I was on a two-day boat trip with nine other people. After the first day, one of the passengers got on my nerves. Seriously. A sailing boat doesn’t have much room for seclusion. […]
“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.”
The above quote from Pema Chodran appeals to me. I relate well to metaphors–word pictures. I know I am not really the sky, but to be able to feel into my mind, having it be as big as the open sky, well, it’s not hard.
Yet, most days I go around in a skyless world, one circumscribed by what is in front of my nose. […]
What are we doing when we practice mindful yoga asanas?The sun was shining this morning, the temperature chilly, but thankfully there was not a hint of a breeze. […]
I wish I had a gold coin for every time someone said, ‘I don’t have time to do yoga.’ Or, ‘I don’t have time for socialising.’ Or, ‘I don’t have time to read a book.’
I might add that I’m as likely to be dominated by time as the next person.
There are plenty of variations on the theme of not enough time, for instance:
Time gets eaten up by my work (… so I don’t have time to do stuff I love, like walking on the beach.)
I’m time poor. […]
What is a yoga intensive?
We teachers often call yoga courses which run over several days ‘intensives’, but what does that mean? Are they really intense? Is that a contradiction in terms?
Another word that’s used these days for this type of course is ‘immersion’. I think that’s a better expression. Intensive brings up the sense of extreme or severe effort. Immersion is more like plunging in and steeping yourself in the content.
We’ve just completed a week of early morning classes at the Yoga Shed for 15 students. […]
guest post via Michael Hollingworth
The Facts
We all know that meditation is supposed to be good for us, but here are some facts that make a tight case for it.
Fact number one: The human brain is the most complex known object in the universe. There are 100,000 miles of circuitry – enough to go right round the earth four times. […]
The Experience of Interconnected Wholeness
I enjoyed the experience of resting in my meditative heart this weekend through the practice of Yoga Nidra .
Two excellent things came out of this experience:
1. I found it very restful. Very.
2. And, I realised that the experience is as near to you as your heart is. In other words, it’s available almost any time.
The Workshop
I was fortunate to be able to attend a day-long workshop in North Sydney led by Dr. Richard C. […]
The Experience of Interconnected Wholeness
I enjoyed the experience of resting in my meditative heart this weekend through the practice of Yoga Nidra .
Two excellent things came out of this experience:
1. I found it very restful. Very.
2. And, I realised that the experience is as near to you as your heart is. In other words, it’s available almost any time.
The Workshop
I was fortunate to be able to attend a day-long workshop in North Sydney led by Dr. Richard C. […]
The Bird
I spotted a satin bowerbird building his ‘love shack’ in a sheltered part of our garden. My Wiki source says that these clever birds are endemic to eastern Australia. If you’re from another part of the world and aren’t familiar with bower birds, here’s a pic of a male:
I’ve known for a long time that bowerbirds are collectors of objects. They especially love blue things: drinking straws, bottle caps, and clothes pegs, for instance. […]
via pinterest – calmdownnow.com
There’s a reason meditation is recommended as a tool for training a busy mind to become quiet. Because, if you give meditation a go and stick with it, like yoga, it works.
I’ve had a patchy history of the sticking-with-it part of the equation, although I have tried doing meditation on and off over the years. […]
Long ago, American yoga teacher and writer, Judith Hanson Lasater*, carved out a niche in the world of teaching. She created workshops on the theme of ‘Restorative Yoga’ and her approach to relaxation and renewal has spread across the globe. I teach in this style and was honoured to lead a day long workshop for 20 students at YogaSphere.
This restorative style of practising yoga uses props to support the body in relaxing, so physically, emotionally and mentally the student can move to a state of balance. […]
In my mindfulness meditation practice the other morning, I had the experience of being in the moment – for a moment. In that ten minute period of sitting, I might have had three ‘being in the here and now’ moments. […]
Oh dear!
As I edited this post, what stood out in the first paragraphs were all the I’s I used to get my thoughts across. I just don’t know how to write without being personal! It’s a style for which I can forgive myself, and hopefully you will, too.
I don’t pretend to be enlightened in any shape or form. Being a yoga teacher doesn’t mean you are immune to any of the frailties and suffering of humankind. In fact, you might just end up like me being even more sensitive to them. […]
via Pinterest
Have you ever had an insight so profound that you’re sure your life will be transformed forever afterwards?
Here’s how it happens. You do a yoga workshop and a detail that you’re taught turns your world upside down. For instance, you’d been doing triangle pose one way (the best way, you thought). Then, you learned a point that upends your way of doing, not just triangle but all the standing poses.
Or, you read a book, and a new paradigm presents. It explains why you’ve been having trouble in your intimate relationships. […]
I love yoga and I love my yoga practice.
I often hear from people that they would like to be able to do home practice but somehow they never quite get there. Maybe this describes your experience. You might have bought all the yoga gear, dvd’s, YogaAnywhere practice cards, books, but ended cup only doing self-practice for a short time. […]