Meditation

[feralfae]

Dear Marty,

Thank you for that wonderful article.

I think I already told how, just prior to my emergency surgery, in the OR, I read the crew a note about being mindful, positive, saying positive things because although not conscious, my awareness was still there. I made them meditate on the best outcome with me for about 30 seconds, when one guy just said, "Okay, time." As it was, actually, for minutes count in that type of emergency surgery.

Now they are all amazed, continuing the practice in their OR, and I am their poster child. So we have actual proof it works. I can now balance on one foot to put on my socks, and walk balance logs. I am told a lot of 40-year old people cannot do that. I am still working on more postures on one foot. And growing more muscles. I meditate when I walk, too, on breath and heart beat.

I think mindful meditation is the most effective self-care we can do for our bodies.

typing of mindful, I gotta go take a nap.

*<twinkles>*

fae

[Wifflesnook]

Kay my iPhone and ipad are almost identical and use the same system etc but I use the ipad at home and love it and couldn't be without it. I watch TV on it in bed and its just the right size whereas the iPhone is a bit too small. Am in bed at daughters on a blow up bed and got to look after both littlies from 6am until 8 pm whilst Rainie goes to London for work so better go to sleep! Shall be glad when she gets back.

[kayc]

Thx, I was just wondering if I bought an iPad if I'd get stuck having to pay another data plan...no can afford!

[kayc]

Mary, that's kind of what I thought.

[mfh]

Thx, I was just wondering if I bought an iPad if I'd get stuck having to pay another data plan...no can afford!

Kay, I have an iPad my brother gave me and i pay nothing for it but I can not use it for calls unless I get an internet phone but that is el cheapo...I think $20 a year or something like that. I LOVE my iPad, fits in my purse, does email, has a ton of books on it, music, has its limits but they are disappearing as apps are developed. It is perfect. I prefer the bigger one as the keyboard is so simple to use.

[mfh]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120724115023.htm

Mindfulness reduces loneliness is older adults.

[feralfae]

Jan, I hope you and the littlies have a fund day. You could always let them style your hair. My god daughter thought that was the very best thing to do when she was a tiny one. This was right after my one and only spectacular climbing fall, when I was not doing much but healing. The styles were frightful sometimes, but endless fun, and I could just lie on the floor on my stomach and sleep. I hope you have some rest times, and that you can work in a nice quiet hour or two as well for all of you. Be sure you rest enough for you, dear Jan.

Mary, Thank you for the above on mindfulness. I find it reduces just about all feelings of loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, and weakness. Today, I did a body mindfulness meditation which was wonderful. I am working on getting more in tune with the subtle messages of physical me. Like resting and sleeping. Am a water hound, so I am fine on hydration.

And, Mary, how are the painters doing with their half day schedule, and how well does the paint dry in the rain? I don't mean in the rain, but with the humidity so high. I am dismembering the guest room probably until next week. Sunday, I am driving over the White Sulphur Springs, Montana, for a small dinner party with friends, all of us gluten and lactose free people. Our chef one, and is a master chef, and we get truly gourmet meals that we can all eat and enjoy. I plan to take one of Doug's wines over for the dinner party. All plans are off if we have a blizzard, of course. It was 14F here this morning. We need more snow.

Kay, I am tossing *<twinkles>* your way for Arlie and work. I think you have tomorrow off, not sure. So, for work in general, and happiness at work.

Ah, I see it is time to go move to the next level of the sleep experiment, and it is not yet quite dark here. But it will be by the time I am ready for bed.

Thank you for all the wonderful meditation links being shared here, everyone. I am trying to try them all, and it is like having a visit in a good library to have so many healing and helpful mediations all gathered in one place.

Have a lovely evening, Tribe, and blissful nights of sleep.

Arlie, stay well.

*<twinkles>*

fae

[feralfae]

Anne!

I did not mean to not say a word to you!

Blessings, and wonderful dreams of desert beauty.

*<twinkles>*

fae

[mfh]

I hope this video link works...it is a lovely meditation on our moon. Watch it full screen. Just lovely.

[enna]

very nice, Mary

[MartyT]

Some "mini meditations":

GPS Guide: Cindy Griffith-Bennett's Shares Her Favorite Soul Soothers (PHOTOS)

[mfh]

We have talked about meditation and its value as well as how to do it. We have not talked about where to do it. The answer is "anywhere". However having a special space or even a special chair that is used for meditation helps. As a therapist who has worked primarily with women it is clear to me that most women do not have a space,in their home, for themselves. Men have their garages or workshops or even an office or library. Women have the kitchen which belongs to everyone. I have heard women tell me they escape to the bathroom to meditate or escape for solitude...and even then the kids are pounding on the door.

Check out this piece about creating a sacred space. I give that as a "homework" assignment early into the therapy process. Women love it as they gather a few special books, a candle, treasures and a chair or turn a spare bedroom into "their space". Many of us have created a small altar in honor of our spouses/partners who have died. I surely have one with Bill's cap, glasses, photo, funeral candle, and a couple other items. I have merged that with my meditation altar or special shelf or whatever one wants to call it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debbie-woodbury/sacred-space_b_3094267.html?utm_hp_ref=gps-for-the-soul&ir=GPS%20for%20the%20Soul

[feralfae]

Dear Mary,

I love your sacred space.

Before Doug left, mine was in my studio.

Now, it is in our bedroom, on Doug's side of the bed, on his nightstand. I have a card he hid for me before he left. There is a rock we found in the Yukon, a very ancient spear point I found on the Old Trail, along the Rocky Mountain Front range, which goes through Montana, and also my medicine bag with my totems on it. Standing tall is a beeswax candle seated in Great Aunt Willa's candlestick. In a small wooden box are Doug's pen, glasses, and notepad. And some notes, some of his last. There are two of my little glazed porcelain globes. I touch these things, and stand and gaze out the window at my Kiva, and I feel Doug with me, and I am at peace with my memories.

I find myself, and know myself there, and can still feel Doug there, on his side of the bed, in his part of the room. I like it there.

fae

[enna]

Thank you, Mary. I have a section of my office set up for where I meditate. It helps me to be able to elevate my feet so I have a lazy boy chair big enough to stretch out in and also Jim's favorite straight back chair that I find so comfortable. I also have gone out in the yard and sat on a swing surrounded by AZ flowers, cacti, and trees. This becomes a little tricky when the hummingbirds are buzzing around the hibiscus bushes and the mockingbirds are going at it with song! It's easy for the eyes to close especially if I am listening to guided meditations! Do you see why I have some difficulty being still! I will go to your link above later. I think I have already seen it. Again, thank you for all you share. Anne

[mfh]

You are welcome, Anne. When you are outside you could focus on the sounds of the birds...mindfulness style...or on the hummingbirds as they zoom. When we lived in CO we had a lot of hummingbirds and they would zoom around us. I remembering sitting with the feet up on somthing and they zoomed beneath my legs and around my head and tried to get nectar from a red shirt I was wearing...kept poking at my sleeve.

[enna]

In my readings this morning I came across this article that I found most interesting and wanted to share it. As a neophyte (well almost) in meditation – at least in mindfulness - I found this answer to ‘Why Meditate’ by Sakkyong Mipham Rinpoche to be helpful to me:

Why Meditate?

“Meditation is based on the premise that the natural state of the mind is calm and clear. It provides a way to train our mind to settle into this state. Our first reason for meditating might be that we want some freedom from our agitated mind. We want to discover the basic goodness of our natural mind.

To do this requires us first to slow down and experience our mind as it is. In the process, we get to know how our mind works. We see that wherever the mind is abiding—in anger, in desire, in jealousy, or in peace—that is where we also are abiding. We begin to see that we have a choice in the matter: we do not have to act at the whim of every thought. We can abide peacefully. Meditation is a way to slow down and see how our mind works.

The untrained mind is like a wild horse. It runs away when we try to find it, shies when we try to approach it. If we find a way to ride it, it takes off with the bit in its teeth and finally throws us right into the mud. There is potential for communication and rapport between horse and rider, between mind and self, but the horse needs to be trained to be a willing participant in that relationship.

We train our minds with shamatha practice, the simple form of sitting meditation. Shamatha is a Sanskrit word that means "peacefully abiding." Like all types of meditation, it rests upon two basic principles, known in Tibetan as ngotro and gom. Ngotro refers to "being introduced" to the object of meditation, while gom is "becoming familiar." In shamatha practice, we are introduced to and become familiar with the simple act of breathing. This is our object of concentration, the place we return to again and again when the mind has run off and we find ourselves clutching the horse's neck, hoping we won't end up too far from home.

The untrained mind is weak and inflexible. It lives in a zone of comfort. When the boundaries of that zone are challenged, it reacts by becoming more rigid. In contrast, the trained mind is strong, flexible, and workable. Because it can stretch beyond where it feels comfortable, it's responsive—not reactive—to challenges. Through shamatha we can train our mind to be flexible and tuned in to what's happening now. We can apply this workable mind in all aspects of our lives, including our livelihood, our relationships, and our spiritual path. So another reason to meditate is to develop a strong, supple mind that we can put to work.”

Anne

[enna]

Seems to be my day for reading and listening to my inner self. I found this in my e-mail today and thought it worth sharing. Again the topic - why meditate?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kripalu/jack-kornfield_b_3098879.html

[kayc]

I have read many articles on the benefits of meditation, tips, etc. We can talk about it but we won't benefit until we DO it! You are right about how difficult it is to tame the mind, but starting small and gradually stretching seems to help.

[mfh]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-piper/meditation-practice_b_3112873.html

The Huffington Post ran this today. It features a center in Madison at the UW that is doing lots of research on meditation and has projects going in our schools teaching kids to meditate. When I taught school (60s and early 70s) I taught my kids (grades 5-8) how to meditate and we did it as we started the day and before going home. We are never too young or too old to start meditating and if I could do one of many things over in my life I would NOT have abandoned my meditation when I was in the caregiving days with Bill. It was sort of like jumping out of a plane choosing, at some level, to leave my parachute on the plane. Not a bright move. I urge you to do mindfulness or meditation each day and I DO understand how hard that is..but one does not need to do it perfectly. I believe in the early days of grief it is easier to do mindfulness but that is up to each person. In Mindfulness we have something very specific on which to focus...a shell, a bird flitting in the yard, a flower, a sound, etc. Just enter into one of those or several consecutively....it calms, lowers blood pressure and helps reduce the cortisol that results from the stress of grief.

[kayc]

Mary, what?!!! You jumped out of a plane w/o your parachute? How did you fare? I had a cousin that died from paragliding or something, not sure what happened. Don't think I'd have the courage to do anything of the sort.

[mfh]

No, no, Kay, I meant (and I changed it now) that letting go of my meditation when I most needed it was LIKE jumping out of an airplane and choosing to leave the parachute behind. Bill and I got 3 wedding gifts from a friend. One was a glider ride---awesome experience...flying through the air with no motor, just the wind. The pilot tipped the plane on edge also...scared us. The second was a session with a psychic who was right on. The third was sky diving tandem style for each of us. We went through the training, got on the plane...and chickened out....fun to watch the others though. I do believe jumping out of a plane without a chute would be called suicide or maybe stupid if the person survived.

On my way to Parson's, an Indian trading post that Bill and I used to go to mostly to chat with the owner or attend a pow wow. I got a Navaho rug there for my first Madison office-I hung it on the wall. It is way too big for my art studio so after looking everywhere else, I thought of Parson's to see if they had one that would fit. It will be a bittersweet journey.

No sign of painters....I have to surrender as they warned me that they come and go but would be done by Friday. Weird.

Peace,

Mary

[kayc]

Oh gosh, I must have totally read that wrong, LOL! Showing my age...

[mfh]

Easy to do

[kayc]

If your painters come and go, does that mean you have to stay home all week, just in case?

[mfh]

No, I leave the door unlocked...they come and go as they please. I just wish they would call and say if and or when they are coming but this is how so many contractors act that I get used to it. It feels ok...not great but ok.