mfh Posted July 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 an aural meditation....turn your speakers up....close your eyes and journey through the quietest place in our country.... http://www.onbeing.org/blog/an-aural-hike-through-the-hoh-valley-rain-forest-a-soundscape-meditation/5776 I remember one hike Bill and I took in CO and went with a man we did not know well but who knew the trail well. We started at 8,900 feet and hiked to about 11,600 feet and he never took a breath...never stopped talking. So after we got to the top and separated to enjoy the silence there...I asked him if he would mind if we did not talk on the way down and just enjoyed the sounds of nature...a bit much but he knew no balance. He did it but was not happy. We chose never to hike with him again...of course. But we had a wonderful 3 hour hike down in the snow and sleet over Labor Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feralfae Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 Dear Mary, Ah, you have given a good practice for this day. Thank you. Just living in the day will be interesting to work to do, and actually, I think I may try to do this for the entire rest of the month. We can always come back to intention, after all. After being absent in so many ways for so many years as we struggled with the cancer and Doug's leaving, it would be a very welcome break to have no intention, and to be present. I liked the Hoh River meditation, except I do wish he had not talked at all. There are people with whom I will not go into the mountains, or even take walks with, because they are unable to relax and just enjoy. There are dear friends with whom I cannot go walking, because I end up a bit scattered and upset after they tell me all their woes on the walk. Mostly complaints about husbands, family, jobs. I find that walking alone is usually best for me, and that mountain excursions can vary greatly in quality of experience depending on the other participants. You were wise to ask for silence on the way down. Climbing is prayer for me in some ways, and the idea of non-stop talker being along would certainly change the experience. I am off to take Karen out for brunch. Today, I will try to stay right here, right now. I hope you are having a quiet and peaceful day, just you and Bentley, enjoying some space and each other, and not working on anythings except peace for your heart and some smiles with Bentley. *<twinkles>* fae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 fae, i also wished he had not talked on the audio. sort of a contradiction, eh? I just returned from 11 block walk in heat and humidity, gnats and mosquitoes....really warm out there. I showered and then walked...brilliant on my part. So now I need to shower again. I am sitting here ready to pay bills which I hate doing but feels good when done. Bentley is sleeping peacefully. Yesterday was a tough day for me. Our holiday started a week ago Friday with the art fair...a holiday energy lays over and within the village starting the day before...and continues through today. It was a long long week and yesterday I awoke heavy and as sad as could be. Took most of the day to shake it off but I did paint and that felt great. I hope to paint daily now even if it is a chart. Yesterday I painted a being standing on a pier looking to a sky full of light and dark...sort of where i was yesterday. I also worked on one I have been playing with for a while....I am trying so hard to let go of "doing it right" and "being Picasso, Rembrandt, Whyte" all rolled into one and NOW. I hope after brunch with Karen, you will continue to rest today. Grief is so compromising to our immune systems.... I checked out the Montana tea company. Thanks for that. My friend is selling her tea house, has an offer, and I just know that the person who is buying is knows zip about tea and will compromise product so knowing about Montana tea company helps. Peace to your heart, Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/07/where-to-meditate-surprising-spots_n_3518467.html?utm_hp_ref=gps-for-the-soul&ir=GPS%20for%20the%20Soul About meditation...don't miss the slides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 This piece is so important to everyone but as we grieve, I think it matters even more. This is not a long piece and worth a few moments of your time. I do understand that in so many ways we are not looking for happiness at this time in our journeys...we are looking for acceptance and peace and just time to be where we are and grieve our losses, find ourselves, get our brains and hearts around what has happened. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-colier/prescription-for-happines_b_3499113.html We are urged by our culture to "move on" "to do our grief work" "to get happy again" "to do, to do, to do"...but this author suggests: "Happiness happens when we live without a future, and without an intention for what this moment and this life should become. Happiness happens when we move from becoming to being.How utterly radical, to live without an intention... and how utterly freeing. But be prepared, the mind will scream when "What do I do?" is dropped as your mantra... "But my life will never be good if I don't do something to make it happen!" Nonetheless, take a chance, be courageous, give it a whirl and see what you discover. You can always return to your intentions and agendas for this moment, this life. In truth, life does happen when you stop doing something with it and to it. Indeed, when you live without an intention, life gets better than good. When you stop asking, "What do I do?" and start asking, "What's here, now?", the presence you are after, the place of no effort, it's all here. As it turns out, you didn't need to do anything at all." ahh Mary, this resonates with all that I feel within me and have learned to be true! This is true spirituality in it's most basic form! It is not in learning theology or different religions or adhering to a particular creed or performing some ritual...it is in...being. Some of the greatest mystics of all time that I have read have found this to be true! How simply and aptly put. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enna Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thank you for the aural meditation and the Huffington Post PS for the soul slides, Mary. Two things come to my mind - nature is truly a spiritual experience when one listens or only whispers and meditation really can take place anywhere. I had one of my most focused meditation last week when in the OR for the cardiac procedures. Under whatever 'cocktail' they administered I remember only that I was in a bed of wild flowers watching butterflies or moths flying above my head. I was only focused on that until I heard someone say, "Anne, you are in the recovery room now." I am glad I heard that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 Kay, I so agree....effort and enlightenment are not in the same playing field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 Anne, perhaps it was one of Jan's moths? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feralfae Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Anne, I am so glad you have such a beautiful experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Anne, your trip during surgery sounds like a journey to the other side...how lovely. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-and-deb-shapiro/meditation-tips_b_3555853.html Neat piece about meditation and includes a great exercise.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Good piece on Mindfulness and trauma...and short http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/mindfulness-in-the-treatment-of-trauma-0626135 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feralfae Posted July 10, 2013 Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Thank you for the link ot the article on trauma and mindfulness. A very good practice, and one I will be using for a while now. Perfect timing. fae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/opinion/sunday/the-morality-of-meditation.html?_r=1& According to this article, we must all be meditating as it says it makes people more compassionate and willing to reach out to those in pain. We are certainly doing all that...meditation or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 After lunch today I dropped in to see my friend's art exhibit at our local library. She is the grand niece (I think that is it) of Aldo Leopold and is passionate about the environment and her art work reflects that. A couple of quotes from Leopold were used in places. For those who are not real familiar with Leopold, he is extremely popular here because he is from Wisconsin and taught at the UW. He has influenced this entire state and now we are trying to protect what we have here.... This is from Wikipedia: "Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), which has sold more than two million copies. Leopold was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. His ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement, with his ecocentric or holistic ethics regarding land.[1] He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management.[2]" Anyway I then got motivated to go to his Marshland Elegy which is lovely and I found not only the text but a slide show of it. I think it is a great meditation and so I share it here. http://www.slideshare.net/Leopoldfoundation/marshland-elegy It is here in Wisconsin that the new baby cranes are trained to follow an ultralight to the south to teach them how to migrate and with that the crane numbers are increasing dramatically. We are the home of the International Crane Foundation. The crane is a symbol of longevity and peace.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enna Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 "It is here in Wisconsin that the new baby cranes are trained to follow an ultralight to the south to teach them how to migrate and with that the crane numbers are increasing dramatically. We are the home of the International Crane Foundation. The crane is a symbol of longevity and peace...." from Mary I absolutely love the slideshow and pictures. All I could think of was 'dance of the cranes' - how breathtaking to see such beauty. A very good way to end a sunny and peaceful day for me. Thank you for sharing this, Mary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 Anne, I am so glad you liked the slide show. We have lots of cranes around here and we count them annually. If you or anyone else here ever get up here I will take you to the International Crane Foundation where you will be thrilled with magnificence. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enna Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 I shall be first on your list and so look forward to the trip to the International Crane Foundation - after your eye surgeries, Mary. I once again was thinking about how I need to look into getting one of those medic-alert necklaces that monitor you 24/7. I do not think I'm the only one, dear Mary, who does not believe in shoes! This is something so important for all of us whether we are alone or with spouses. It is so easy to fall anywhere in our homes. I have tripped a few times and could have really hurt myself. We could be outdoors in the yard or on the patio or decks. If someone is not with us it could be serious. Perhaps this is something I'll do soon. I keep thinking that it's for 'old' people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 I shall be first on your list and so look forward to the trip to the International Crane Foundation - after your eye surgeries, Mary. I once again was thinking about how I need to look into getting one of those medic-alert necklaces that monitor you 24/7. I do not think I'm the only one, dear Mary, who does not believe in shoes! This is something so important for all of us whether we are alone or with spouses. It is so easy to fall anywhere in our homes. I have tripped a few times and could have really hurt myself. We could be outdoors in the yard or on the patio or decks. If someone is not with us it could be serious. Perhaps this is something I'll do soon. I keep thinking that it's for 'old' people. I just received the information on Medic Alert. Bill wore one...around his neck and it had his meds on it, Dx and an 800 number with all of his history. I do urge you to get one. As for the ICF (cranes) it is a wonderful place and at the right time of the year there is a wide variety of cranes there. As for the shoe thing...I am glad someone has finally confessed to being barefoot. Right now I have sandals on because after I came home from lunch and did a few things I did not take them off...and can hardly wait to get them off my feet. I am careful. I also know one can fall anyway. I can't tell you how many of my friends, my age, have fallen and seriously hurt themselves. And of course it happens so suddenly like any accident. I do have safety bars in the bathroom and am careful elsewhere and I do have a friend that emails me and I email her each morning and evening so at least I would only be on the floor for 12 hours or less. That is all one can do outside of the "help help I've fallen" thing...but I also have my cell phone in my pocket ALL the time and in the bathroom I have it on a stool near the tub. That is as cautious as I get. I need to get some supper. It is 7:30pm here and I had a very late lunch but am hungry now. Later, mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feralfae Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 http://www.creamersfield.org/Visit_Us.html This is a place right in Fairbanks where Doug and I used to go watch the cranes, as this is a gathering place where they stage to during migration. We have Sandhills who nest not far from our house here. I love the gawky and awkward little ones, so curious about all the world. *<twinkles>* fae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 I never thought of cranes that far north...for some unknown reason. I love them, their beauty and grace as well as their symbolism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfh Posted July 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xDoaQeQywDo#at=66 Why meditate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enna Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 What was Said to the Rose... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feralfae Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 Dear, dear Anne, I love Rumi, and this interpretation of his piece on the opening of the rose resonates very deeply with me, thank you so very much. As I sit here with tears streaming down my face that is lifted in gratitude for Doug and our love, for our life and our laughter, for our days and our dreams, I remember when my heart finally opened to him, when he said the words that were the key to unlock my heart after I lost David, and had vowed to never risk loving again. I am reminded again, once more that Love is worth everything. For those of us who have known Love of such beauty, depth, grace, and openness, this piece says it all. For Love does transform us with its presence. Thank you so very much, dear heart. fae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 Oh I so agree! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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