Meditation

[mfh]

Significant in many ways.

[feralfae]

Thank you Anne and Mary for special waking messages and images. How very beautiful and special.

Anne, I hope you and Benji are both doing well this morning.

Mary, I hope your eyes are feeling better, and that the drops are helping, and that you and Bentley are having a lovely morning.

Queenie Mary, I hope you have a safe drive, and enjoyable time, and a delicious dinner.

It is an errand-running morning for me, and a busy day.

*<twinkles>*

fae

[mfh]

...eyes are cumbersome...for lack of a better word...but I can see and my surgical eye will come around and on Sept. 20 I get a Rx that will clear up the view....so I am focusing (no pun intended) on perfect vision (with glasses)and no irritation down the road.

...move slowly on your errands...listen to your body...and have fun.

Mary

[kayc]

Beautiful! I like the message it contains...

[feralfae]

This is a link to mandalas we can print and color.

Just for smiles.

fae

[enna]

Thank you for the mandalas, fae. I am coloring one today. I'll post it when finished.

 

[feralfae]

Oh, Anne, thank you.

What a beautiful serenade, emphasis on serene. Beautiful music. Beautiful.

Thank you so much.

I am now relaxing into sleepiness.

Thank you.

*<twinkles>*

fae

[KarenK]

Fae,

Do not laugh, but I didn't realize that a mandala is actually a spiritual symbol. One of my very favorite musical artists is Kitaro. I have every one of his CD's. One is titled Mandala with, of course, the symbol on the cover. I simply thought it was the name of the CD. Ron & I attended a concert of his in Phoenix many years ago & it was spectacular. His violinist was superb. He presents quite a show with a near nude girl entering the stage enclosed in a huge plastic bubble. I'm sure Ron didn't enjoy the concert near as much as I did, as we had very different tastes in some of our music.

Anyway, thanks for enlightening me.

Karen

[mfh]

I need to get off line but I HAD to read this piece because I have experienced so much of it over the years in meditation and want all of you to experience this also.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-davis-phd/meditation-and-the-afterlife_b_3762827.html

Enjoy this piece and if you are not currently meditating daily...do give it serious consideration. I would hate to see the mess I would be every day without this "tool". Even with it grief takes it toll but I KNOW it helps...a lot. When I get nutso, or a mess, sitting in meditation helps to bring me to my center of piece...takes me to places that remind me of the bigger worlds surrounding and running through our very bodies, the one where Bill now resides. Last night i listened to a lot of a book (To Heaven and Back http://www.amazon.com/To-Heaven-Back-Doctors-Extraordinary/dp/0307731715%C2'>

Now I really do need to close this laptop...walk Bentley...stop to see a friend (Lutheran minister) psychologist who wants to meet with me today....about a referral. I am tiptoeing back into my practice.

Peace

Mary

Shutting down for a long while,

Mary

[enna]

The Gift of Inner Peace.

[enna]

Something I found helpful in my struggle to meditate. It's that being in the moment without outer distractions that seem to consume me.

Meditation: Touching In with the Present Moment

At the beginning of a meditation session, it can be helpful to check in with your mind before you begin. See where you’re at right now. To find yourself in the present moment, it can help if you run through a series of questions to help you contact your mind, to help you become aware of what’s happening in this very moment.

So the first question is: What are you feeling? Can you contact what you’re feeling? It could be your mood or your physical body, a quality of drowsiness or peacefulness, agitation or physical pain—anything. Can you contact that nonverbally and just get a sense of what you’re feeling? To refine this question a little bit: Are there any emotions? Can you be present to them? Can you contact them?

We’re not talking about having to name anything or remembering the history of the emotion, or anything like that. Just be present to what you’re feeling right now.

Are you experiencing any physical sensations right now? Pain, tightness, relaxation?

What about your thoughts? What’s the quality of your thoughts right now? Is your mind very busy? Is it quite drowsy? Is it surprisingly still? Are your thoughts raging or peaceful or dull? Obsessive or calm?

If I were to ask you personally, right now, “What is the quality of your mind at this moment?” Whether it’s still or wild or dull, whatever it might be, what would you say?

Hopefully these questions will help you touch in and make deep contact with yourself. I suggest that you begin your meditation practice with these questions. With practice, you’ll find that you don’t need to run through a list of questions to bring yourself into the present moment on your cushion. It will become more automatic. Your intention is to simply locate your mind and stabilize the mind as you launch into your practice.

From How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind, by Pema Chödrön.

[feralfae]

Dear Anne,

Thank you, that is a wonderful message.

Thank you.

fae

[enna]

Good Morning Meditation - expanding our consciousness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrsOco9Hbu0

[enna]

Doing something for myself. Being aware of my breath.

[enna]

This video takes my breath away. Thirteen minutes of breathtaking beauty of our planet earth. My form of meditating this morning.

I watch this full screen on you tube and see something different each time. Enjoy.

[enna]

Today as I labor at my desk, tending to things that I've neglected for days, I'm listening to Anne Murray, one of my favorite singers.

My meditation is rather strange today - those of you who still have a partner - dance; those of us whose partners are waiting for us to join them - dance. Sometimes it is very difficult not to have that human touch we were so used to so those of you who still have your love partner let them know how much they are loved. I can turn almost anything into a meditation. Just focus on a dove ice cream bar and see how long you can let the rich, dark chocolate stay in your mouth! Gotcha, all my other chocolate lovers - I lost.

[MartyT]

Meditation from another perspective: The Reason Why We Meditate: Wow!

[mfh]

"The reason we meditate is wow!" Marty, I totally agree with Bruce Davis. I think Bruce Davis is an incredible guide. I remember the Magical Child and his other books and just ordered another one. (I am counting on my eyes working and plan to read all winter )

Thanks for posting this. I would have missed it.

Peace and Wow to you!

Mary

[mfh]

Doing something for myself. Being aware of my breath.

Anne, I will be spending an evening and a long day with Jon in October...a day of Mindfulness. I will pick up doubles of any handouts...

He seldom appears publicly anymore....so I grabbed the opportunity. I guess this is my autumn to be in the presence of awesome people! Peace, Mary

[enna]

Oh Mary, you are so lucky to have so many good people come to your area. That is one thing I miss about not being in the midwest. I am hoping to go to Sedona in the fall for a retreat again. Dr. Joanne Caicciatore is working on putting together another one that has my interest. Today I am just going to make it a ME day. Sometimes we have to do that, don't we. On these days I usually go back to meditations that have meant something to me. Today, I need something that will give me courage, courage to accept what is...

[feralfae]

Dear Anne,

I hope today bring you great peace and some joy. Thank you for all the wonderful and helpful posts on meditation.

I am so glad to hear you are having a YOU day. Good for you.

I have a very long day of work, appointments, and then dinner out as a social event for the first time since Doug left. I am meeting a girlfriend at a local bistro for dinner. It is a bit scary, because I will be seeing people I have not seen for maybe two years. Whew! But, I think it is time to do this, to get back into a bit of social life, and my dear friend, who is in cardio rehab and doing very well, is meeting me there for an early dinner. Doug loved to go to this bistro and talk to the sommelier about wines for half the meal, it seemed.

I'd better get ready to head in to the office soon, and organize my day.

Much Love and

*<twinkles>*

fae

[mfh]

Oh Mary, you are so lucky to have so many good people come to your area. That is one thing I miss about not being in the midwest. I am hoping to go to Sedona in the fall for a retreat again. Dr. Joanne Caicciatore is working on putting together another one that has my interest. Today I am just going to make it a ME day. Sometimes we have to do that, don't we. On these days I usually go back to meditations that have meant something to me. Today, I need something that will give me courage, courage to accept what is...

Anne, I envy you doing some work with Joanne Cacciatore...I would love that as much as you would like seeing Tara on Friday and then in October Jon Kabat-Zinn and Richie Davidson. But the bottom line is that we don't need any of these spiritual leaders since all our answers are inside of us. I see these folks as motivation.

My brother just called to see what my plan for the wedding is and even on the phone I diddled with needing one more day but finally just said...I am not going. Maybe the diddling let him know this is difficult. I told him it was a tough decision. He did not challenge me. Not sure what he really thought...I never will know that about a lot of what he says. He made the reservations so he needed to pursue cancellation since it is all in his name. So it is done. I will now email the rest and tell them. I think this is the first BIG (weddings, funerals, Jim's ordination etc., important birthdays and anniversaries) family event I have ever missed. The bride, Katelyn Mary, is named after me and is my godchild but I feel such a relief along with the pain....life is bittersweet everywhere I turn. I think it always has been but when we had our beloveds at our side...we handled the bitter with so much more ease. Remember you and I and all of us have all the courage we need to accept what is...it seems like we do not but it IS there one day at a time...that is the key...the NOW....We are all behind you, Anne, as you raise your hands in acceptance of what is. (For all that has been, thanks. To all that shall be, Yes. Dag Hammarskjold). You do not do this alone even though it feels like that so much of the time. I am, as are all of us, close to you physically almost as if we were there...I know it is not the same but not much really separates us. I have been in rooms as have all of us and felt far more distance from the people in that room than I feel here with people miles and miles away from me. Know that I carry you and all here in my heart. Peace now, today...Mary

[MartyT]

Yes. ♥

[mfh]

Thank you, Marty!

[kayc]

It doesn't matter what your brother thinks, so it's just as well you don't know. The IMPORTANT thing is that you take care of yourself. The timing is regretful, but it is what it is. Some people think there's a purpose in everything, not sure that I do, although it's a nice way to think, sometimes I think things just happen and must be accepted. So...send your godchild your best wishes, a nice gift, and request to view a video of the wedding...it's something that could be emailed to you. I'm proud of you, Mary!