This is the first day of my blog about meditation practices. I have not had the chance to meditate today, because as soon as I sat down, my lovely dog decided she needed my attention more. So be it. I decided to take this time to describe my meditation practice.
It is very simple. I have set the intention to spend ten minutes each day in silent meditation. Sometimes I focus on a particular thought, sometimes I simply focus on my breath, with the purpose of clearing out all the mental clutter that is otherwise there. Today I'm struck by the closing words of a book that I just finished. "Even a short life is a whole life." writes the mother of a child who died way too young. That's what I focus on today, the wholeness of each individual life. The inherent worth and dignity of each life, including my own.
As for my meditation practice, I wanted to mention a tool that I have found very helpful. I used to use a timer for my meditation practice, but that ended in a jarring beeping noise that blew away any sense of peace I had cultivated. More recently, I have actually been using an ap on my iphone called Buddha Box. It's a digital replica of a meditation tool that has several different chants or noises. But more importantly for my purposes, it has a timer that ends with a gentle gong, rather than ear splitting buzz of the egg timer I had used before. So I'm off to meditate now.
What is your spiritual practice?
Do you have any tips for secrets that might help others in a similar practice?
I did my exercise session followed by a half hour walking meditation. I felt embodied because of the exercise but a bit distracted or diffuse. I couldn't isolate what was causing the distraction.
ReplyDeleteI alternate each day between a sitting meditation and a walking meditation. I much prefer the walking meditation. I get fidgety trying to sit for half an hour. Oh well.
I sometimes use a mental picture of a peaceful place where I have been. I try to see the scene pretty much in shades of charcoal gray, taupe, and so on so that I'll concentrate on textures and contrasts, rather than on colors. An example would be what I what I could "see" around me while sitting on some large boulders with a view of other boulders around, or,looking up at a mountain silhouette at near-dark, or a lizard just sunning itself in my backyard. The image of the lizard came from a time while I was doing a short walking meditation in the backyard, so it's an awesome memory, and the other images are memories too, really.
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