Meditation
Maitri has been fussed while construction prevents her from going outside on the catio. This morning, she went into the yoga practice room, went into a trance, and projected herself astrally into the garden.
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Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Body | Gardening | Meditation | Quaker
Today I Was Overwhelmed With Grief
I practiced, including a Zoom class led by my friend Suzanne Lynch, I asked for help, I expressed appreciation to various friends and colleagues, I went out into the garden at lunchtime, made several more donations, and sat under the cat. And I re-centered enough to be able to persist.
I hope you all are finding your way in this. Let me know if you want to practice–on-line.1
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The Space of No Words Required
The other day, after having worked, been on the phone, and continued in the social whirl of the holidays, the thought sprung up in my mind that I wanted to “go to the place of no words.” It felt absolutely essential that I go into the space of deep meditation. It was not so much for escape, as for rest. For me, meditation can provide more of an opportunity for my mind to rest and renew than can sleep. I rarely have dreamless sleep, and when I am very busy, my dreams get more so. My meditations, like everyone’s, can be full of thoughts and words. Thoughts will inevitably arise. What is different in meditation, though, is that even when my mind is full of thoughts, I know I do not have to follow them. I can just let them be — as if there were some radio or television program on that I just allow to be on, but to which I do not give my attention. It is this rest from paying attention, from having to follow and direct thought that I wanted so that when I returned to active thought there would be more clarity, discrimination, and, where needed, detachment.
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It is the days
when I have too many different things to do that sitting for meditation and doing a little asana is most important. We always have 25-45 minutes. It is just a matter of understanding where they are and how we want to use them.
Having sat sweetly for 25 minutes, I am calm and relaxed as I get ready for work, take care of the garden (if only it would rain), wait for a meeting with a contractor, etcetera, etcetera.
I do not believe in using the benefits of practice to enable multitasking, but on the days when everything coalesces in a less than optimal way, I am grateful for the calm center it provides.