Walking, waking, deliberate meditation.

[Vanessa White]

Good morning, friends:

I read this in "Journey of the Heart" by Melody Beattie this morning; the power of meditation, and the action of "inhaling peace and exhaling fear". I also wrote about it on my blog today, and want to pose it as a question:

What do you do to be ever present, mindful, in your everyday life? What works, what doesn't? What helps you to inhale peace and exhale fear?

vanessaslifelessons@blogspot.com

[keltic63]

you know, Daniel gave me a similar exercise from the Buddhist tradition, just a few days ago. I was amazed at how well it worked. I intend to keep doing this sort of thing.

[keltic63]

Originally Posted by Vanessa White

Good morning, friends:

I read this in "Journey of the Heart" by Melody Beattie this morning; the power of meditation, and the action of "inhaling peace and exhaling fear". I also wrote about it on my blog today, and want to pose it as a question:

What do you do to be ever present, mindful, in your everyday life? What works, what doesn't? What helps you to inhale peace and exhale fear?

vanessaslifelessons@blogspot.com

I think you mean; http://vanessaslifelessons.blogspot.com/

[Vanessa White]

Thanks for having my back. I am still learning about these techie things.....

[Zerbie]

Practice some yoga every day.

I recommend yoga to anyone who can breathe --- practiced well, it *will* help you, no matter how well you already are, or how not-very-well you may be.

[Gregory_de_Bois]

I focus on my breathing and always have my rosary beads with me. It's something I started when I was about 6. My Great Grandmother had given me glow-in-the-dark rosary beads. I used to have night terrors and nightmares, and whenever I awoke from them I would clutch (very tightly) the beads. They really helped me, although I lost those specific beads.

I also do yoga and focus on my posture. I go on walks after school and just sit in the park. Very peaceful.

Lastly there is this podcast that I subscribe to, Pray-As-You-Go, that I have found very, very comforting.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by keltic63

you know, Daniel gave me a similar exercise from the Buddhist tradition, just a few days ago. I was amazed at how well it worked. I intend to keep doing this sort of thing.

It's called Tonglen. And I have found it to be a very effective practice (we've talked about this on another thread I believe).

Here is a link that gives instructions on how to do it from a well-respected Buddhist teacher.

http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/tonglen1.php

Originally Posted by Gregory_de_Bois

I focus on my breathing and always have my rosary beads with me. It's something I started when I was about 6. My Great Grandmother had given me glow-in-the-dark rosary beads. I used to have night terrors and nightmares, and whenever I awoke from them I would clutch (very tightly) the beads. They really helped me, although I lost those specific beads.

I also do yoga and focus on my posture. I go on walks after school and just sit in the park. Very peaceful.

Lastly there is this podcast that I subscribe to, Pray-As-You-Go, that I have found very, very comforting.

Your comment about your grandmother made me smile. Now that is one smart lady.

This discussion reminds me of what I learned from a meditation instructor many years ago: there are two techniques which help focus the mind.

1) watching the breath

2) fixing the gaze

The second technique is used in yoga a great deal- say- in standing postures that are difficult like Tree Pose (see attached pic). You have to look at a 'fixed' point so that you can hold the pose. If the gaze wavers the pose can fall apart. In essence, if the gaze wanders, it's a sure sign that the mind is wandering to.

This teaches the student of yoga one important think: one can use 'eye fixation' as a means to go deeply into contemplation or meditation. In conjunction with watching the breath, you have two powerful tools.