In addition to adhering to my diet, I have been incorporating other healthy practices into my days. One of the healthiest practices I have found for myself is daily meditation. Meditation is simple. Mine this past week have consisted of downloading some meditation music from Itunes (you don't have to do this to meditate, but I wanted to because I find that music is soothing), finding a quiet place in my house to sit or lie down, turning the lights down low, sometimes lighting candles, and quieting my mind by noticing my breath, body, and thoughts/ feelings. If you have ever meditated, you know that meditation is a state of non-judgmental awareness of your present-moment experience without feeling the need to change it or make it be something specific. I usually close my eyes during my meditation practice, but one night this week I decided to keep them open and meditate while looking at the candles I lit. Afterwards, I was inspired to write a piece of poetry based on my meditation on candles. The poem is included below.
Candle Meditation
Held in the blistering light
Burning, the thread reaches toward the heavens
the body sits, cloudy
then clear with time
six small flames purify their substance
Nothing
is left clinging
One
burns away at its meat, slowly
the cloudiness takes time to clear
even with the cleansing heat
Burn slowly then
Chart your course
even though it differs from the others
They will wait
Sometimes clinging flesh needs eons to let go
and run down
clear and smooth
What is the point in trying to be where you are not
In time, you will all cool again and cloud
You the last of all perhaps
***************************************************************************
These words came to me rapidly after my sitting. They held a lot of meaning for me that I hadn't pondered while writing them down. Life works that way sometimes if you leave time for reflection, I suppose.
Peace and health to anyone who reads (and even those who choose not to)!
~Shelly
Congratulations on your progress, Shelly, and best wishes for all your goals. It's nice to see you writing here.
ReplyDeleteWRT meditation, do you follow any particular tradition for it? Your remark on observing your breath, body, thoughts, etc., reminded me of some of the Western approaches to the Buddhist mindfullness practices, mahāsatipaṭṭhāna and so forth, so I was curious. :)
Hi, Daniel. Great to hear from you. I know that the kind of meditation I have been introduced to and practice is mindfulness influenced by Buddhist practices, but I am not sure about the origins of the type of practice I do. Some of the writers that I like to follow are Jon Kabat-Zinn (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), Jack Kornfield (Spirit Rock Meditation Center), Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, and psychologists who practice Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. I would love to hear more about different practices. Also, I am familiar with tonglen practices and have enjoyed incorporating those into my practice. Hope you are having a lovely Sunday!
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