Chetna Tracy Boyd of Dancing Lotus Yoga http://www.dancinglotusyoga.com/ was giving a yoga workshop for Tumbleweeds Theatre last week and demystified what meditation is for me a little bit.
'Start with the breath, bring awareness back to the breath' she told us.
I could do that. I am a vocal coach for heavens sake, I teach people how to connect with their breath all the time, I can do that.
During this class I found that I was able to really achieve a place of stillness. The whole group aged 6-20 achieved this stillness. It was magic. Chetna is magic.
I wanted to bring it home really badly. I wanted to give meditation a shot.
I made my first real attempt to meditate this evening.
With all the upheaval in the wake of the quake in Japan and the Tsunami, the worries about the impact on each person's life there and its far reaching effects, and now the reactors...... I needed to find a way to still my energy, to get some sleep and some balance.
I made a conscience decision to sit and meditate.
I gathered up a couple of big comfy pillows and sat, fingers in the "ok" position on my knees and started to concentrate on my breath.
It went a little something like this;
Breathe in, Breathe out
Okay that is good, I am breathing
......my nose itches
*scratch*
ooops, breathe in, breath out
Breathe in, Breathe.....
why am I am holding my jaw so tight?
*Relax jaw...relax.....*
Breathe in, Breathe out
Breathe in, Breathe out.....
there is a hair on my eyelashes.....
* remove cat hair , scratch nose, shift sitting position*
Oh yeah breathing, wow it is easy to forget to concentrate on breathing. I wonder if everyone gets distracted like this when they meditate? Is this something that should simply happen? Am I doing it right, my foot is going to sleep....
holy crap....oops again
Breathe in, Breathe out.
Breathe in, Breathe out.
Breathe in, Breathe out. Cool I have rhythm....
Breathe....
What was that? Is the cat on the counter?
* listen*
'Nessa get down'
Okay, back to breathing- how long have I been at this anyway?
*exhale*
Breathe in, Breathe out.
I like this, it is a very peaceful feeling.
Breathing.....just breathing.
Who knew, so is this meditating?
I feel relaxed....
Daiv should try this, maybe mumzie would like this.
Is this what dogs do when they are sleeping with their eyes open and then they have those doggy dreams where they woof and snort and wiggle their paws like they are running in a field?.....
Crap, right....
Breathe in, Breathe out.
Why is it so hard to simply concentrate on breathing? This is ridiculous. Okay Kim, get with this, it is BREATHING for chritsake......
BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT DAMMIT!
Holding my jaw again...ugh...
* relax the jaw...
make a conscience choice to breathe a little deeper and try to send relaxing energy through my limbs.....
through my fingers....*
my hands are dry, I should put more moisturizer on them, maybe the creamsicle lotion, no smells too sweet for bedtime, keri lotion better...
OMG there I go again. This is crazy. I just want 30 seconds of nothing but breathing.
Brea....
Okay now I am just irritated.....not peaceful at all......
ugh.....
*open eyes and see big wet dog nose looking at me on the floor*
'What? You've never seen someone meditating Niko?'
He pokes me with his nose...
Sigh...seems a belly rub takes precedence over my meditation time for the moment.
my attempts at self meditation goes about the same. I downloaded a few meditation aps on my ipod touch, and I find them to be a great help (that is when the kitties will let me)
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