Meditation

I have been getting back into a daily meditation and I must say that it has been rewarding, even if it is for the calm that I feel for quite awhile after wards. Many people have said that they have trouble with meditation because they can't get rid of the mind chatter. I must say that this has been a problem with me as well getting back into the routine.
I thought that I would share some of the techniques that I have used to overcome the chatter and get back into the quiet space that meditation brings.
First, I find that it helps to pick a time that you know that you won't be interrupted. Unplug the phone or change the ring to o if you have an answering machine that allows you to do that. If you can use the same time every day that would help.
Second, light a candle. Sometimes it helps to do an open eyed meditation and focus on the candle. By doing this you can drown out some of the chatter and discern what is chatter and what is useful.
Third, sit in a comfortable chair with your feet flat on the floor if you don't sit in the lotus position on the floor. Me, I use the chair as I have trouble with the floor. Be comfortable. There is nothing worse than trying to meditate and you are sitting in an uncomfortable position or you have a pinch in your waist from your pants, or you are in a draft. You get the gist.
Fourth, play some nice quiet instrumental music, or you could use a guided meditation tape or CD. These help you stay focused and as you progress with your ability to let go, you sometimes will go off and not even follow the tape. That is fine if you find yourself wandering through the meditation after all, it is about letting go and allowing the body to relax and release.
Fifth, some find that using a small Native hand drum and beating out the heart beat rhythm is helpful in allowing them to journey in a meditation.
Try these techniques and see if they work for you. They have for me.

April Musings

I am an avid reader. When I am reading a book, I often feel that I have a book in me wanting to come out. I sit down and either on the computer or with pen/pencil in hand proceed to make an outline of a story. That part goes well. Sounds interesting to me. Then, I start to weave the tale around the skeleton of the outline. What happens then is a puzzle to me! When I started, I had all of these lovely, descriptive conversations and scenes running through my mind, like colour commentary at a sports event designed to keep spectators riveted to the play.
Somewhere alone the line, I loose my train of thought and everything unravels like a sweater caught on a nail. I sit bewildered and try to figure out why, when I am falling asleep, or just day dreaming, that the flow is endless. The images and thoughts keep coming like a huge freight train at a railway crossing, never seeming to end.
I have finally figured it out, I think. No, not that I think that I have figured it out but, I think! When I am day dreaming or falling asleep at night, I relax the mind. There are no brakes or filters to constantly change what is coming through. I just am. Revelations pop into my semi-consciousness that cause many ah ha moments. Thoughts so deep that I am astounded. Thoughts that I tell myself to remember when I wake up, or that I try to capture in a journal to no avail as when the light comes on, that flow turn off. The thinking starts.......ta dum.....ta dum...
Meditation seems to be the key. I have known this for decades, practiced it for just as long until recently. Through meditation, I am able to retrieve this state of being and I mostly retain what I receive. Wonderful. The feeling of re-membering so many things that I once knew brought forth again without conscious thought. The re-membering floats to the surface from the depths of the memory. Thoughts that I never knew that I had. Thoughts that I connected with in that vast, continuous ether that is called consciousness. The consciousness that connects us all together. The consciousness that is universal and available to all who seek it.
I don't always sit in a prescribed manner, place or time. I sometimes just gaze out into the woods beyond my windows and let nature take over. I flow into some space far from me, that is somehow all of me as well.
Wow, who would have thought that by not thinking, our greatest thoughts appear.
Just a thought.