We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: several guided meditations and a period of mindful walking. We began with the practice of “Getting to Know Your Breath,” from Anne Cushman‘s new book, Moving Into Meditation. We sensed breathing by “homing in” on four aspects: location, length, texture and spacing between breaths.
Author Archives: catherine
Sensing In & Out
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss today: several guided meditations and a period of mindful walking. We began with the first foundation of mindfulness: awareness of the body and, in particular, the senses. I drew the guidance, Feeling Your Sense Gateways, from Anne Cushman‘s new book, Moving Into Meditation. Seeing hearing, smelling, tasting and touching are all embodied experiences – like yoga – which we can include in our mindfulness practice.
In this practice, you consciously feel and relax the sense gateways of your eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. Have you ever tried to feel deep inside your ears? How do you relax your eyes? What happens when you simply “allow” your senses to receive stimulation? It’s interesting to notice the difference between actively pursuing stimulation and passively receiving sensory experiences. We talked about how loud the room became in our stillness. You can appreciate the energy it takes to screen out the continuous “noise” of the world in order to focus on something of your own choosing.
Breathe and Everything Changes
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: a formal sitting meditation and a period of mindful walking and a Metta Meditation or loving kindness practice. We began with the first foundation of mindfulness: awareness of the body. I drew the guidance from Anne Cushman‘s new book, Moving Into Meditation.
This Precious Life
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: a formal sitting meditation and a period of mindful walking and a Metta Meditation or loving kindness practice. Our inner silence seemed to magnify the external noises around us: cars, sirens, walking, talking from the street and neighboring businesses, whirling blades of the fan, floors creaking and even the subtle rustling of material as we adjusted our posture.
Time seemed suspended as we slowly paced the room during walking meditation. One student later reported that for the first time in her life she fully appreciated the preciousness of the tree growing on the very busy street outside our window. It withstands the harsh environment of air and noise pollution as it reaches for the light and does its best to be part of the very planet’s lungs: taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.
Fertile Wonderings
I had the pleasure of sitting with a group of gardeners for a couple of hours yesterday. My friend, Patti, invited us to her Snoqualmie Summer Winds Farm, to listen to Gary Kline speak about how to grow nutrient dense food with soil mineralization.
As a massage therapist with soft manicured hands – I bet I was the only “non-gardener” in the group. Yet since we moved to the Snoqualmie Valley I’ve been hearing the call from some very different voices.
We’re lucky enough to buy a substantial part of our food from local farms. I can’t describe the amazing taste – the food seems to have a quality of aliveness – an energy or prana as we say in yoga speak. A few weeks ago I picked up Wendy Johnson’s “Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate.” I’ve been savoring a few pages every day. As long time master gardener at the Green Gulch Zen Center, she writes about gardening as zen and zen as gardening. It took her ten years to write her book out by hand. You can tell. Her prose rises up from the pages like plants growing from fertile soil.
Alive & Playing
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: a formal sitting meditation and a period of mindful walking and a Metta Meditation or loving kindness practice. Students shared about their difficulties in trying to adhere to my instructions, the physical pain of sitting still for so long, the difficult states of mind including agitation, racing thoughts, lethargy and sleepiness. Many of us approach meditation as yet another task to be done in order to achieve a benefit or goal. We believe we have to work hard in order to succeed. Continue reading
Widening Circles
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: a formal sitting meditation and a period of mindful walking. We’ve been adding a Metta Meditation or loving kindness practice after walking. We are all beginners. Some students have been coming for nearly a year and half and others come for the very first time. Continue reading
Safe, Content, Strong, Living with Ease
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: two segments of formal sitting meditation and a period of mindful walking. After walking we practiced a beautiful loving kindness meditation inspired by the teachings of Dr. Sylvia Boorstein, author and founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
I invited students to either sit on the floor, a chair or lie down for the last meditation. We talked about approaching meditation in a struggle-free way. This means letting go of trying to achieve or attain whatever goal or ideal that may have drawn us into practice in the first place. Yes – another paradox! How can we use our motivation to stop striving?
Nurturing
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: two segments of formal sitting meditation and a period of mindful walking. After walking we practiced a beautiful loving kindness meditation inspired by the teachings of Dr. Sylvia Boorstein, author and founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Sylvia seems to be a born nurturer. She introduces herself as a wife, mother, grandmother and then goes on to name her other occupations. She encourages students to practice meditation in a way that nurtures those qualities that most enhance our well being and the well being of those around us.
Compassionate Mindfulness
We had the Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss yesterday: two segments of formal sitting meditation and a period of mindful walking. We brought awareness to the six points of posture as we “settled the body into its natural state.” We followed the techniques taught by Alan B. Wallace of shifting awareness to the mental events that arise in the “space of the mind” and, eventually, focused on awareness itself.
We discussed what motivates us to meditate and the challenges we encounter in practice. Many of us shared the desire for more calm and equanimity and about the physical challenges of sustaining a seated posture for prolonged periods of time. One of our master yoga teachers, Jonathan Bowra, describes advanced yoga practice as the ability to stay out of struggle. We often push ourselves to conform to an ideal form of a pose – like lotus for example. Many of us are not anatomically adapted to rotating our hips in this way and injure our knees in the process of trying. Why? The manner in which we approach our practice often reflects the way we move through our lives more generally. Do we extend ourselves acceptance, patience, time and tolerance? Do we allow ourselves a process of growth that’s authentic and truly nourishing? This is not to say we avoid challenging sensations. We can recruit our minds and our breathing to build resilience in building strength and flexibility. We come together in class to encourage and support one another to learn and grow.