This blog was for a particular time and place. I am continuing to exercise mind, body and spirit in a number of ways.
See our book group about flunking sainthood and the spiritual practices that go with that.
Blessings!
Showing posts with label Mindfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mindfulness. Show all posts
Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2007
Sabbath in Blessings—attention and gratitude
In the first two chapters of Genesis there are three blessings: at the end of the fifth day when God blessed the birds and sea creatures to be fruitful and multiply; at the end of the sixth day when God blessed the animals, creeping things, and humankind to be fruitful and multiply. "And on the seventh day God finished the work that God had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that God had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done in creation." Genesis 2:2-3. Abraham Joshua Heschel notes that, "It is, indeed, a unique occasion at which the distinguished word qadosh [holy] is used for the first time … How extremely significant is the fact that it is applied to time: 'And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.' There is no reference in the record of creation to any object in space that would be endowed with the quality of holiness." (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1951,1979, p. 9.--a wonderful book!)
To create a mini-Sabbath, a brakha or blessing can also set aside time. Time can become holy as we pause to honor gifts received or grace perceived. In the Jewish tradition there is a rich practice of saying blessings that are rituals designed to increase mindfulness, gratitude, relation and connection. "We begin in the silence that precedes any sound or movement. Jewish tradition asks that we not say a brakha until we have quieted the mind and focused our attention on the blessings' purpose." (Marcia Prager, The Path of Blessing, New York: Bell Tower, 1998, p. 31.) The spiritual practice of blessing is to open to the sacred, and "each acknowledgment of divine abundance cycles more blessing into the world." (Prager, p. 13.) In the Jewish Orthodox tradition, the goal is to say one hundred blessings a day, thus opening the world to the divine at least one hundred times each day. (Mary Beth McCauley, "100 Blessings")
While the practice of a full 24 hours of Sabbath is something I would recommend, the practice of blessings ties Sabbath to attention, gratitude and mindfulness in a powerful abbreviated form that can create a spacious and relaxing time in a much shorter amount of time all through the week. Bless you, and the blessings that you share.
To create a mini-Sabbath, a brakha or blessing can also set aside time. Time can become holy as we pause to honor gifts received or grace perceived. In the Jewish tradition there is a rich practice of saying blessings that are rituals designed to increase mindfulness, gratitude, relation and connection. "We begin in the silence that precedes any sound or movement. Jewish tradition asks that we not say a brakha until we have quieted the mind and focused our attention on the blessings' purpose." (Marcia Prager, The Path of Blessing, New York: Bell Tower, 1998, p. 31.) The spiritual practice of blessing is to open to the sacred, and "each acknowledgment of divine abundance cycles more blessing into the world." (Prager, p. 13.) In the Jewish Orthodox tradition, the goal is to say one hundred blessings a day, thus opening the world to the divine at least one hundred times each day. (Mary Beth McCauley, "100 Blessings")
With a deep breath I reached toward the basket of warm dinner rolls and lifted it up, closing my eyes to be alone with the sensations. Steamy-hot, just-baked bread. I inhaled its warm sweetness. For just a moment it seemed that I held the fertile earth sprouting ripening wheat and saw the dough rising in an extravagant explosion of yeast. My fingertips touched the hot loaves. I sang: "Barukh Ata Adonay, Eloheynu Melekh Ha'Olam, ha'motzi lechem min ha'aretz. A Fountain of Blessings are You, Source of Life of all the Worlds, Source of the nourishment that is this bread, which You bring forth from the earth."The hallowing of time in blessing, as in observing Sabbath, gives an important foundation for the ritual practice of blessings. "In making a brakha we separate out time before we consume, use, or enjoy something of the world in order to create a space where something other than thoughtless appropriation can unfold." (Prager, p. 13.) This personal ritual has a form and spontaneity, and is done with intention, and not only can address our hopes, but also our fears. When hearing thunder, for instance, one woman prays, "Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, for Your strength and Your power fill the world. … Isn't that better than [telling a fearful child], 'God is bowling'?" (McCauley, "100 Blessings".)
After sharing the bread the husband spoke:
"I grew up so angry!" he said. "All these blessings, these brakhas and prayers that I had to memorize. Always some rote formula to recite, another phrase to mumble. When I finally discovered Buddhism, it was such a relief. I embraced meditation and cultivated a practice of insight and mindfulness. … One day, … I was with someone and he stopped what he was doing to make a brakha. Like you just did. Suddenly I got it! All those years of cultivating mindfulness and I didn't see. Making a brakha, the act of blessing, it IS a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is what blessing IS." (Prager, p. 2-3)
While the practice of a full 24 hours of Sabbath is something I would recommend, the practice of blessings ties Sabbath to attention, gratitude and mindfulness in a powerful abbreviated form that can create a spacious and relaxing time in a much shorter amount of time all through the week. Bless you, and the blessings that you share.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Forgiveness: awareness and practices
Ways to Practice
Before going to sleep, consciously let go of the hurts and angers of the day. Regard each evening as the beginning of a new day. This could be the bookend to starting the day with gratitude.
Face your most recent experience of when forgiveness did not happen. Can you find forgiveness by walking in the shoes of the other person? Are you willing to speak truthfully and patiently about your personal conflicts?
Write a letter to someone whom you are working to forgive. You don't have to mail it, but spell out what it is you can't forgive and how it affects you.
Write a letter asking for forgiveness. You might not be able to mail it, but the writing all by itself will be powerful.
Try the practices of t'shuvah: make amends, repent and apologize, and figure out how not to do that again.
Before going to sleep, consciously let go of the hurts and angers of the day. Regard each evening as the beginning of a new day. This could be the bookend to starting the day with gratitude.
Face your most recent experience of when forgiveness did not happen. Can you find forgiveness by walking in the shoes of the other person? Are you willing to speak truthfully and patiently about your personal conflicts?
Write a letter to someone whom you are working to forgive. You don't have to mail it, but spell out what it is you can't forgive and how it affects you.
Write a letter asking for forgiveness. You might not be able to mail it, but the writing all by itself will be powerful.
Try the practices of t'shuvah: make amends, repent and apologize, and figure out how not to do that again.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Gratitude: the link to Mindfulness
We discussed that mindfulness is becoming open and aware. In one of those paradoxes that often confront us, I found one author who said that his insight is that the prerequisite to practicing gratitude is openness. "You have to be open to receive." How do you shy away from receiving gifts, or opening up and being vulnerable? In order to practice gratitude, you have to open yourself to the gifts that come your way: the offer of help, the compliment, the hug. You may have to become aware of how you are blocking those gifts before you can be grateful for them.
Conversely, "gratefulness is full awareness," where, in that moment "you are fully one with the whole." So the work we continue to do about being aware and open in the exercises of breathing and listening, for example, help us enter into the practice of gratitude, while the practice of gratitude deepens our awareness, and requires our openness.
Conversely, "gratefulness is full awareness," where, in that moment "you are fully one with the whole." So the work we continue to do about being aware and open in the exercises of breathing and listening, for example, help us enter into the practice of gratitude, while the practice of gratitude deepens our awareness, and requires our openness.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Building awareness this week: mindfulness exercises
Do one exercise on mindfulness each day. Some of them take an hour; many of them take just 5-10 minutes. So you can find the time! Breathing is very portable, too. You have everything you need with you. :-)
Either pick one of the exercises of mindfulness and do it all week or try a different one each day. Part of this exploration is to find practices and exercises that work for you in your life, in the company of a community of support.
Full descriptions of each of the exercises we did together, plus additional ones, can be found in the blog archive to the right, so click on a heading to read or review. Please add your comments on how you are doing below the blog description of the exercise you're doing. What worked? What didn't? What did you notice?
Consider contacting another person from the group and at least one day between now and the next session spend 10 or more minutes together, breathing, listening, or walking.
There are also links embedded in many of the blog articles, as well as a list of links for further exploration to the right. Explore! Enjoy!
Either pick one of the exercises of mindfulness and do it all week or try a different one each day. Part of this exploration is to find practices and exercises that work for you in your life, in the company of a community of support.
Full descriptions of each of the exercises we did together, plus additional ones, can be found in the blog archive to the right, so click on a heading to read or review. Please add your comments on how you are doing below the blog description of the exercise you're doing. What worked? What didn't? What did you notice?
Consider contacting another person from the group and at least one day between now and the next session spend 10 or more minutes together, breathing, listening, or walking.
There are also links embedded in many of the blog articles, as well as a list of links for further exploration to the right. Explore! Enjoy!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Mindfulness in Daily Life
You can practice mindful awareness throughout your day.
1) Eating/Chewing: count the number of times you chew each bite. Before a bite, notice the color, shape, smells; think about where the ingredients for this bite started and how they arrived on your plate. During a bite, notice the texture, taste, temperature. After a bite, be conscious of swallowing, and the path of food into your body.
2) Washing dishes or scrubbing: watch the soap bubbles, notice textures of soap against dishes, of the dishes, glasses or pots and pans, of the patterns and designs that your sponge or cloth make against the dish or counter or floor.
3) Lifting weights: If you lift weights, you know how much more effective your weight lifting will be if you lift slowly and with focus.
4) Drinking water: how much water do you drink? Could you remember and be aware of that? We are often dehydrated without knowing it. What can you do to be aware of your need for water?
5) Sitting: are you aware of how you sit? Could you be more conscious of how you sit and then feel more relaxed or refreshed by changing the way you sit? Listen to a Feldenkrais Awareness through Movement exercise from Utah or the UK.
1) Eating/Chewing: count the number of times you chew each bite. Before a bite, notice the color, shape, smells; think about where the ingredients for this bite started and how they arrived on your plate. During a bite, notice the texture, taste, temperature. After a bite, be conscious of swallowing, and the path of food into your body.
2) Washing dishes or scrubbing: watch the soap bubbles, notice textures of soap against dishes, of the dishes, glasses or pots and pans, of the patterns and designs that your sponge or cloth make against the dish or counter or floor.
3) Lifting weights: If you lift weights, you know how much more effective your weight lifting will be if you lift slowly and with focus.
4) Drinking water: how much water do you drink? Could you remember and be aware of that? We are often dehydrated without knowing it. What can you do to be aware of your need for water?
5) Sitting: are you aware of how you sit? Could you be more conscious of how you sit and then feel more relaxed or refreshed by changing the way you sit? Listen to a Feldenkrais Awareness through Movement exercise from Utah or the UK.
Mindfulness: Walking a labyrinth
Walking a labyrinth is a wonderful way to meditate and move, if sitting still does not work for you.
There are a number of labyrinths nearby, some near or inside churches or schools, some in fields, some available as mobile canvas paintings.
So, if sitting still to meditate is hard for you, try walking a labyrinth. You can, of course, also let your fingers do the walking with this online labyrinth.
There are a number of labyrinths nearby, some near or inside churches or schools, some in fields, some available as mobile canvas paintings.
So, if sitting still to meditate is hard for you, try walking a labyrinth. You can, of course, also let your fingers do the walking with this online labyrinth.
Mindfulness: your walking rhythm
Try this Walking rhythm exercise from The Listening Book p. 46-7.
W. A. Mathieu writes:
I learned about rhythm and meter on late-afternoon walks home from school. … Walking gives permission. When you are walking, the lid is off: the ridiculous boils off into the sublime. It's OK to hum, whistle, sing and shout, clap, snap, beat your body, squint your eyes, dance, jive, swing and sway. Dancers need music, but walkers are their own music.
People walk approximately two steps per second, about 120 steps per minute. Music played at this "walking temp" makes you feel as though you are walking even if you are sitting down. It resonates with the shape and function of your body. A little faster tempo, a few more beats per minute—say, 130—feels like a brisk walk, pushing it, maybe. Slightly fewer beats per minute—say, 108—feels like a lazy amble, maybe too slow. We are so sensitive to the precise center of this range that conductors use it as a reference point in memorizing various tempi. Everyone knows the feeling of this center; when you know you know it, magic happens.
Take a walk. Enter the rhythm your body gives you. Sing anything. Make up a tuneless tune, or a new language (Legs-mouth). Listen to what you are saying in this language; it is a key to your own music. Feel how your breathing and your walking and the sounds you are making modulate one another.
Walking wisdom is natural and lets you learn complex things easily. While keeping your stride free and even, start saying "left, right, left, right" in time with your legs. Then, without altering your gait, accent every third word: "left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right." This is a basic way of crossing rhythms that has fascinated us unwaveringly for millennia. You'll never get tired of it. Guaranteed. It gives more energy than it takes. You are waltzing and marching simultaneously, balanced between two qualities.
W. A. Mathieu writes:
I learned about rhythm and meter on late-afternoon walks home from school. … Walking gives permission. When you are walking, the lid is off: the ridiculous boils off into the sublime. It's OK to hum, whistle, sing and shout, clap, snap, beat your body, squint your eyes, dance, jive, swing and sway. Dancers need music, but walkers are their own music.
People walk approximately two steps per second, about 120 steps per minute. Music played at this "walking temp" makes you feel as though you are walking even if you are sitting down. It resonates with the shape and function of your body. A little faster tempo, a few more beats per minute—say, 130—feels like a brisk walk, pushing it, maybe. Slightly fewer beats per minute—say, 108—feels like a lazy amble, maybe too slow. We are so sensitive to the precise center of this range that conductors use it as a reference point in memorizing various tempi. Everyone knows the feeling of this center; when you know you know it, magic happens.
Take a walk. Enter the rhythm your body gives you. Sing anything. Make up a tuneless tune, or a new language (Legs-mouth). Listen to what you are saying in this language; it is a key to your own music. Feel how your breathing and your walking and the sounds you are making modulate one another.
Walking wisdom is natural and lets you learn complex things easily. While keeping your stride free and even, start saying "left, right, left, right" in time with your legs. Then, without altering your gait, accent every third word: "left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right." This is a basic way of crossing rhythms that has fascinated us unwaveringly for millennia. You'll never get tired of it. Guaranteed. It gives more energy than it takes. You are waltzing and marching simultaneously, balanced between two qualities.
Mindfulness: Walking awareness
Walking with ease: from hips to spine to arms
Josef DellaGrotte writes:
Walking upright requires an alignment with central gravity that is unique to humans. This connecting link starts from the hips, the strong bony structure and articulations of the pelvis generate three actions which are essential to getting lift and forward power. The hips have to rotate laterally bend and extend and flex. That power is then transmitted to the spine and the ribs, which need to be in the best alignment to transmit the vectors of force. So what if it isn’t in the best alignment? First, Imagine a car trying to up hill in high gear. There is not enough power, the engine over heat and damage soon occurs. It is the same in a human body. If the hips are not generating the “horse power” because of restrictions in action, then you walk harder using the legs. The legs become stressed often manifesting this stress as knee problems. Second, The hips are doing okay but the spine is curved either in a lower back lordosis or mid back kyphosis. Problem: The vector force has to travel through mobile moving joints of the spine. If it can’t the hips work harder carrying the load of the upper body on them. This is not good. Does this sound discouraging? Look at it this way, if you recognize you are working too hard to walk, it is only matter of some learning upgrade to get the system functioning the way it was designed to do.
Try this Exercise
1. Face a door or wall. Place your fingers on it and organize yourself to be standing close and in the vertical plane. Avoid any leaning forward or putting pressure on your fingers.
2. Now stand on one leg. Keep that leg straight and push through that leg as if you were pressing into the ground and generating a ground forces, a spring like action that runs up your spine and gives you the feeling of uplift (getting taller).
3. Think of directing the force through your body and notice how the body starts to turn. While you are doing this your other leg should have no weight on it. It can be touching the ground with the toes with the heel lifted to maintain your balance. Practice this activity on one leg, rest, and then do it with your other leg.
The key to this exercise is trial by experiment in order to sense differences and notice connections. Simply by doing and noticing, you start to activate your innate ability to feel the connection between pushing through a straightened leg and following that force as it travels through your body. It will probably rotate you slightly through the left if you are standing on your right leg or to the right if you are standing on your left leg.
Follow the force of this thrusting until you are clear where the end point is. Simply by doing this exercise you are already developing awareness through movement, (Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais-based principles and process) of sensing limbs, joint actions, resonant motion, lengthening and strengthening in an interconnected way. Once you start to cultivate the sensing of such connections, your walking will improve automatically.
The benefits: Walking provides much needed "resonant movement" through many of the axial joints. It is essential in maintaining spinal flexibility and upright posture. Walking provides needed elongation to the spine, plus strengthening, endurance, relaxation and perhaps most important, confidence building. Walking is the basic foundation of fitness. Walking is known to reduce cardiac problems, stroke, and arthritic conditions with a host of other benefits to the entire body.
Josef DellaGrotte writes:
Walking upright requires an alignment with central gravity that is unique to humans. This connecting link starts from the hips, the strong bony structure and articulations of the pelvis generate three actions which are essential to getting lift and forward power. The hips have to rotate laterally bend and extend and flex. That power is then transmitted to the spine and the ribs, which need to be in the best alignment to transmit the vectors of force. So what if it isn’t in the best alignment? First, Imagine a car trying to up hill in high gear. There is not enough power, the engine over heat and damage soon occurs. It is the same in a human body. If the hips are not generating the “horse power” because of restrictions in action, then you walk harder using the legs. The legs become stressed often manifesting this stress as knee problems. Second, The hips are doing okay but the spine is curved either in a lower back lordosis or mid back kyphosis. Problem: The vector force has to travel through mobile moving joints of the spine. If it can’t the hips work harder carrying the load of the upper body on them. This is not good. Does this sound discouraging? Look at it this way, if you recognize you are working too hard to walk, it is only matter of some learning upgrade to get the system functioning the way it was designed to do.
Try this Exercise
1. Face a door or wall. Place your fingers on it and organize yourself to be standing close and in the vertical plane. Avoid any leaning forward or putting pressure on your fingers.
2. Now stand on one leg. Keep that leg straight and push through that leg as if you were pressing into the ground and generating a ground forces, a spring like action that runs up your spine and gives you the feeling of uplift (getting taller).
3. Think of directing the force through your body and notice how the body starts to turn. While you are doing this your other leg should have no weight on it. It can be touching the ground with the toes with the heel lifted to maintain your balance. Practice this activity on one leg, rest, and then do it with your other leg.
The key to this exercise is trial by experiment in order to sense differences and notice connections. Simply by doing and noticing, you start to activate your innate ability to feel the connection between pushing through a straightened leg and following that force as it travels through your body. It will probably rotate you slightly through the left if you are standing on your right leg or to the right if you are standing on your left leg.
Follow the force of this thrusting until you are clear where the end point is. Simply by doing this exercise you are already developing awareness through movement, (Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais-based principles and process) of sensing limbs, joint actions, resonant motion, lengthening and strengthening in an interconnected way. Once you start to cultivate the sensing of such connections, your walking will improve automatically.
The benefits: Walking provides much needed "resonant movement" through many of the axial joints. It is essential in maintaining spinal flexibility and upright posture. Walking provides needed elongation to the spine, plus strengthening, endurance, relaxation and perhaps most important, confidence building. Walking is the basic foundation of fitness. Walking is known to reduce cardiac problems, stroke, and arthritic conditions with a host of other benefits to the entire body.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Mindfulness: Listening in a Sound Space
W. A. Mathieu writes:
You don't have to have an altar to pray or a special place to practice listening. There are monks who meditate in Grand Central Station. Adepts are always in their sound space, or so I'm told. But temples can make you feel holy, and it is useful to have a sound temple, a trusted place where you can let sound all the way in and listen all the way out.
Any place that pleases you is good. Maybe you won't have to look far. Your sound space could be your bed, or a corner of your living room. Maybe you'll have to adjust something for a few minutes, pull the plug of the refrigerator (don't tell a soul and be sure to replug). Or wait until the kids have piped down a bit. Or wait until the neighbor's stereo is off. Maybe you'll have to get the jump on the natives by waking up earlier. Maybe you'll even have to travel some. But sitting quietly in a place where ambient sounds don't trigger negative responses is worth the effort of getting there.
If you look for such a spot you will no doubt find it. People have the habit of going to the country, of seeking out wilderness. But you can find a little wilderness of your own wherever you are.
What is OK in your sound space:
o Sounds of nature
o Live sounds, including speech, especially at some distance
o Lots of different kinds of sounds, including traffic, or even those listed below, if these are sufficiently diffuse or distant not to offend you or hook you into their drama
What is not OK in your sound space:
o Recorded music or anyone practicing music
o Any radio or TV
o Unrelenting mechanical noise
o Anything unpleasantly loud or close, or that makes you uncomfortable
The idea is to create a space that not only protects you from unwanted sound but also releases you from any impulse to close your ears. The exercise is to open up, and wherever you can do that best is your sound space.
W.A. Mathieu, The Listening Book, Boston, MA: Shambala, 1991, p. 17-18.
You don't have to have an altar to pray or a special place to practice listening. There are monks who meditate in Grand Central Station. Adepts are always in their sound space, or so I'm told. But temples can make you feel holy, and it is useful to have a sound temple, a trusted place where you can let sound all the way in and listen all the way out.
Any place that pleases you is good. Maybe you won't have to look far. Your sound space could be your bed, or a corner of your living room. Maybe you'll have to adjust something for a few minutes, pull the plug of the refrigerator (don't tell a soul and be sure to replug). Or wait until the kids have piped down a bit. Or wait until the neighbor's stereo is off. Maybe you'll have to get the jump on the natives by waking up earlier. Maybe you'll even have to travel some. But sitting quietly in a place where ambient sounds don't trigger negative responses is worth the effort of getting there.
If you look for such a spot you will no doubt find it. People have the habit of going to the country, of seeking out wilderness. But you can find a little wilderness of your own wherever you are.
What is OK in your sound space:
o Sounds of nature
o Live sounds, including speech, especially at some distance
o Lots of different kinds of sounds, including traffic, or even those listed below, if these are sufficiently diffuse or distant not to offend you or hook you into their drama
What is not OK in your sound space:
o Recorded music or anyone practicing music
o Any radio or TV
o Unrelenting mechanical noise
o Anything unpleasantly loud or close, or that makes you uncomfortable
The idea is to create a space that not only protects you from unwanted sound but also releases you from any impulse to close your ears. The exercise is to open up, and wherever you can do that best is your sound space.
W.A. Mathieu, The Listening Book, Boston, MA: Shambala, 1991, p. 17-18.
Mindfulness: listening to music
Option 1:
Sit and just listen to one CD without multitasking or doing anything else once per week for eight weeks. Listening while commuting does not count. Recommendations: Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company; J.S. Bach, Brandenberg Concertos (pick one); Johannes Brahms, Ein Deutches Requiem; Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Calling; Ella Fitzgerald, The Intimate Ella; your favorite—45 minutes to an hour.
Comment about what new words, music, phrasing, styling, tone, etc. that you notice that you didn't hear the first time.
If you happen to fall asleep while doing this, count it a success as a relaxation technique. :-)
Option 2:
Listen to a short piece of instrumental music (3-6 minutes) twice in a row every day for five days. Classical, jazz, rock, folk, anything you love--just without words. Don't do anything else. As you listen, close your eyes, relax, and "keep coming back to the sound. Grab onto any aural feature, a particular instrument or tone. ... Inhale music and exhale music. ... Scan it high and low. Be starved for it. Let it be starved for you." W. A. Mathieu, The Listening Book, p. 36-7
Comment about what you felt and where in your body you felt it, what shapes, light, colors or textures you "saw" as you listened, or what associations you made.
Sit and just listen to one CD without multitasking or doing anything else once per week for eight weeks. Listening while commuting does not count. Recommendations: Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company; J.S. Bach, Brandenberg Concertos (pick one); Johannes Brahms, Ein Deutches Requiem; Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Calling; Ella Fitzgerald, The Intimate Ella; your favorite—45 minutes to an hour.
Comment about what new words, music, phrasing, styling, tone, etc. that you notice that you didn't hear the first time.
If you happen to fall asleep while doing this, count it a success as a relaxation technique. :-)
Option 2:
Listen to a short piece of instrumental music (3-6 minutes) twice in a row every day for five days. Classical, jazz, rock, folk, anything you love--just without words. Don't do anything else. As you listen, close your eyes, relax, and "keep coming back to the sound. Grab onto any aural feature, a particular instrument or tone. ... Inhale music and exhale music. ... Scan it high and low. Be starved for it. Let it be starved for you." W. A. Mathieu, The Listening Book, p. 36-7
Comment about what you felt and where in your body you felt it, what shapes, light, colors or textures you "saw" as you listened, or what associations you made.
Mindfulness: Listening, Symphony of Place exercise
Get a pencil and paper. Become aware of all the sounds you are hearing now, this moment, as you read. Make a list of them. Close your eyes from time to time. Swivel your head slightly to change the mix. Make a sweep from nearby sounds to distant sounds. Fall into the distance. Become transparent. Now fall into the nearness. Make a sweep from the highest sounds to the lowest ones. Disappear into the stratosphere, reappear underground. If your space is quiet enough you will hear your own internal sounds: breath, maybe your blood in your ears. Or the subtle sounds of cloth against cloth, skin against skin. Count everything; write everything down. Use words economically. Later, if you like, you can set the scene and go into detail.
Now make your sweeps into scans so rapid that you have the illusion of hearing everything at once. Now close your eyes and hear everything at once. Now cup your hands behind your ears. Technicolor!
This is the sound of your now, your Symphony of Place.
from W. A. Mathieu, The Listening Book, Boston, MA: Shambala, 1991, p. 10-11.
Now make your sweeps into scans so rapid that you have the illusion of hearing everything at once. Now close your eyes and hear everything at once. Now cup your hands behind your ears. Technicolor!
This is the sound of your now, your Symphony of Place.
from W. A. Mathieu, The Listening Book, Boston, MA: Shambala, 1991, p. 10-11.
Mindfulness: Breath as an introduction to meditation
Jon Kabat-Zinn introduces the relationship between breath, mindfulness and meditation.
He writes:
1. A good place to start cultivating mindfulness is in the body.
2. Befriending your breath is a good idea, since you can’t leave home without it – and it is so related to our states of mind.
3. See if from time to time you can just feel the breath moving in and out of your body.
4. Locate where the breath sensations are most vivid, and “surf ” with full awareness on those breath waves, moment by moment – in the belly, at the nostrils, or wherever.
5. Try lying in bed for a few moments after you wake up, and just ride on the waves of your own breathing, moment by moment and breath by breath.
6. Experiment with expanding your awareness around your breath until it includes a sense of the body as a whole lying in bed breathing.
7. As best you can, be aware of the various sensations fluxing in the body, including the breath sensations.
8. Just rest in the awareness of lying here breathing, outside of time, even if it is only for a minute or two by the clock.
9. When you notice that the mind has a life of its own and wanders here and there, keep in mind that this is just what minds do, so there is no need to judge it.
10. Just note what is on your mind if you are no longer in touch with the breath or with the sensations of the body lying in the bed, and without judgment or criticism, just let that be part of your awareness in the moment, and feature once again the breath and the body center-stage in the field of your awareness.
11. Repeat step 10 a few million times.
12. It is very easy to fall into the thought stream and get caught up in the future (worrying, planning) and the past (remembering, blaming, pining) and in reactive and often painful emotions.
13. No need to try to stop any of this from happening when you can just bring a big embrace of openhearted, spacious, accepting awareness to it and, lo and behold, you are once again sitting on the bank of the thought stream, listening to the gurgling but not so caught up in the torrent for the moment.
14. You can cultivate mindfulness in this way lying in bed for a few moments in the morning, or in the evening before going to sleep.
15. You can also cultivate mindfulness sitting, standing, walking, and eating – in fact, in any position or situation, including brushing your teeth, taking a shower, talking on the phone, running, working out at the gym, cooking, picking up the kids, making love, whatever is unfolding in your life in the present moment.
16. It helps to be present for it and for yourself.
17. Remember – the real meditation is your life, and how you inhabit it moment by moment.
He writes:
1. A good place to start cultivating mindfulness is in the body.
2. Befriending your breath is a good idea, since you can’t leave home without it – and it is so related to our states of mind.
3. See if from time to time you can just feel the breath moving in and out of your body.
4. Locate where the breath sensations are most vivid, and “surf ” with full awareness on those breath waves, moment by moment – in the belly, at the nostrils, or wherever.
5. Try lying in bed for a few moments after you wake up, and just ride on the waves of your own breathing, moment by moment and breath by breath.
6. Experiment with expanding your awareness around your breath until it includes a sense of the body as a whole lying in bed breathing.
7. As best you can, be aware of the various sensations fluxing in the body, including the breath sensations.
8. Just rest in the awareness of lying here breathing, outside of time, even if it is only for a minute or two by the clock.
9. When you notice that the mind has a life of its own and wanders here and there, keep in mind that this is just what minds do, so there is no need to judge it.
10. Just note what is on your mind if you are no longer in touch with the breath or with the sensations of the body lying in the bed, and without judgment or criticism, just let that be part of your awareness in the moment, and feature once again the breath and the body center-stage in the field of your awareness.
11. Repeat step 10 a few million times.
12. It is very easy to fall into the thought stream and get caught up in the future (worrying, planning) and the past (remembering, blaming, pining) and in reactive and often painful emotions.
13. No need to try to stop any of this from happening when you can just bring a big embrace of openhearted, spacious, accepting awareness to it and, lo and behold, you are once again sitting on the bank of the thought stream, listening to the gurgling but not so caught up in the torrent for the moment.
14. You can cultivate mindfulness in this way lying in bed for a few moments in the morning, or in the evening before going to sleep.
15. You can also cultivate mindfulness sitting, standing, walking, and eating – in fact, in any position or situation, including brushing your teeth, taking a shower, talking on the phone, running, working out at the gym, cooking, picking up the kids, making love, whatever is unfolding in your life in the present moment.
16. It helps to be present for it and for yourself.
17. Remember – the real meditation is your life, and how you inhabit it moment by moment.
Mindfulness: Breath and progressive muscle relaxation
Herbert Benson is well-known for his work on the connection between the mind and body, and the work on the relaxation response. Here is an excerpt from his website:
Elicitation of the relaxation response is actually quite easy. There are two essential steps:
A. Repetition of a word, sound, phrase, prayer, or muscular activity.
B. Passive disregard of everyday thoughts that inevitably come to mind and the return to your repetition.
The following is the generic technique taught at the Benson-Henry Institute:
1. Pick a focus word, short phrase, or prayer that is firmly rooted in your belief system, such as "one," "peace," "The Lord is my shepherd," "Hail Mary full of grace," or "shalom."
2. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
3. Close your eyes.
4. Relax your muscles, progressing from your feet to your calves, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, head, and neck.
5. Breathe slowly and naturally, and as you do, say your focus word, sound, phrase, or prayer silently to yourself as you exhale.
6. Assume a passive attitude. Don't worry about how well you're doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say to yourself, "Oh well," and gently return to your repetition.
7. Continue for ten to 20 minutes.
8. Do not stand immediately. Continue sitting quietly for a minute or so, allowing other thoughts to return. Then open your eyes and sit for another minute before rising.
9. Practice the technique once or twice daily. Good times to do so are before breakfast and before dinner.
Regular elicitation of the relaxation response has been scientifically proven to be an effective treatment for a wide range of stress-related disorders. In fact, to the extent that any disease is caused or made worse by stress, the relaxation response can help.
Elicitation of the relaxation response is actually quite easy. There are two essential steps:
A. Repetition of a word, sound, phrase, prayer, or muscular activity.
B. Passive disregard of everyday thoughts that inevitably come to mind and the return to your repetition.
The following is the generic technique taught at the Benson-Henry Institute:
1. Pick a focus word, short phrase, or prayer that is firmly rooted in your belief system, such as "one," "peace," "The Lord is my shepherd," "Hail Mary full of grace," or "shalom."
2. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
3. Close your eyes.
4. Relax your muscles, progressing from your feet to your calves, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, head, and neck.
5. Breathe slowly and naturally, and as you do, say your focus word, sound, phrase, or prayer silently to yourself as you exhale.
6. Assume a passive attitude. Don't worry about how well you're doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say to yourself, "Oh well," and gently return to your repetition.
7. Continue for ten to 20 minutes.
8. Do not stand immediately. Continue sitting quietly for a minute or so, allowing other thoughts to return. Then open your eyes and sit for another minute before rising.
9. Practice the technique once or twice daily. Good times to do so are before breakfast and before dinner.
Regular elicitation of the relaxation response has been scientifically proven to be an effective treatment for a wide range of stress-related disorders. In fact, to the extent that any disease is caused or made worse by stress, the relaxation response can help.
Mindfulness: Core/deep breathing
Do you know how to breathe deeply? It is a key component for all health.
Are you a shallow or deep breather? Take Nancy Zi's simple test: Put your palms against your lower abdomen and blow out all the air. Now, take a big breath. If your abdomen expands when you inhale and air seems to flow in deeply to the pit of your stomach, you're on the right track.
More typically, though, shallow breathers are likely to take a breath and pull in their stomach, which pushes the diaphragm up so the air has nowhere to go. What happens next is that the shoulders go up to make room. "All this effort for something, which should be a natural gift!" Zi exclaims.
To fill the lungs more deeply, "Lower the diaphragm muscle by expanding the abdomen. When this happens, the lungs elongate and draw in air. You don't breathe into the abdomen; you allow it to expand comfortably all around its circumference — back, sides and front. Proper core breathing is really the foundation for all things — it's the foundation of health."
"Where is the core? It's below the navel a few inches or so. It isn't a thing, you can't see it: it's a sensation. Zi likes to use the image of a lotus blossom when teaching people how to breathe from their core: "When you inhale, imagine a blossom opening within your abdomen; when you exhale, the blossom closes. You open from the center of the blossom, the core. What causes the petals to open is the energy from the core; the more you breathe from the core, the more you stimulate and nourish its energy, and you become more in control."
To practice deep breathing, sniff in four times, hold for a count of four and then hiss or gently blow out on a count of eight. Work your way up to blowing out for progressively longer counts of twelve, sixteen, twenty, etc. Then try taking a deep breath, filling the diaphragm on one long intake, hold it, and blow out for progressively longer counts as before. Don't raise your shoulders or expand your chest. All the movement of the breath comes from the waist or below.
Are you a shallow or deep breather? Take Nancy Zi's simple test: Put your palms against your lower abdomen and blow out all the air. Now, take a big breath. If your abdomen expands when you inhale and air seems to flow in deeply to the pit of your stomach, you're on the right track.
More typically, though, shallow breathers are likely to take a breath and pull in their stomach, which pushes the diaphragm up so the air has nowhere to go. What happens next is that the shoulders go up to make room. "All this effort for something, which should be a natural gift!" Zi exclaims.
To fill the lungs more deeply, "Lower the diaphragm muscle by expanding the abdomen. When this happens, the lungs elongate and draw in air. You don't breathe into the abdomen; you allow it to expand comfortably all around its circumference — back, sides and front. Proper core breathing is really the foundation for all things — it's the foundation of health."
"Where is the core? It's below the navel a few inches or so. It isn't a thing, you can't see it: it's a sensation. Zi likes to use the image of a lotus blossom when teaching people how to breathe from their core: "When you inhale, imagine a blossom opening within your abdomen; when you exhale, the blossom closes. You open from the center of the blossom, the core. What causes the petals to open is the energy from the core; the more you breathe from the core, the more you stimulate and nourish its energy, and you become more in control."
To practice deep breathing, sniff in four times, hold for a count of four and then hiss or gently blow out on a count of eight. Work your way up to blowing out for progressively longer counts of twelve, sixteen, twenty, etc. Then try taking a deep breath, filling the diaphragm on one long intake, hold it, and blow out for progressively longer counts as before. Don't raise your shoulders or expand your chest. All the movement of the breath comes from the waist or below.
Mindfulness: a search through the Bible
Mindfulness is awareness.
"A good place to start cultivating mindfulness is in the body." Jon Kabat-Zinn
We will start with some physical practices and exercises: breathing, listening, walking, and other aspects of daily life.
While we have talked about Buddhist tradition and here in the U.S. we often think of Buddhism when we think of meditation, I offer the following reflection and selections from the Bible on breath and breathing, listening and walking and mindfulness. We start with breath because that's where God started in Genesis 2:7 "then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being."
Job 33:4, The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Listening is used often in the Bible especially by the prophets, to call people to attention to what is going on in the world: Isaiah 18:3, All you inhabitants of the world, you who live on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, listen! Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. Matthew 11:15 Let anyone with ears listen! Acts 28: 26-27 'Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn—and I would heal them.' Our exercises in listening address the kinds of issues that these scriptures describe.
Walking also starts early on with God: Genesis 3:8, They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
The central tenet and prayer of Judaism regards walking as essential: Deuteronomy 10:12, So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.
Walking indeed is part of the Christian faith: 2 Corinthians 5:5-7 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight.
In fact, mindfulness starts with God's work of creation as described by the Psalmist: Psalm 8:3-4 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
God is mindful of us, and we are created in the image of God, so that we too may be mindful of all of creation, ourselves included.
"A good place to start cultivating mindfulness is in the body." Jon Kabat-Zinn
We will start with some physical practices and exercises: breathing, listening, walking, and other aspects of daily life.
While we have talked about Buddhist tradition and here in the U.S. we often think of Buddhism when we think of meditation, I offer the following reflection and selections from the Bible on breath and breathing, listening and walking and mindfulness. We start with breath because that's where God started in Genesis 2:7 "then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being."
Job 33:4, The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Listening is used often in the Bible especially by the prophets, to call people to attention to what is going on in the world: Isaiah 18:3, All you inhabitants of the world, you who live on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, listen! Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. Matthew 11:15 Let anyone with ears listen! Acts 28: 26-27 'Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn—and I would heal them.' Our exercises in listening address the kinds of issues that these scriptures describe.
Walking also starts early on with God: Genesis 3:8, They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
The central tenet and prayer of Judaism regards walking as essential: Deuteronomy 10:12, So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.
Walking indeed is part of the Christian faith: 2 Corinthians 5:5-7 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight.
In fact, mindfulness starts with God's work of creation as described by the Psalmist: Psalm 8:3-4 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
God is mindful of us, and we are created in the image of God, so that we too may be mindful of all of creation, ourselves included.
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