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There was a retreat
Apr. 26th, 2010 09:32 amThere was much time spent either in walking or sitting meditation. There was instruction and teachings about meditation, buddahism, attachment, and many many other things.
Every morning I was there, I walked in the woods for a bit under an hour. I was awake at 5:15-ish, and have found that awakening to the deep tone of a bell is surprisingly pleasant.
I experienced yoga which helped immensely with my tendency to develop tightness in my hips and shoulders, and have hope that I can remember much of it.
There was noble silence, wherein not only was there no speaking, but there was not looking other yogis (retreatants) in the face. There was no writing, and no reading. There was _certainly_ no interaction with technology (my phone was off). There was bowing as a method of expressing welcome and thanks and acknowledgment. We each had a yogi job, wherein we were to both give the gift of our time to help reduce the cost of the retreat, and to practice mindfullness in the context of performing a task.
Much of my experience with meditation was self-taught. I had not understood the idea of having an anchor to return to, although I had effectively developed one.
I had not previously understood how the oft expressed idea of life being suffering was perhaps not the best phrasing of it. Life _contains_ suffering. And joy. This concept, I am much less resistant to than the previous one. And so now, I begin active exploration of buddahism, and have a few books purchased at the center.
I appear to be continuing to awaken at 5:15-ish. I was reminded of my strong preference for eating foods which are light and simple, and in large part do not require cooking. So, I am attempting to adjust my diet to more closely match what I was eating while away. Additionally, and I need to check the calorie content, I am eating a _lot_ less than I was, both in meals and in snacks. My stomach appears to take about an hour to realize that it is full or over-full, so I'm trying to be very careful to eat small amounts. If it is over-full, then it's fairly unpleasant to the point of nausea, so I wish to keep an eye on things. This may relate to my meds that allow me to sleep, as they do also clearly have stomach effects.
Awakening at 5:15am, however, means that I am tending to need to sleep around 9p. Which is a little strange, considering that many people in my life are likely to be awake much past that time.
I am not expecting to get caught up on LJ for the most part, neither right now from when I was away, nor more generally now that I am not online for ~7 hours every day at work. If there is anything you specifically want me to see, please let me know!
And now, I prepare for the trip for my granddad's 90th birthday party this coming weekend, and for my travels which start in May. And make a grocery list for things I would like to have in order to eat similarly to what I ate on retreat.
I have complete intention to do some Yoga and meditation of some sort every day, and would like to try to do ~30 minutes of sitting, and ~30 minutes of walking meditation on Saturday mornings. I have indeed already done Yoga and meditation (~10 minutes, at most) this morning, since I was up at 5am and needed to remain downstairs and quiet anyway. Not wishing to cause everyone else to be awake that early, and all.
Every morning I was there, I walked in the woods for a bit under an hour. I was awake at 5:15-ish, and have found that awakening to the deep tone of a bell is surprisingly pleasant.
I experienced yoga which helped immensely with my tendency to develop tightness in my hips and shoulders, and have hope that I can remember much of it.
There was noble silence, wherein not only was there no speaking, but there was not looking other yogis (retreatants) in the face. There was no writing, and no reading. There was _certainly_ no interaction with technology (my phone was off). There was bowing as a method of expressing welcome and thanks and acknowledgment. We each had a yogi job, wherein we were to both give the gift of our time to help reduce the cost of the retreat, and to practice mindfullness in the context of performing a task.
Much of my experience with meditation was self-taught. I had not understood the idea of having an anchor to return to, although I had effectively developed one.
I had not previously understood how the oft expressed idea of life being suffering was perhaps not the best phrasing of it. Life _contains_ suffering. And joy. This concept, I am much less resistant to than the previous one. And so now, I begin active exploration of buddahism, and have a few books purchased at the center.
I appear to be continuing to awaken at 5:15-ish. I was reminded of my strong preference for eating foods which are light and simple, and in large part do not require cooking. So, I am attempting to adjust my diet to more closely match what I was eating while away. Additionally, and I need to check the calorie content, I am eating a _lot_ less than I was, both in meals and in snacks. My stomach appears to take about an hour to realize that it is full or over-full, so I'm trying to be very careful to eat small amounts. If it is over-full, then it's fairly unpleasant to the point of nausea, so I wish to keep an eye on things. This may relate to my meds that allow me to sleep, as they do also clearly have stomach effects.
Awakening at 5:15am, however, means that I am tending to need to sleep around 9p. Which is a little strange, considering that many people in my life are likely to be awake much past that time.
I am not expecting to get caught up on LJ for the most part, neither right now from when I was away, nor more generally now that I am not online for ~7 hours every day at work. If there is anything you specifically want me to see, please let me know!
And now, I prepare for the trip for my granddad's 90th birthday party this coming weekend, and for my travels which start in May. And make a grocery list for things I would like to have in order to eat similarly to what I ate on retreat.
I have complete intention to do some Yoga and meditation of some sort every day, and would like to try to do ~30 minutes of sitting, and ~30 minutes of walking meditation on Saturday mornings. I have indeed already done Yoga and meditation (~10 minutes, at most) this morning, since I was up at 5am and needed to remain downstairs and quiet anyway. Not wishing to cause everyone else to be awake that early, and all.
