.jpg){kind=avatar}
Polly mentioned meditation in one of her posts. For anyone who is interested here are 3 books on meditation:
"Why Meditate?" by Matthieu Ricard
"Mindfulness in Plain English" by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
"Meditation for Life by Martine Batchelor
"The aim of meditation is to transform the mind. It does not have to be associated with any particular religion. Every one of us has a mind and every one of us can work on it." Matthieu Ricard
For me learning how to manage stress has been as important as learning what to eat, maybe even more important, for it is guaranteed that things will go wrong sometime no matter how diligent we may be and for those times it is good to have something to fall back on. Meditation techniques give me that. Anger, frustration, sadness, despair still visit me but I have become much better at handling them which in turn makes it easier for me to be patient with a healing process that is slow and not always linear.
Jean
Meditation
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi Jean,
I've found meditation and meditative yoga to be EXTREMELY helpful to my healing. I prefer classes led by instructors but I have downloaded some meditation routines to my cell phone to listen to on airplanes and I have some tapes that I listen to in the car. I've found the adult education classes that run for 10-12 weeks to be very reasonable and pretty good classes.
Our local VA hospital and Cancer hospital give free stress management classes that are essentially meditative yoga classes but the instructors call the classes stress management or no one would come.
Brandy
I've found meditation and meditative yoga to be EXTREMELY helpful to my healing. I prefer classes led by instructors but I have downloaded some meditation routines to my cell phone to listen to on airplanes and I have some tapes that I listen to in the car. I've found the adult education classes that run for 10-12 weeks to be very reasonable and pretty good classes.
Our local VA hospital and Cancer hospital give free stress management classes that are essentially meditative yoga classes but the instructors call the classes stress management or no one would come.
Brandy
have not been posting for a while, but so once and a while I take a look around and this one got my attention. I am a very huge big fan of meditation, I meditate normally once or twice a day for about an hour. I started meditating after a short meditation course (I think it was Vipassana meditation, but not sure, it is the kind you sit and observe what is nothing less, nothing more). In that time I had real serious sleeping problems (that serious that I know the difference of a night of bad sleep and a night of no sleep). And well meditation did not solve it "overnight" but I still remember, the teacher saying when I mentioned my sleeping problem "next time you can't sleep do like here just observe, nothing else just observe".
And really that was a turning point in my sleeping problems, I was sometimes able to "observe" and the next thing I remembered was waking up after 4 of 5 hours. And believe having a sleeping problem that was WOW!!!
Besides this short course I have never read anything about meditation. Techniques make me nervous (than in meditation I have to DO something), and someone talking me through the meditation is even worse, it disturbs my meditations. But these are only personal preferences.
My advice should be, if anyone is interested in it, just start. Just sit down, set a time for 10 minutes and sit down and observe what there is. Don't get too confused with "how you have to sit" (or not), "how you have to breath" or even "how to observe". I simple sit on my sofa, pillow in my back and pillow under me feet and of course I also did not start with an hour each time (I think 10 or 15 minutes).
My definition of meditation is "I sit down, I close my eyes and I go inside"
Although it did make a turning point in my sleeping problems, I have never observed any improvement in the MC (unfortunately)
And really that was a turning point in my sleeping problems, I was sometimes able to "observe" and the next thing I remembered was waking up after 4 of 5 hours. And believe having a sleeping problem that was WOW!!!
Besides this short course I have never read anything about meditation. Techniques make me nervous (than in meditation I have to DO something), and someone talking me through the meditation is even worse, it disturbs my meditations. But these are only personal preferences.
My advice should be, if anyone is interested in it, just start. Just sit down, set a time for 10 minutes and sit down and observe what there is. Don't get too confused with "how you have to sit" (or not), "how you have to breath" or even "how to observe". I simple sit on my sofa, pillow in my back and pillow under me feet and of course I also did not start with an hour each time (I think 10 or 15 minutes).
My definition of meditation is "I sit down, I close my eyes and I go inside"
Although it did make a turning point in my sleeping problems, I have never observed any improvement in the MC (unfortunately)
"As the sense of identity shifts from the imaginary person to your real being as presence awareness, the life of suffering dissolves like mist before the rising sun"
-
MBombardier
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 1523
- Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:44 am
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Harma! I have been thinking about you and wondering where you are. Back in Jordan or in Holland?
I am going to be in Israel in November, returning to the states on Christmas day. Is there any chance we can meet? I would love to.
Sorry to hijack this very interesting thread.
I used to do yoga every day, and meditated during and at the end of it. I miss it.
I am going to be in Israel in November, returning to the states on Christmas day. Is there any chance we can meet? I would love to.
Sorry to hijack this very interesting thread.
I used to do yoga every day, and meditated during and at the end of it. I miss it.
I haven't tried this yet but it looks interesting...
http://www.onbeing.org/blog/bell-sound-meditation/4317
This four-part, bell sound meditation is a short guided practice led by next week’s guest, Arthur Zajonc. For our (overdue) weekend exercise, take these ten minutes to try this contemplative meditation
Lesley are you coming to the middle east that is great, yes for sure we will find a way to meet, finally a reason for to travel to Israel :-). I am doing ok, the last months were not easy. I still struggle with my MC, I still live on chicken, rice, olive oil and tea. And than still I have good and bad days. I have the idea that stress and pent-up emotions are also due to it. My house is sold now, so if this fails (well what is failing I will always have the experience) but "what if", I have nothing anymore, a room with mum and dad and have to start all over again. Of course this is not what I hope and count on, but I have my days that I wake up at night and think OMG my house in holland is gone!!!
Also I feel my parents are still not very content with my life change plans, and I don't know we can be 10 30 or maybe 50, there always seems be a struggle in us "making our parents happy" and "following our own path". They accept it, but that's it, tolerate it, is a better word (well what can they do I am 44). I find this especially at the moment hard to deal with. Because my mother is 67 her mother was 89 before she died, so my mother could live for another 20 years (and of course I wish she stays with me as long as possible as my father), but what do they expect me to do, wait until they have passed away, I am will be in my sixties than, I can't wait for that!!!
But emotionally this is not an easy part, I want to do what I want to do, my way, my rules etc but on the other, well it is never fun knowing that what I am doing is hurting my parents.
Besides that my Arabic is going very well. I actually finally have the feeling I will learn it. I found a very fun and easy way to it, with pictures and talking. I am reaching the level that I have enough vocabulary that I can say most of the thing I want to say when needed. Outside Amman when no one speaks english I can manage (mostly with words). And actually It is not even that difficult (is not the same as easy) but my french or italian, well it feels the same. But again I only learn talking no reading or writing (that is later). Here is link on my lesson on language learning experiences (really learned a lot from it, for example that I am not lazy stupid or lack the talent, it is the method that makes the difference)
http://harma-margrieta-hingstman.com/
besides that I am trying to find a job, but not very successful so far, also time of year does not help at the moment: ramadan (almost equals the country is closed during day time). Besides that I am working on ideas of setting up something for myself, "self employed" or "having my own company", what I am thinking about is a combination of traveling, history, spirituality and senses. Through Jordan through your senses or Jordan through your senses. It is a combination of all the things I have experienced here and what I like about Jordan, a book, a journey, a blog. I am brainstorming at the moment. But the planning is to make real and concrete between now and christmas (or course step by step). This is the plan to make me a living, the job would only be temporary (but of course future will tell)
My sister is coming to visit in September, and another friend has visited me in June, It was very very hot that week, every day 40 degrees are more (celsius, that is over 100 fahrenheit), so we did a lot of driving because we had a car wit AC. Normally I hate it, but this time I loved it. We have been from high up in the north (where you actually can see the Golan height, really if you see this, just some bare mountains than you wonder where on earth they are fighting about) and lake of Galilee where Jesus walked on water to the deep south a beautiful wadi rum desert. We had terrific week.
I seem to be in some kind of transition period (and than in a positive way). Most of my friends have left, and new friends have not shown up yet. But also in here I am resetting my values and what I really want, because it is easy to find people "to hang out with" but that is not the same is "making new friends". And that is something I am not really focussing at the moment, for now it is learning Arabic, finding a temporary job and build up my business idea. That really fills my days at the moment. All and all it goes steady forwards, not always easy but still convinced this is what I want to do.
So well, this is "how it is going with me".
I hope you are doing well here, everytime I visit it is like 1500 new message,s 300 new messages
so no not reading them all.
wish you all the best and lesley let me know when you are coming.
Also I feel my parents are still not very content with my life change plans, and I don't know we can be 10 30 or maybe 50, there always seems be a struggle in us "making our parents happy" and "following our own path". They accept it, but that's it, tolerate it, is a better word (well what can they do I am 44). I find this especially at the moment hard to deal with. Because my mother is 67 her mother was 89 before she died, so my mother could live for another 20 years (and of course I wish she stays with me as long as possible as my father), but what do they expect me to do, wait until they have passed away, I am will be in my sixties than, I can't wait for that!!!
But emotionally this is not an easy part, I want to do what I want to do, my way, my rules etc but on the other, well it is never fun knowing that what I am doing is hurting my parents.
Besides that my Arabic is going very well. I actually finally have the feeling I will learn it. I found a very fun and easy way to it, with pictures and talking. I am reaching the level that I have enough vocabulary that I can say most of the thing I want to say when needed. Outside Amman when no one speaks english I can manage (mostly with words). And actually It is not even that difficult (is not the same as easy) but my french or italian, well it feels the same. But again I only learn talking no reading or writing (that is later). Here is link on my lesson on language learning experiences (really learned a lot from it, for example that I am not lazy stupid or lack the talent, it is the method that makes the difference)
http://harma-margrieta-hingstman.com/
besides that I am trying to find a job, but not very successful so far, also time of year does not help at the moment: ramadan (almost equals the country is closed during day time). Besides that I am working on ideas of setting up something for myself, "self employed" or "having my own company", what I am thinking about is a combination of traveling, history, spirituality and senses. Through Jordan through your senses or Jordan through your senses. It is a combination of all the things I have experienced here and what I like about Jordan, a book, a journey, a blog. I am brainstorming at the moment. But the planning is to make real and concrete between now and christmas (or course step by step). This is the plan to make me a living, the job would only be temporary (but of course future will tell)
My sister is coming to visit in September, and another friend has visited me in June, It was very very hot that week, every day 40 degrees are more (celsius, that is over 100 fahrenheit), so we did a lot of driving because we had a car wit AC. Normally I hate it, but this time I loved it. We have been from high up in the north (where you actually can see the Golan height, really if you see this, just some bare mountains than you wonder where on earth they are fighting about) and lake of Galilee where Jesus walked on water to the deep south a beautiful wadi rum desert. We had terrific week.
I seem to be in some kind of transition period (and than in a positive way). Most of my friends have left, and new friends have not shown up yet. But also in here I am resetting my values and what I really want, because it is easy to find people "to hang out with" but that is not the same is "making new friends". And that is something I am not really focussing at the moment, for now it is learning Arabic, finding a temporary job and build up my business idea. That really fills my days at the moment. All and all it goes steady forwards, not always easy but still convinced this is what I want to do.
So well, this is "how it is going with me".
I hope you are doing well here, everytime I visit it is like 1500 new message,s 300 new messages
so no not reading them all.
wish you all the best and lesley let me know when you are coming.
"As the sense of identity shifts from the imaginary person to your real being as presence awareness, the life of suffering dissolves like mist before the rising sun"
Hi Harma,
It's natural to worry about the future when the future seems uncertain, but the reality is, the future is uncertain for all of us. None of us knows what tomorrow may actually bring -- heck, we don't even know what lies around the next corner, so the term "uncertain future", is only a relative term, and it can be whatever we want it to be.
Your plan sounds very realistic, and well organized, so you shouldn't be overly concerned about the future. IMO, your future is secure and it will very likely be whatever you choose for it to be. You're making steady progress, and that's the surest path to success.
Thanks for the update,
Tex
It's natural to worry about the future when the future seems uncertain, but the reality is, the future is uncertain for all of us. None of us knows what tomorrow may actually bring -- heck, we don't even know what lies around the next corner, so the term "uncertain future", is only a relative term, and it can be whatever we want it to be.
Your plan sounds very realistic, and well organized, so you shouldn't be overly concerned about the future. IMO, your future is secure and it will very likely be whatever you choose for it to be. You're making steady progress, and that's the surest path to success.
Thanks for the update,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Harma,
It is great to hear how you are doing! You do really well in English so I have no doubt that the Arabic will follow.
I think that you really excel at travel writing, motivational writing, and introspection. Keep us posted and hopefully you and Lesley will connect. That would be way cool!
Brandy
It is great to hear how you are doing! You do really well in English so I have no doubt that the Arabic will follow.
I think that you really excel at travel writing, motivational writing, and introspection. Keep us posted and hopefully you and Lesley will connect. That would be way cool!
Brandy