Welcome!

Arts and Health, Sisters is devoted to exploring creative problem solving and coping strategies in our world, especially the links between artistic expression and personal and spiritual growth. It is also dedicated to honoring the value and power of women.

Search This Blog

Monday, August 1, 2011

30 days of meditation

I'm doing thirty days of meditation and am going to post on my experience. I'm old enough to have experimented with this in the past. I've never had a really regular practice before. I'm using material from the Morita School of Japanese Psychology, meaning that I've come from this with more of a desire to explore Japanese psychology techniques than meditation.

It turns out that they are about the same thing, with the Japanese Psychology being specifically oriented meditations and helpful for independent use as well as use with a counselor. I find it especially interesting that Morita Therapy as practiced in Japan is associated with a week alone in a "hospital room" (don't know exactly what that means), just to be by and with oneself. How often does that really happen in day to day life now, anything approaching that, with facebook, twitter and so on at our fingertips?

Anyway, today was actually day 4. The first few days involved reading, in which I kept thinking I hadn't read parts of the readings, or hadn't listened to parts of the lectures. Then I'd go back to the reading or the audio file and find out that I had listened or read and actually remembered what I had experienced. It was a perfect introduction to today, when I kept falling asleep.

Which taught me two possible truths. Maybe I need to get to sleep earlier. And I have very interesting dreams when I'm sitting trying to count my breaths.

No comments:

Post a Comment