Reply To: Meet Marta: Have any questions or comments on meditation? Write them here…

[Marta]

#1961

Hi All. Midnight has arrived, working day has officially ended. The time to connect with my fellow meditating souls has arrived. Thank you for your comments and enquiries everyone.

Paul, great to hear from you and great to see you practising (regardless of the pant pattern :) )
Meditation has got an amazing capacity to balance the nervous system, especially when we focus on the breath. Feeling energised is one of the benefits that you are getting out of practice. And this is just a beginning!

Dena, I am so glad to hear you discovered the exactly opposite spectrum of meditation’s benefit, to Paul’s experience (above) In this instance, your nervous system clearly needed a gentle persuasion to remain tranquil, and meditation and breath awareness can do it for you easily. You are simply inviting sense of balance, when needed. Keep breathing, keep meditating!
Ps. You see the colours of your healing light?! That’s beautiful. Seriously. Let it trickle and do its work. Love it. Thank you for sharing it.

Aris, thank you for mentioning acceptance here. If we sprinkle an attitude of acceptance generously into the way we are, we get a chance to move forward..with the body, the state of mind, our emotions, etc. Just like you said: to progress and make changes. Often fluidity of the movement and breath come with repetition and familiarity of practice. If it is initially a little bumpy and a little jagged (both: breath and movement) see how it feels if you practice the same routine few more times. All becomes little smoother and smoother until transitions are barely noticeable. Another thing: let yourself be playful and light-hearted as you practice and let me know how it goes ;)
Also, as per your exchange with CatherineR and Sally, very valid point about the diaphragm and stress withheld and then being released. Another thought that may, or may not apply to you all, it could be as simple as capacity of your lungs increasing and each time you are finding your breath bumpy. It could be a shift towards a greater inhalation? Play with it, watch your breath and let me know. What a joy learn from you guys!

CheshireCat, first thing you do to deal with “numb bum” syndrome is experiment with your posture for meditation. Sit on a pile of blankets, perhaps with your back against a wall (click our new “Peace of Mind” button on Homepage) Offer your body ALL support right at the start, so your focus doesn’t get hijacked by discomfort of the body. Some schools of meditation say “sometimes you have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable”, but I feel it applies only to little urges to move, shift, scratch, etc, rather than being genuinely uncomfortable.
As for struggling to concentrate: concentration is something that we learn by repetition. We begin by paying attention to a part of the body, or breath.. and then our attention gets hijacked by something else. In response, we acknowledge that fact, and we return to whatever we are paying attention to. And we do this as many times, as many hijacking events occur. Literally. Sometimes it can be frustrating, sometimes almost funny. All you do is keep going.

Sally, as long as you are not about to drift off into deep sleep Dena-style, please do meditate in the bath. There’s no such thing as-too-much-of-good-things-happening-at-once!

Geri, thank you for the breathing post. This is one of the worst hidden secrets of mental and emotional wellbeing, which you are discovering. Breath opens us up to questions and often offers the answers. The more you explore it, the more it begins to assist you on a conscious level as a tool to navigate through the life’s challenges. Breathe and smile :)

Love to you all,
Marta