Day 1: 28-Day Meditation Challenge. Let's Begin!

Welcome, everyone, to Day 1 of my 28-Day Meditation Challenge. We are off!

I am thrilled that you have decided to join me for this pilgrimage inward. If you've just landed here and don't know what I'm talking about, be sure to scroll down and read my previous post (January 1). I invited anyone who was interested to make a commitment to "sit." To establish a new meditation practice, jump-start an old one, or deepen an existing one.

Truthfully, I wasn't quite sure how to do that here, especially to meet everyone where they are. Needless to say, my mind has been even busier than usual and I have been literally driving myself crazy trying to figure out the perfect way to conduct a Meditation Challenge. 

Light bulb moment! Jan, I said to myself, that is exactly WHY you need to do this Challenge. Your mind  (not to mention, your shorts) is all bunched up about this. Let it go. Just commit to sit down, anywhere, from 5 minutes to 20. Breathe. Just do it, and the way will be show to you. 


So here I am. I have written at least a half a dozen posts to launch this thing. I am dumping all of them. I am starting where I find myself, which is here—a bit wonky—but that is, indeed, what meditation is all about:

We sit, we (attempt) to get a bit more quiet, we let what comes arise, and let it fall away. We breathe. We are. We are fine. We are in the perfect place at the perfect time, feeling what we are feeling.

Let me explain the format, though, so there is no confusion.

1.) Each day I will post something educational and interesting about meditation in all its many forms. I invite you to sit and explore, do whatever it is you'd like to do in the moment to access your inner calm, your clarity, your wisdom. Sometimes I'll do this alone, sometimes I will do it with the assistance of others—other bloggers and meditation "experts."

Alert: There are no "meditation police" here. There is no one watching you or me telling us that we are not meditating correctly. Anything goes.

We can and will experience meditation in its varied forms, from many different spiritual traditions. There is no right or wrong way to meditate as far as I am concerned. I am not a purist. If you are, that's great. Stay faithful to your practice and share what you know. We are all learners on this path as far as I am concerned ... Even His Holiness the Dalai Lama describes himself thus ...

2.) I will present a mini-version of my personal meditation experience each day. This helps me be accountable. Today, I ran a bit long, but I wanted you to get a true sense of how my "sitting" practice is. And, yet, tomorrow, perhaps I will not sit at all. Perhaps I will walk or dance, do metta, or use lectio divina. We'll see!

3.) I'll close with Resources and Inspiration, gleaned wisdom from the journeys of others.

4.) If you've chosen to be an active participant in the challenge, make a comment and let us know how you are doing. Seriously, we want to know. And if you are stuck or lost or need help, send up a flare, ask a question. The lifeboats are waiting!

And, if you'd like to be a public participant in the challenge, want to be listed in the column to the right, just make a comment here that says, "Count me in!" Or, e-mail me privately through my website (www.awakenedliving.com) and I'll add you to the roster. The more the merrier!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me here. I feel honored and blessed to journey with you in this way.

Love and blessings to you,
Jan

Read on ...

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From Where I Sit — Day 1, My Meditation Experience

I light a candle. 9:00 a.m.

I "sit" on the couch in my living room, feet upon the floor. I sit in front of a large picture window that overlooks the Bay. It is quiet in the house. My daughter is sleeping. My husband sits in a chair next to me reading on his computer. He honors my choice to go within at this time. The day is overcast and gray. There are small whitecaps on the water. Ducks fly by. So does the snow ...

Focusing on this tranquil scene initially allows me to get more quiet and centered. A visual often helps. My mind is so busy. Like a Chicago train yard. Whistles blowing. Trains moving in and out every which way. People shouting. Hustling. Controlled chaos. That is the nature of my mind on most days.

This morning I close my eyes and focus on my breath. My breath is my connector. Over the years I have come to trust it, how it immediately drops me down into a place of safety, of alrightness. I trust that by keeping it as my touchpoint it will always bring me back to center.

Breathe. Focus my attention on how this feels, chest softly rising and falling. I hear and feel myself breathing. I hear the furnace kick on, my husband lightly belch, move his feet upon the carpet. A snowplow goes by.

My eyes flutter open. Distraction. Come back to the breath. Feel it move through me.

Thoughts, so many thoughts. I now know that they do not slow or stop until I invite them to. Actually, I don't invite them to. I simply notice them and take a breath. They will do what they will until I return to my breath.

I bring my attention to the tip of my nose. It helps. Feeling the air enter my nostrils at one exact point keeps me focused.

Thoughts wander to noises being made by the front door, wind seeping through. My mind goes to judgment. It's cold outside. Wintry. I don't like being cold. I want to go to Florida soon, very soon.

"Thinking, " I label it, per Pema Chodron's advice. When a thought arises just label it is as thinking. Don't have any opinion about. It is not bad to think. It just is. Thoughts arise, they fall away. Sometimes though, I get really tired of how often the word "thinking" comes up in my meditation.

Dislike arises. Judgement about this meditation. Why can't it be easy? Why can't I float off into bliss like others apparently do.

"Thinking." Opinion. Hopes. More thinking.

Return to my breath. Allow it to still me once more.

I notice that my face is tight. I'm frowning. I must be straining. Relax the face and put a slight smile on my lips. That feels better. Breathe.

And this is how my meditation goes this morning ... what often feels to me like a completely "unworkable" state of mind. In and out of awareness. Focusing, refocusing. Relaxing into, letting go, taking what comes, knowing it will not last. Everything changes.

When it feels like the time is right, I allow my awareness to shift, to come back to the room.  I open my eyes. The Bay is wilder. The snow is too, blowing in horizontal sheets across the yard.

I notice that I have fewer opinions about what is going on out there. I find myself marveling at the large oak tree, bare and stripped of leaves, that sits directly in front—guardian of my house and the Bay. She is sturdy, strong, unwavering, no matter what is happening around her. The snows come and she is steady. Birds land upon her and she is a true. Were that my mind the same way ...

But it's not. Not yet. I am a work in progress. My meditation is a work in progress. Actually, it just IS. I am fine. My mind is fine. As it is. As I am. No where to go. No where to be. The sturdy oak reminds me of this. Just breathe.

Now, "All is well. All is well. All manner of things shall be well," the words of mystic, Julian of Norwich chime in.

I chuckle at myself. Buddhist-leaning chick, pondering with animistic intent on a tree, courted by words of a Christian anchoress. You gotta love it, really ... How quirky is that?

Despite all of this "activity" in the last 20-minutes or so, I am amazingly calm, aware, and grateful. I feel at peace in my world.

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Recommended Resources:
If you are new to meditation, you might enjoy visiting Pema Chodron's website. www.pemachodron. org. Click on "Meditation." Click on "How to Meditate" by Sakyong Mipham, an excellent guide to beginners of all spiritual persuasions.

The Cd and book, Opening to Meditation by Diana Lang is helpful, too. There are many suitable others.


Seek and you shall find.

Inspiration:
From Tricycle's Daily Dharma: January 2, 2010. (Daily inspiration delivered to your Inbox.)

Mindfulness and Concentration
Concentration and mindfulness are distinctly different functions. They each have their role to play in meditation, and the relationship between them is definite and delicate. Concentration is often called one-pointedness of mind. It consists of forcing the mind to remain on one static point. Please note the word force. Concentration is pretty much a forced type of activity. It can be developed by force, by sheer unremitting willpower. And once developed, it retains some of that forced flavor. Mindfulness, on the other hand, is a delicate function leading to refined sensibilities. These two are partners in the job of meditation. Mindfulness is the sensitive one. He notices things. Concentration provides the power. He keeps the attention pinned down to one item. Ideally, mindfulness is in this relationship. Mindfulness picks the objects of attention, and notices when the attention has gone astray. Concentration does the actual work of holding the attention steady on that chosen object. If either of these partners is weak, your meditation goes astray.

~Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, from "Mindfulness and Concentration" (Fall 1998) Read the complete article.