Posts tagged ‘meditation’
Olet jo perillä.
Miksi siis et harjoittelisi tietoista läsnäoloa. Osalle sopii paremmin ohjattu mindfulness, osalle hiljaisuus. Itselleni omimmalta tuntuu istua silmät auki ajastimen kanssa.
Tällä mahtavalla sivustolla on mahdollisuus molempaan ja keston voi valita itselleen ja hetkeensä sopivaksi alkaen kahdesta minuutista. Jos tykkäät istua keskittynyt toljotus silmissäsi, sivusto tarjoaa kauniita ja hypnoottisia mielenmaisemia, jotka auttavat juurtumaan itseensä. Ainakin minut auringon kimmellys, aaltojen päällä kiitäminen tai poutapilvien lomassa seilaaminen vievät onnelliseen paikkaan.
Sivusto löytyy myös mobiiliapplikaationa, mutta ainakaan toistaiseksi latautuneet maisemat eivät ole yhtä hienoja kuin sivustolla. Äänimaailma kuitenkin liennyttää mielen vaikka keskellä ruuhkametroa.
Päivittäinen meditointi?
Leo Babauta kirjoitti jälleen hyvän artikkelin siitä, miksi ja miten meditoida päivittäin. Koko artikkelin voi lukea hänen Zen Habits -blogistaan.
Tässä vapaasti suomentamani ohjeet:
- Sitoudu kahteen minuuttiin päivässä. Voit jatkaa pidempään, jos siltä tuntuu.
- Päätä ajankohta ja sytyke. Mieti, mikä ajankohta päivästä on sopiva kahden minuutin meditaatiolle. Valitse sellainen toiminta, joka kuuluu rutiineihisi jo nyt, ja liitä siihen meditaatiohetkesi (esim. hampaidenpesun jälkeen, lounasta ennen tms.).
- Etsi hiljainen paikka.
- Istu mukavassa asennossa.
- Keskity hengitykseesi.
Ps. Kaikista hyvistä (heikoista) aikeistani huolimatta en tahdo saada aikaiseksi edes kahden minuutin meditaatiota. Nyt aion kuitenkin yrittää, vaikka se sitten jäisi pysyvästi kaksiminuuttiseksi.
Keväinen ikkunanpesu (ja lempipaikkasi Helsingissä)
Martin Boroson One Moment Meditationista lähestyi jälleen uutiskirjeellään, jossa tällä(-kin) kertaa oli hyvä ohje mielen rauhoittamiseen. Vapaasti suomennettuna ohje oli tämä:
1. Sulje silmäsi.
2. Keskity hengitykseesi.
3. Kuvittele, että jokainen hengitys pyyhkii mielesi tyhjäksi kuin tuulilasinpyyhkijä.
4. Kun olet valmis, avaa silmäsi ja katso, mitä tässä hetkessä todella on.
Samalla kaikille helsinkiläisille, entisille helsinkiläisille, Helsingissä vierailleille ja Helsingistä haaveileville vaikuttamisvinkki: kerro Kaupunginmuseolle, mikä on lempipaikkasi tässä urbaanissa pikkukaupungissa ja vaikuta tulevan näyttelyn sisältöön. Näyttelyyn vaikuttaminen on tosin minulle toissijaista; ajattelen, että ihmiselle on aina hyväksi muistella, kuvitella tai haaveilla hyvistä hetkistä, asioista tai paikoista. Tässä on siihen oiva mahdollisuus!
Don’t worry – tame the hurry
I recently wrote about meditation on the go which means concentrating in your breathing for a brief while to calm your mind. Well, this is nearly the same thing but at least for me this works even better when I’m in a hurry.
As we know, hurry isn’t a given but rather a perpective or a feeling. A bus ride takes its time regardless whether you’re anxious or not to get where you’re going. So why worry? Tame the hurry by concentrating on how the soles of your feet feel to the ground as you go or when sitting down. Works best with some barefoot shoes (or five pound shoes from Top Shop which have virtually NO soles) on for you can actually feel the ground but feel free to be mindful in high heels as well!
Concentrating on the concrete feeling in your soles instantly shifts your focus from should be into now.
Meditation on the go
A couple of weeks ago I bumped into a video and a related site: One Moment Meditation. Apparently it’s Martin Boroson‘s method to implement meditation and mindfulness for people on the go. I haven’t read the book and I’ve only watched the brief video that doesn’t really give any instructions but I found the idea quite intriguing.
So, I’ve been performing some real life experiments and found the following:
- it IS possible to “meditate” even in a rush hour underground while listening to music!
It’s really quite simple: I just focus on my breathing for a little while. In – and out – and in – and out – simultaneously picturing an empty mind in my head where the breath comes and goes like the wind. Easily and unforced.
A brief moment of meditation or mindfulness might not have the long lasting implications of meditating for years after years but it sure does calm the mind and hence the body is calmed as well. As meditation research has shown, meditation lowers the pulse and blood pressure. Quickly, the stressful or busy or restless feeling is gone and replaced by something happier.
Like there’s always time for (a little) exercise, there’s most definitely always time for meditation as well. No need for fancy pillows or incense, just order it on the go!
Practical Meditation
Since I’ve now been practising meditation for some time I’ve made some remarks that might be useful for someone. Consider it as a beginner’s advice for beginners. Just at the starting point here, bear with me.
Meditator's little helper
- vary the duration: if you always meditate exactly ten minutes you start to anticipate the timer’s ending sound as you get used to it. Makes it harder to concentrate on nothingness when you expect the alarm to go off any minute.
- dim the lights: at least for me it helps to reduce stimuli by meditating in a little less lit environment. Candles work fine, naturally, but are not in any way essential. The less arrangements the meditation requires the better the chance you do it.
- choose a comfortable position. I like to sit on the bed on a pillow, on the kitchen carpet or on the stool made out of banana leaves (btw. this stool costs only 29,95e and is available on Ikea – and no, I’m not getting a penny for advertising this).
- Why so serious? Try smiling internally while meditating, it helps to relax the face.
P.s. Nelli, the bitch in the pic, can’t understand meditation. The poor thing sometimes comes crying next to me while I’m trying to meditate and places her head on my hand to get some tlc… I try to make it up to her after finishing. ❤
The Perfect Breakfast: Valkee+meditation
I have a suggestion for the Valkee Limited: the beep sound that starts and ends an earlight session could be changed into something more delicate, like a mindfulness bell. Not only it would make the product more luxurious and the user experience more holistic but it would encourage in a zen quality of life.
Couple of weeks ago I figured that since I’ve managed to take up meditation by using a timer and since I use Valkee every morning those might as well be combined. So, my morning routines have taken a new turn: the first thing in the morning I plug in Valkee, sit on the kitchen floor and meditate until the beep tells me eight minutes have passed. As tranquil as multitasking can get. And talking about optimizing!
But boy is meditating in the morning the most challenging yet! My head just bursts with things to be done and the silence of the mind is constantly interrupted by practical and concrete things. All the more reason to reach for a zen state of mind. After doing it for two weeks I’ve found that I’m sort of addicted; I tried to skip the meditation on Friday morning just to find out that I was yearning the calm setting into my body. Luckily this treatment only takes eight minutes and not a dime beyond purchasing Valkee.
P.s. Not suggesting you skip the real breakfast; one does not live solely on air and sunlight however convenient that might be.
Meditation Possible
This post was originally published by me in Dalai Panda 4.2.2011.
Meditation was a mission impossible for me for a long time. I’m a restless person who never stops. I’m constantly thinking or moving and coming up with ideas so you can quite imagine how hard already the idea of meditating seemed to me. Since I’m still positive that meditation is hugely beneficial I haven’t given up on trying. Thanks for my friends for support, you know who you are!
- Finally I’ve made some progress. Here are the things that have helped me to develop something I proudly call my Meditation Routine. My routines involves a 10 to 20 minute meditation on most days. Not every day.
- set a timer – you don’t have to worry whether you’re going to overdo it and be late for gymnastics
- set a timer – you don’t have to worry whether you’re going to give up too easily
- start by 10 minutes –> gradually progress into 20 minutes (I’ve done 20 minutes once – today – hooray!)
- sit still and comfortable, eyes open but not really looking at anything but one point
- you might want to try to focus on an image of an empty room or your breathe blowing in and out in a “tunnel”
- …or count your breaths (this didn’t work for me until today when it was incredible soothing)
- …or say a mantra (like shanti or hamsa) as many times as it takes before you feel the calmness setting and then shut up
- …or say a mantra silently in your mind (I used the word “tyhjää” on the first rounds)
- try using a mindfulness bell – the sonorous sound helps to focus when it clangs once a minute or so (available as an iPhone app)
I use the timer in my iPhone as my meditation timer. The sound “harp” is elegant enough to bring me gently back into present.
Oh, and a idea I’ve been thinking of trying but haven’t yet tried:
- before starting the meditation, write down all the ideas and things you can possibly come up with that need your attention later on – this way they’ll be safe and sound and you don’t have to worry about them while meditating
So, I challenge you: go forth and meditate!
Qi Gong ie. Meri learns to meditate
I participated a Qi Gong (Chi Kung) course last weekend, six hours all together, on Saturday and Sunday. Boy did I not know what I had committed to! But if I did, I would have skipped it so let’s just say, all developing happens outside the comfort zone. I thought it was something similar to yoga but NO. More like meditation while moving. Or meditation while standing still. Eyes closed. Horror.
I’ve always been seriously limited what it comes to being quiet and trying emptying the head from the usual mind buzz. As it appears, my low blood pressure, standing still with eyes closed and breathing super calmly equals feeling faint and losing vision. Not a nice combo but definitely one that makes one grow out of the usual level of performance. Have to admit, I’ve never gotten so close to a complete emptiness and silence of mind, at least when I’ve been trying. Sometimes it just happens doing something, like the flow phenomenon, but that’s a different story.
The Qi Gong teacher, Jarko Savonen, is an occupational therapist like myself. He’s been teaching and practicing Qi Gong even before his OT training and has carried on, tho now he also lectures as an OT. Since I’ve been combining some other areas of expertise (such as nutrition) in my own OT profession I find it interesting to meet other OTs who have expanded the limits. Like many great inventions in the world have shown, it’s beneficial when people start to reach over from their own professional expertise into stuff that passionately interests them. They come up with extraordinary ideas.
Anyway, this Qi Gong thing wasn’t really something that I’d start doing on daily basis, but it most certainly showed and proved me my ability to meditate. Reaching the state just requires a whole lotta more than I’m ready to invest so far… And be it Qi Gong, mindfulness or yoga, I really need to take action in moving towards a less stressful lifestyle. Well, luckily I already manage to sleep 8-9 hours per night, that’s a start!
Meri Pekkanen: Occupational therapy, nutrition and other hot health stuff 
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