Tag: meditation

Mindfulness lesson 5

Good day!

I hope all is well for you.  Today’s lesson is sitting quietly.

Buddhahood

When one thinks of meditation, often Buddha comes to mind. We have all seen the Buddha statue of Buddha in his mediation lotus position.

In meditation, as with anything, posture is key. Sit upright. The goal is to create thought. It is said that praying is talking to God, and meditation is listening to God.  But we can get in the state of mind. If you sit and meditate, you will get enlightenment and join the Buddhahood those who gain enlightenment.

Bodhi spot

So, the Bodhi spot is where Buddha obtained enlightenment. We can’t all go to this spot. It is far away for one thing. We live busy lives. But we can find a nice quiet place to sit  and tune out the world for a while. find peace of mind, find a bit of happiness, and listen to God whatever that means to you.

Mindfulness in every day situations

To me, it would be ideal to live a very simple life. I think society in general has made this world a lot more complicated than it needs to be. But, that is the world in which we live.  We have so much to do. We have work, home projects, yard work, house work, the kids have to go here and there. It is enough to make your head spin. Just when you think you have it all under control something happens. Am I right? You may be wondering with all this going on how can I take time to meditate. My question is how can you not? Now I admit, I love meditation. I like it more than most. If I could make money meditating, I would be rich.

Meditation, mindfulness actually helps you to get through all those other every day things. Remember, meditation is all about being alert. When you live in mindfulness, you are aware and focused. You are more capable of handling anything that comes your way better than with out it.

With meditation, you have better judgement. You are more calm. You are more self-controlled. Put that all together and you have good results in all actions that you take. You take things one at a time. You are not trying to resolve several issues at once. When you do that, you handle it right the first time. You don’t have to waste time doing anything again to get it done right. You will be in control of your world instead of the world being in control of you.

Be whole

We are pulled in so many directions. Does it ever feel to you that you are falling apart? Well. with meditation, you become whole again. When your mind is focused, your entire being is focused. When one meditates, your mind brings everything back to center. You feel whole again.

Baby Steps

Do you remember learning how to walk? I do. I can remember my mom placing me on  my feet and my dad, crouched down saying, “come to papa”. I also remember thinking how hard this walking thing was. I was probably only trying to walk 8-10 feet. But it seemed a lot farther. But I also remember the sense of accomplishment I had when I made it to papa.

This is how it is with meditation. If you try to meditate like Buddha, you are going to be very frustrated. Buddha was a master. If you try to be enlightened right away, you will get discouraged. So, take baby steps. Just start by sitting quietly. You don’t have to sit in the lotus position either if that is too hard. But do sit up straight and have good posture. Now, just close your eyes and relax. Don’t think about anything. You may want to set a timer. That way you can keep meditating without wondering about how long you have been sitting there. I suggest you start with 10 minutes. That may not sound like much, but it takes time to work up to 20 or 30 minutes.

Just sit there. Don’t think about anything. If a thought comes into your head, acknowledge it and let it go. Now, what do you notice? Unless you are in a sound proof room, you will hear something. You may hear cars. You may hear birds. You may hear an airplane. Maybe you can hear children playing. What do you feel? Can you feel a breeze? Can you feel the sun? What is your body doing? Sense your breath. Sense your rib cage expanding, your lungs. We take breathing for granted we rarely think about the mechanics of it. How about your muscles? Are they relaxed or tense? If you feel tension, let it go. Did your shoulders just fall a little? How about your jaw? Now, are there any smells? Are you baking something? How about the neighbors? Do they have something cooking, a BBQ perhaps? And just about now, your 10 minutes are probably up. That was not so bad now was it?

You did it!

You just meditated.

I really want to help people to become mindful. Let me know how you are doing. I could really use the feedback. Thanks!

Remember, these are just the first steps. We will get deeper and deeper as time goes on.

Take Care!

www.facebook.com/lisaylifecoach

Lisa Y coaching.

Mindfulness class!

Hello~

So, for 30 years now I have been a practitioner of  mindfulness. When I started, it was not very well known. But we are becoming more and more enlightened and spiritual. As a life coach, I like to build up people. I want to build them up mind, body, and soul. So, with that in mind, I would like to offer a free class on mindfulness. So here it goes!

Introduction

In the Western world, we are not as advanced as the Eastern world when it comes to being in tune with our self. We are so busy being on our phones, computers, and playing video games, we have lost touch with our own self. So many people can’t seem to get through the day without constantly being stimulated by something else. We have music and television on our phones. We watch endless videos. You can’t even take a Sunday drive anymore without some driver getting upset because you are driving the speed limit.

Some people think of meditation to be a chore. They don’t even want to spend 10 minutes doing it. They have so many other things to do. Who has the time they ask? But for me, it is the best time I spend every day. I used to spend 5-6 hours on Sundays in meditation. Yep! You read that right 5-6 hours. I smile just thinking about it.

I don’t expect anyone to do that, but I do hope that you will find at least 20 minutes a day in meditation.

When you learn mindfulness, you will find you have more time. You will get more out of life. You will learn to get back to basics and appreciate quite times.

Try it! You’ll like it!

More time

We divide our day into sections of time. We have our work time. We have eating time. We have computer time. We have sleep time. We have house cleaning time. We have yard work time. We have football time. We have time for our spouse. We have time for the kids. What is not spent on all these other things is “our” time. This is the time to do what we want, which always seems in short supply.

By dividing our time this way, we make the day very short, don’t we? There never seems to be enough of it. There are never enough hours in the day. And by the end of the day we are exhausted. Our minds are so tired. When we go to bed, our minds seem to want to keep going as if they are catching up on the events of the fast paced day that finally ended.

What if all time was “your” time? What if time were not divided at all? It would seem like you have more, wouldn’t it? No matter what you are doing you need to think of it as your time, and this is how I am spending it right now. You live in the moment. Helping the children with their homework, waking the dog, washing the car, standing in line at the bank is all your time. The key is to be interested in what you are doing. Stop looking at your phone. Stop multi-tasking. Do one thing at a time. Pay attention to the activity. What will you find? You will find that your time is unlimited. It is all yours.

Washing the car

Let us assume for a moment that you actually wash your car at home rather than at a car wash. Imagine it is a Saturday afternoon. This is your day to get things done around the house. That big mini van is dirty. So you tell yourself I will quickly wash the van then I will have a beer. But if this is your plan, what are you thinking about while you are washing the van? You are thinking about getting to that beer. Washing the van is “washing the van” time. Drinking the beer is your “relax a bit” time. Which sounds more pleasant? Drinking the beer of course. Washing the van is time spent in a way you don’t enjoy. But what if you did?

To practice mindfulness, when you are washing that van, live in the moment. Be aware of what it is you are doing. Don’t live in the future of drinking that beer. Live in the present of washing the van. What happens when you live in the present? You don’t lose time. If, while washing the van all you think about is the beer, you are losing all the time you are spending washing the van. If you live in the moment, and focus on the van, you are cherishing that time and not losing it.

While washing the van be yourself. Slow down your breath. Be aware of your breathing. Breathing is something we do without thinking, but think about it a little. It is very calming. Being aware of your breathing helps you to live in the present. If it helps, think of the movie “Karate Kid”. Wipe on. Wipe off.

Let me know how you did.

So, I would like to hear how you did on your first lesson of mindfulness. Leave me a message. www.facebook.com/lisaylifecoach

Yeah!

Lisa Y coaching