And so continues my “cottage retreat” as I’m calling these 4 weeks. My first week was about Healing, where I:
* Read Eat, Pray, Love
* Did Yoga, ShivaNata, Meditation & Reiki
* Sang and danced
* Walked in Nature & met two horses
* Drank a LOT of tea
* Made a commitment
* Slept in to let my body heal
Week two begins today, and again, shall contain four [9 hour] days of peace without parents. I’m not sure why the word poise jumped out at me, but I’m focused on following my instincts right now.
(I just want to express that I know I can’t heal every hurt in 4 days; my focus is just shifting slightly)
So Poise is this weeks focus; and to begin it, I’ve just done the 14-minute routine on the Wii fit. For those interested, the routine follows:
– Deep Breathing
– Warrior
– Standing Knee
– Palm Tree
Break– Triceps Extensions
– Sun Salutation
– Deep Breathing
If you are a beginner, be careful [especially with Half Moon; which I couldn’t complete] and if you want a routine without having to constantly press A; go to “My Wii Fit” and then “My Routine” and make it there.
And now, back to my reflections upon Eat, Pray, Love by Eliabeth Gilbert. Find parts i, ii & iii about italy here.
INDIA – Recognition of Spirit- Part i
As she describes the days in the Ashram I think about my own plans to attend a retreat in July 2011. Most weeks this year, I’ve struggled to maintain the weekly 20-50 minute meditation practises; which have covered Just Sitting, Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana. It’s been a rare thing for me to sit in meditation for more than ten minutes without getting to the point of opening my eyes and watching the clouds go by [which yes, could be a form of meditation, but for me, they generally aren’t].
If I hope to sit through an hour session of it in July, I think I’ll need some form of training.
And thus, next term, I intend to go to at least one session of yoga and one session of kundalini meditation. I’ll continue my weekly session of meditation at University [especially as I co-run it] and shall focus more on becoming comfortable in the state by meditating at least twice a week on my own.
As she described the experience in the Ashram, I recognised my own desire to practise devotion and dare I say it, poise; in a setting where it’s not crazy to wake up early to do yoga or meditate (and thus my desire to go to the retreat in 2011).
This week is going to be a reminder of why I started meditating back in 2004. I’m aiming for some form of daily process; hopefully with some yoga and ShivaNata thrown in for balance. I’ve found in the past that meditation is always nicer after a bit of yoga, ShivaNata or even just dancing; so going to aim to do one of those daily and finish each with meditation.
What experiences do you have of meditation/yoga/shivanata? Do you find one more beneficial than others?
~Rose.