7 not-so-random facts about... meditation & me

Image courtesy of Stock.xhng (http://www.sxc.hu/photo/912570)

So the lovely Anuradha over on "Wonders of Meditation" just tagged me with the "7 Random Facts about Me" meme, and I was in two minds whether to answer or not. Not because of anything to do with the meme itself, but more because I wanted this blog to have a specific meditation focus, rather than being about me specifically.

Then a little voice inside asked "But what if you could combine the two?" So, errr... yes. That's exactly what I'm going to try and do with this post. Behold the results: 7 random facts about me somehow all related to meditation ;-)

OK... so here goes:

1. First Exposure: My first exposure to the concept of meditation was when I was a young child, and I used to like sitting alone in the dark and just thinking. One day, my older cousin came in and found me like that, and immediately declaimed with the voice of greatest childish authority that I looked like I was meditating, and that it was weird. She couldn't quite explain what meditating was, but she knew it was weird.
   
   
2. The Martial Arts Connection: Later, as a teenager, I used to love reading martial arts stories (e.g. Lustbader's "Ninja" set). The first time I ever thought about learning to meditate was after reading a scene in which the martial artist protagonist meditated to prepare himself for a coming trial.
   
   
3. First Time Learning: The first time I *actually* learned to meditate was with the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Auckland in my mid-20s. They were offering free sessions, and I figured "why not?" (plus? It was a chance to spend time with the man who was going to, unknown to both of us, turn out to be my husband six years later) While not every technique the Centre uses worked for me, I'm still grateful to them for providing me with my initial start.
   
   
4. Biggest Source of Techniques: I probably learned the most (in terms of sheer quantity of techniques) about meditation from my early years exploring the Pagan paths, during which time I was a total information sponge; absorbing whatever I could without judgement, trying it, seeing if it worked, and keeping if it did, or simply archiving it in my files as "potentially useful for someone else" if it didn't.
   
   
5. Best Source of Techniques (and Self-Knowledge!):I probably learned the most (in terms of depth of technique, and about myself and what works for me) when I was training for ordination as a Priestess with the Fellowship of Isis. The training for this involved meditating daily, keeping a detailed meditation diary, and submitting it to and discussing it with my tutor on a regular basis.
   
   
6. Biggest Frustration: I'm actually split as to what to answer here - there are two possibilities that get equal billing. One is that many meditation techniques require the practitioner to visualise something, and my visualisation skills (even after the training I've done) are atrocious. I'm basically about 90% audio-based and 10% kinaesthetic - I even find it hard to remember new faces until I've met the person four or five times unless there's something unique about their appearance I can capture in language. Occasionally I can manage visualising one colour at a time for a chakra meditation, but anything more visually complex than that? Forget it! The other frustration is that self-discipline of maintaining routines is NOT something I'm strong in, so while I genuinely enjoy meditating, if I'm not accountable to someone or something, I'll often let my practice slide (which is, let's face it, pretty much exactly why I started this blog!)
   
   
7. Favourite Techniques: Honestly, despite all the complex guided journeying and breathing techniques I've learned over the years, my favourite is almost always simply reaching with my 'roots' for the ground, centring myself, and then just focusing on the in-and-out of my breath. Occasionally, if I'm feeling distractable, I'll count the breaths, rather than just focus on sensation. The other perennial favourite that I do a little less often is a very simple chakra meditation that involves focussing on the sensations around each chakra in turn for a given number of slow, deep breaths (usually five or ten). As I breathe in, I'll draw in energy up through my roots and down through my crown, and I'll feel the energy and the breath together filling up the chakra - first the root, then the sacral, and so on, up to my crown.
   

Now, theoretically at this point in time, I'm supposed to tag 7 other people, but while I don't mind answering memes myself, I hate putting other people on the spot. So instead I'll open it up to the floor for anyone reading who wants to answer. What are 7 random facts about you and the topic of your blog? Enquiring minds want to know... ;-)

Blessings



Starfire

What am I passionate about?

(Image courtesy of Stock Exchange: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/470762)














Over on his blog "Slow down fast", David Bohl talks about authenticity and telling people what you're passionate about.

While I think the post is great in and of itself, and that being authentic around our friends about the things we're passionate about *is* a critical part of having an authentic friendship, that's not actually what I want to post about.

Instead, it's the gut-level response I had to reading David's opening question paragraph:

"Let’s assume you had five minutes to give a speech. You would receive a very large sum of money if you gave a speech that the judges considered “passionate.” You choose the topic, you write the speech. You give a passionate speech, you get the money.What would you talk about?"

As I read it, my answer just jumped out, fully formed and far too intense within my mind's ear to ignore. For me? What fascinates me more than almost anything is the human mind and how it works. I'm interested in the workings of my own mind, and that of other people's. I'm wildly curious about how our different minds work together; how we think, how we communicate, what motivates us, and what gets in our way (or makes us get in the way of ourselves). And I'm enthralled by the potential for healing that understanding the mind can create.

I'm also fascinated by the way our minds perceive the different realms of experience: the physical, the spiritual, the emotional and the imaginary. What's more, I'm thoroughly fascinated by the very real possibility that these 'different' realms might not be nearly as different as common wisdom tells us they are (or at the very least, that the boundaries between each realm might be a little... fuzzier than common wisdom assumes they are). And because I'm fascinated, I'm passionate about constantly, as often as possible, as much as possible, learning more.

That fascination and passion is why I originally chose a psychology degree back when I was fresh out of highschool. It's why I'm studying for a degree in Communications now a decade later. It's why I learned to meditate, and part (if not all) of why I trained as a priestess. And yeah; it's why I keep this blog.

You see, whatever else they may be doing for me spiritually (and I wouldn't want to discount that aspect of practice), one of the biggest attractors about regular mindfulness and meditation for me is that they help me notice and understand how my mind works. They feed my passion to learn and to understand the workings of my own mind; and through that, of human minds in general. They support (or refute) the theory I learn in books and from discussions with other people. They are , in a very real sense, part of my learning process. And through their association with that learning, I've become passionate about meditation and mindfulness in and of themselves.

So when David asks me to imagine that I have to write a passionate speech about something, I don't need to wonder whether I'd be able to talk with real passion about a given topic, or even what I'd end up writing about. I just remember the posts I've made recently on this blog when I've discovered something new about meditation or mindfulness, or about myself and the way my mind works, or the similarities or differences I've noticed between my mind and someone else's. Oh yeah, this is what I'm passionate about.

Thank you, David, for reminding me of that :-)

Fascinated (and passionate) blessings



Starfire