Meditative fast food analogies: In the Starfireverse at least, guided meditations are like "Subway"

I listened through another of the Dragon Rising meditation audios last night. I'm not going to review it today, because (due to constant convulsions of coughing that will throw a damper onto my focus in *any* meditation) I'm not 100% sure of my reactions to it. I'm going to aim to listen through it again this weekend, and then I'll write a review once I've been able to give it a fair chance.

I also reinstated my Meditainment.com membership earlier on in the week too: something I'd let lapse a while back because I'd already downloaded all the files they had, and they hadn't put up enough new content to make renewing worth it to me. When I went back this week, however, I discovered there was enough new stuff on the site that I'd happily join up again - so you can expect to start seeing some of their guided meditations reviewed over the next little while as well.

That's not, however, the purpose of this post. That honour is reserved for an amused thought I had as I was finishing writing up my responses to the Dragon Rising "Winds of Change" meditation in my offline meditation diary last night.

It occurred to me that that meditation audios are, for me, very much the equivalent of eating semi-healthy fast food (e.g. a "Subway" wrap, for example).

• Work involved: They don't require me to actively think or prepare myself (kind of like Subway comes to me ready-prepared without requiring me to actually do any work to create it)
• Short-term effectiveness: They're good as far as they go, but they rarely have the inner impact of a journeying I design myself or that I spontaneously drift into; or a pure mindfulness meditation (kind of like Subway's not bad as fast food goes, but it's still not as good for me as a balanced meal I prepare myself)
• Long-term effectiveness: They're fine every now and then for fun and enjoyment, but they're not really going to take me closer to my meditation goals, especially if I do nothing else for my practice but use them (kind of like Subway's fine occasionally, but wouldn't be so healthy if it was all I ate!)
• Unnecessary expenses: They're not cheap. OK, they're not horrendously expensive, either; but if my goals are to meditate regularly and to improve my meditation focus and 'stamina', they also cost money I don't have to spend to move me closer to my goal (kind of like the way that Subway costs more than making the equivalent thing on my own would, and is totally unnecessary for me to have a balanced diet - it's basically an extra expense)

I know it's a bizarre analogy, but I've realised that this is what guided meditation audios are for me -a kind of guilty pleasure that I'm not really guilty about. They're fun things I play with that benefit me through the pleasure they bring me, rather than necessary tools of my meditation practice.

I know for some people, though, they're a critical tool without which they couldn't practice at all. And others don't use them at all, finding them too structured, or just generally annoying. That's fine - it takes all types.

How about you? Do you use guided meditations at all? If so, what part of your practice do they form? If not, what *are* the tools you use?

I'm interested to see just how different the responses I'll get to this question are.

Curious blessings



Starfire

Medition Oasis' "Aliveness" Meditation, and finding stillness between breaths

Last night I tried out my latest podcast download from Meditation Oasis, a guided meditation called 'Aliveness'.

I tend to find that how much I get out of the Meditation Oasis meditations depends hugely on how I am before I start them. Sometimes I find them wonderful - easy to sink into and amazingly relaxing; other times, if I'm not starting off in the right state, I just find myself drifting through them - my mind half listening to Mary's voice, half ticking away on whatever it is that it's ticking away on .

Last night, unfortunately, was one of the latter sessions. I enjoyed the concept of a meditation about aliveness and feeling alive (especially since, down here in the Southern Hemisphere, it's the height of midsummer, and everything around me is all-but glowing with life), but I didn't find myself sinking into this one at all... the words happened for me more as a lecture from which I was trying to learn something than as a meditation I was experiencing.

One thing my mind did catch on, however, that felt valuable to explore further was the concept of stillness. I think for me, a meditation feels successful (if indeed, the word 'successful' is appropriate when talking about meditation) if, at least once during it, I've felt my mind still and centre. It doesn't have to stay still the entire meditation (in fact, if I'm honest, the times it does so are few and very far between), but generally, the longer and more frequently the periods of stillness over the course of a given meditation session, the more relaxed I feel afterwards, and the more 'successful' that session feels.

I have different techniques to find those moments of stillness - some seem to work only when I start meditating in a relatively calm state at the outset, others seem to be a little more versatile. One of the 'tried and true' methods that works for me, apparently no matter what mindstate I start off in is noticing the periods between the end of one breath and the beginning
of the next.

See, my natural breathing rhythm seems to involve a brief pause between finishing an exhale and starting to inhale again. One breath doesn't doesn't just follow another - there's a moment that stretches out just as long as it needs to before my chest expands again to take in more oxygen. In those moments, everything seems to just... quiet... stop... hang... waiting patiently and timelessly for the cycle of breath to start again in its natural rhythm. And my mind is one of those things. Just in that moment between breaths, whatever thoughts were happening in the background of my mind seem to suddenly, naturally, still with no actual effort on my part.

I'm not sure when I first noticed this tendency, but I know it happens reliably enough that when my mind is disturbed or upset, I can use it to actively find stillness that I often can't access through any other technique. Simply resting my attention on the space between breaths is all it takes - I notice that I'm pausing, and the stilling seems to take care of itself

Hearing Mary talk about stillness in this meditation makes me curious to know how other people find their moments of stillness during mindfulness and meditation. How do you find yours? Do your moments just happen, or are there specific techniques you use in the same way that I use focussing on the moments between my breaths? Do you find some techniques work no matter what mindstate you start in, while others are only suitable when you're starting off calm already?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Blessings



Starfire

Article on Mindful Breathing

As I was working my way through clearing all the articles on my RSS reader, I came across this gem about developing mindful breathing practices throughout the day (as compared to setting aside blocks of time specifically for meditation).

The article is called 'Finding the Rhythm in your Breath' by Jeannie Marshall, whose articles I've enjoyed in the past.

The technique Jeannie suggests is very similar to what I'm doing in many of my post-workout park meditations (although sometimes I don't limit myself to just focussing on my breath, and let myself notice environmental stimuli as well; other times I deliberately narrow my focus down to my breath)

How does this technique work for you? Is it something you can bring into your everyday life, or are you more comfortable blocking out specific sessions of 'meditation time'? Or, like me, do you find a combination of both types of mindfulness works in your practice?

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Blessings; and whichever holidays you celebrate at this time of year, may they bring peace and fulfilment.


Starfire

Visualisation Difficulties

I've just read an excellent guest article by the Urban Monk at Litemind talking about visualisation, and it reminded me of the frustrations I've experienced in the past around trying to visualise.

Here's the comment I left on his post:

"Hi Albert

I found this a good article, but I’ll admit that it was a tad frustrating for me.

I’ve always found visualisation agonisingly difficult. My mind is naturally very audially based, with a little kinaestheticness (kinaesthesia?) thrown in for good measure. Visually, though, it’s like my inner eye is blind :-S

When I “see” something in my mind, what I’m actually experiencing is an inner running commentary of what’s where, or a verbal description of a thing’s features. I can hear any sounds it makes, or if I’m “imagining” interacting with someone, I can hear their voice, tone, accent and speech cadence clearly in my mind. Occasionally, I’ll “see” the way it feels under fingertip or foot, or the way I move when I use it or interact with it.

Visually though? Nothing but the briefest, dullest occasional flashes. It’s like I’m walking around inside my mind with a multi-layered blindfold on, and every now and then, just for the very briefest instant, all but one or two layers is pulled away and then quickly replaced again.

I’d be interested to know if you’ve come across other people who find it easy to imagine things in rich audio and kinaesthetic detail, but almost impossible to imagine visually.

Curious blessings

Starfire"

I've been aware of this difficulty pretty much ever since I started meditating, and right through my priestess training. And minds being the innovative things that they are, I've found ways around not being able to visualise (like focussing on the other sensations that my inner sense *can* perceive.

But writing that comment today was the first time I'd created a metaphor around how it feels for me to try and fail to visualise. That feeling of having my inner eye blindfolded... yeah, that's exactly how it is for me!

So I'm wondering if anyone else has the same issues around visualisation. Has anyone had difficulty in the past with it, despite being easily able to interact using other inner senses within a meditation - and then learned how to visualise without it being an agonising effort?

If so, I'd really *really* like to hear from you. Please - drop me a line in the comments! Thanks so much :-)

Blessings




Starfire