Meditating in the ER
Unfortunately I ended up in the ER today. I'll skip what I was doing there for now, because I'd just like to focus on two emotions I experienced there today.
Just be
"Just be."
That's one of my favorite phrases. I especially like it when I'm about to sit down to a meditation session. What does it mean? Just be. Don't add anything to your existence. Just be. Breathe. Listen. See. Feel.
It's like a cooking recipe, but a very simple and pure one. Just exist, don't add anything to it.
Was that a thought? Shhh ...
You need to trust your environment while meditating
A thought occurred to me last night as I was meditating, and it's very simple: You have to be able to trust your environment when you're meditating, or you won't be able to get into a deep meditative state.
Hard to talk after meditating
I was just reminded that sometimes after meditating, I find it hard to talk to people. I can generally understand what they're saying, but my problem is two-fold. First, I have to work to formulate a sentence, and second, I have to get my mouth to work properly.
I don't know if this is a common occurrence among people that meditate, but as I just ran into this again, I wanted to mention it here.
Increased meditation time to 45 minutes
As a quick note to self, I increased my meditation time to 45 minutes this morning. I slept in late, then sat in meditation (in a chair) for the usual 12 minutes. When that time ended I didn't feel like stopping, and with nothing else to do today, I just stayed there. My mind is still wandering quite a bit, and the upstairs neighbor was making a ton of noise, but it's good to get my time back up like this.
A nice yoga and meditation rhythm
After getting away from meditating in the mornings, I've finally gotten back into the habit/groove lately. It has taken a little while to get comfortable again, but this morning was the first morning where I had the old feeling that I didn't want to stop. Until today I've been thinking more about things like discomfort, pain, and that I should really get to work, but this morning I finally got back to the peace I'm used to.
Meditation benefits you may not know
I haven't been feeling well the last few days, so I decided to take some time out to rest today. After sleeping for a little while this afternoon, I still didn't feel great, and hoped that some meditation might help. After finishing a long meditation session, I'm reminded of several meditation benefits, some you've heard of, and some you may not have heard of.
Dream of a new Guns 'N Roses song
I woke up from a dream at 2:48am where I heard a new Guns N' Roses (GnR) song.
I was on a computer somewhere, listening to a Stevie Nicks tune, and when I pressed an image for another song of hers, this new GnR song with Axl Rose singing started playing. I knew this was a dream, so I listened to it for a little while, and tried to remember the intro music, which was terrific. But then when I became concerned that I couldn't remember all the lyrics, I woke up.
In the ER, next to an Iraq war veteran
I depart from my "normal" posts tonight, in that this post is not about a dream or an OBE. Instead, it is about spending this evening with a friend in the ER (she seems to be okay), and hearing a very sad story in the room next to us about a veteran of the current Iraq war (or the U.S. invasion/occupation of Iraq, whatever the politically correct term is).
A margarita, and a heightened mental state
There I am, drinking a margarita last night (celebrating Cinco de Mayo), and minding my own business, when a certain form of meditation (a certain mental state) spontaneously kicks in, and all I can think is "Oh no, not here." It's a very focused mental state, where my concentration is incredibly focused, much to the exclusion of the outer, physical world.
