One Week, Five Pounds, Sixteen Ounces

I've had my FitBit Charge HR for a little more than one week now and I have to report that I am SOLD! The web interface is just packed with information, the app is handy and easy to use, the device itself works extremely well.  It's all pretty simple and seamless. Best of all, it's working!

To my utter surprise, I'm stunned to say that the thing is actually motivating me in ways I wouldn't have believed.  First off, I've not missed wearing a watch in all the years since I started using a smartphone.  Now that I have the FitBit on, I expected to be annoyed.  Instead, I'm pleasantly surprised at how often I'm grateful to not have to fish out my phone just to see the time.  It fixed an annoyance I wasn't aware was there until it was gone! :)

Then there's the alarms and alerts.  The alarm is nice, because it's silent.  I can wake myself, without waking others which is very handy.  Moreover, I find I can use the alarms in other ways too such as reminding me to get up and move now and then when I'm working in my office, or to make sure I drink my recommended 16 ounces of water. The best alert of all has been the phone call alerts! I very often miss calls because my phone is in my pocket. It was a little difficult to find and activate, but once I did the FitBit Charge HR now buzzes and displays the CallerID info.  It doesn't sound like a big deal, but boy has it been helpful.

Most importantly of all having the ability to see my steps, and all of the other features, is keeping my goal of exercise front and center to my day.  It must be working too, because I'm eating better, drinking more water, and exercising daily again.  I've struggled to get that last one back for some time, so I'm grateful for this effect. In the last week I've started losing weight again, where I've been plateaued lately. Five pounds so far!

If there's any downside, I would say the cleaning of it is annoying but necessary.  The other is the very real dark side of seeing your steps all the time.  Before, I would always walk a distance or time.  Now I'm shooting for steps.  This sounds like no big deal, but it means that previously I wasn't worried about steps, and typically got in more than needed.  Now that I have it on my wrist and I'm seeing it real-time, I find there's a big desire to stop walking once I hit my goal, and be all "Well, I did it!" when I could easily walk a little longer or farther.  This isn't huge and is only a mind-game, and so far I've not let it happen.  I suspect the easy way around this would be to set a higher goal.

So, that's it.  A couple of weeks in and I'm already a huge FitBit fan!  I definitely recommend it if you're considering it and you're on the fence.

::Check, Check...check 1...1,2,3....is this thing on?::

I'm baaaaaaa-ack!

So, it's been just over two years since I felt compelled to write here. Up until a year ago, I was doing excellent work to my ongoing health.  Keeping all the weight off, still effortless. I was eating healthy and exercising.

Then my truck broke down. Returning to being a one car family, my exercise immediately suffered. It became sporadic. My eating continued very well, but as anyone who ever tried to lose weight has heard, you have to "eat right, AND exercise!"

As my exercise tapered off, my weight crept on. Not a lot, but more than I wanted. Slowly it climbed and recently it started to bother me.  Not the weight, actually, but the desire to maintain my health and the seemingly endless failures at trying to do so. I kept promising myself I was back at it, then slept in instead of walking. I swore I would go after work, and even packed clothing and changed for a walk, only to find myself at home not having gone to the park.

My view of all this has really been receiving a lot of my attention this last year as I've worked and practiced in the Refuge Recovery community.  I've definitely come to understand addiction much better, and how my food habits always have been tied to this.  But that's a lengthier topic for another day.

Today, I just wanted to post that I recently bought a Fitbit Charge HR and, thinking I was going to find it useless, I have been pleasantly surprised by the enjoyment, utility, and reinvigorating energy it has summoned in me.  Tonight, for the first time in too long I went for a good long walk, MINDFULLY. I've been walking sporadically as mentioned above, but this was the first time I revisited my old practice to the letter. I "invited my ancestors" as TNH says. I used it as a meditation, and I reveled in it.  And I asked myself..."How did I ever let this slip?"

I'll ponder the answer another day. Tonight I'm enjoying the rediscovery.

#RealHappiness - Day 26 - Lovingkindness While Walking

The practice Sharon provides for LovingKindness While Walking is a very simple instruction. Simply walk as you would for a walking meditation but instead of focusing on the movement of our steps and the breath, we focus on repeating phrases of LovingKindness to ourselves.

 

May I Be Peaceful. May I Be Happy. May I Be Safe.

 

As we walk, part of our attention will fall on our thoughts and part will fall on our surroundings. We can start by repeating the LovingKindness phrases for ourselves. As we go along, thoughts of other people may arise, perhaps someone we love or someone we have conflict with. When they do, offer them the phrases altered for them, then return to yourself.

 

May You Be Peaceful. May You Be Happy. May You Be Safe.

May I Be Peaceful. May I Be Happy. May I Be Safe.

 

Practice in this way as long as you like or for the duration of your walk. That's it!

 

Last weekend, when I performed this practice, I was out of town visiting friends. As I've mentioned, this trip provided a plethora of opportunity for various LovingKindness practice, much insight and some real healing and deepening of my understanding of this practice.

 

One such example was when I had the opportunity to walk with one of my old friends whom I had great difficulty with. During the walk, we talked a lot. When we weren't talking, I used the quiet to mentally offer us each the phrases above. Then, when conversation came, I found myself warmed to the task and able to talk openly about our past, our present, our families and so on with an open heart and warmth. It was really great for both of us. I highly recommend this practice. It's good for you inside and out, physically and mentally!

 

 

#RealHappiness - Day 15 - The Benefits Of Practice

Wednesday I practiced walking and sitting meditation.  For my sitting meditation I simply practiced my core meditation and it was as mundane and wonderful as usual.  But, I'd rather tell you about my walking meditation from that day.

It was unseasonably beautiful out on Wednesday in Atlanta.  I took full advantage and made sure I carved out the time for extra walking outside.  I got home, changed and hit the streets of my neighborhood.  I was filled with gratitude for the great weather and neighborhood walk, but I was also extremely happy to be getting back to my routine which has been sporadic lately due to travel and weather.

The subject of enlightenment is one of those strange topics that make people uncomfortable.  Some people brag about having "gotten" it, which tends to make me think they haven't.  Some demur when the subject comes up, which makes me wonder if they have.  And most describe enlightenment as the present moment.  Thich Nhat Hanh has said that enlightenment is simply being present.  He says that "Small enlightenment lead to large enlightenment."  Other teachers I've read and learned from say that enlightenment, or "enlightenment experiences", are when you gain true understanding of something you previously understood only as logic.  That it's all a gradual process of deeper understanding.  Specifically, for this post, I thought of Brad Warner when he talked of what might be considered his own enlightenment experience in "Hardcore Zen".  He said:

"I was walking to work along the Sen-gawa River, just like I did every day, when in an instant everything changed... ...But I can't really recall anything unusual, I was just walking to work."

Well, it was this deeper understanding that hit me like a bolt on Wednesday!  I was walking along, practicing my favorite walking meditation.  I was in the middle of some gratitude sayings, or prayers if you will, about my family when I got to my Dad.  I have this habit of listening to the sounds around me when I think of my Dad.  I listen for the "jazz" in the sounds around me.  The solo, I guess you'd say.  I listen for the part my Dad would be playing if the sounds around me were his band.  There's always something that rises out of it.  It's the lead sounds I'm listening for, never the rhythm.  Not the sirens, or cars, or cicadas.  It's usually the barking dogs, or kids playing or birds singing.  The things that aren't redundant. 

Anyhow, I guess my mind wandered for a second while I was listening for the jazz, when I slowed to a complete stop and stood there with my mouth agape.  Then - and this is where I won't be able to do a very solid job of explaining it - I suddenly gained an insight.  A clear, deep(er?) understanding of Shunyata.  And it came from relating it to music.  I realized that Music is not found in the notes, nor the space between them.  It's both.  Notes are spaces, spaces are notes.  Form is Emptiness, Emptiness if Form.

Now, this doesn't sound like any sort of great revelation and I've logically understood Shunyata (Emptiness) for some time now, but there is a difference between logical understanding and a true, deep understanding.  Most teachers I've read tend to describe "enlightenment moments" as achieving a deeper understanding than a "common logical" understanding on a subject.  They also caution, almost universally, not to get caught up in them and that they are no big deal.  But, as this happened to me, I suddenly gained a true deep understanding of emptiness and interbeing that spiraled through my mind starting with jazz. 

I simply can not explain it better than that, but I guess the shortest way I can try is to say that it was like I had a little idea about how music is a great analogy for Shunyata.  And then from that thought, it was like a doorway cracked open.  I peeked through, and got an even better look at the idea and how it related to Shunyata.  And that was when the door swung wide and I really grasped it all.

Then, as Brad Warner described so well in his book, I walked through the door, and kept going on about my business.  There's really nothing else you can do.

I feel I've done a really terrible job of explaining this.  Almost to the point that I don't feel this was even a worthwhile post.  But, hopefully, someone out there will understand it.  Maybe, with any luck, someone might even benefit from this sub-par explanation.  But most of all, the point of this post is not about Shunyata at all.  It's about Meditation and why a daily meditation practice is so important.  I've been doing this 28 Day Meditation Challenge to help some friends of mine kickstart a daily meditation practice.  When I try to explain to them the benefits of practice, they are so numerous, varied and wide-ranging that it gets hard to explain concisely.  This sort of stair-step deepening of understanding of the Dharma is one of the greatest benefits of meditation.

If anyone out there has any similar experiences, I would really love to hear about them publicly or privately.  Anyone?  Anyone?

#RealHappiness - Day 7 - Letting-Go-Of-Thought Meditation

I decided to utilize the "Letting Go Of Thought" practice described by Sharon in "Real Happiness".  This is something I already do, pretty much since I started, but it's always good to approach it like it's new. Plus it never hurts to get different guidance on these things.

As meditations go, there's not much to tell.  I sat, I settled and I waited.  In the book, Sharon says to return to the breath any time you do get distracted, and that is exactly what I did.  For this kind of meditation, you will often hear people use some variation on the "Mountain and Clouds" or the "Sky and Clouds".  One that I have used often, and to great effect for me personally, is:

"Breathing In, my mind is the great blue sky.
Breathing Out, my thoughts are the clouds that pass by."

I am pleased to say that I wasn't too often distracted (probably because I've practiced this considerably) but I still found myself pursuing a random thought now and then.  This is perfectly normal, and happens less with time. When I did, I simply took a moment and re-focused on the feeling of the breath entering my nose and exiting.  Sharon gives really good, very simple and clear instruction on this in the book.

"We release a thought or a feeling not because we are afraid of it or because we can't bear to acknowledge it as a part of our experience, but because in this context, it is unnecessary.  Right now we are practicing concentration, sustaining our attention on the breath." ~ Sharon Salzberg "Real Happiness"

I did this for 20 minutes and it was, as it usually is, very calming and peaceful.  The last 10 minutes of my 30 minute sit, I was more distracted.  Or, not distracted so much by stray thoughts I followed, but more deliberately I started pondering specific thoughts.  Intentionally, I guess.  For me, sometimes, this happens in meditation where I will suddenly start pondering some thing, usually a problem I've not solved, and my mind will decide that the time is right to solve it.

So, for the last 10 minutes of my sit, I pondered a couple of issues on my mind.  Rather than letting go of these, I decided to sort of let my mind do it's thing and work on these problems.  Not really letting go of the thoughts, but rather sort of observing the solution taking place without interfering. It's rather hard to describe, but there ya go. 

The bell rang, and I was somewhat energized from my sit.  I ended up staying up later than planned as a result.  Not a bad thing, just a thing.

How was your first week of the challenge?

#RealHappiness - Day 5 - Gratitude!

Sunday afternoon is when the Two Hands Sangha meets for it's weekly meditation group. Day 5 of the challenge happened to be our Sangha meet day, so I rolled them all in to one.

In the week leading up to our gathering, I had picked up on a few loose ends of conversation and such. The theme that seemed to rise out of it all was Gratitude. I had heard each of our members expressing gratitude in various ways and for various things as well as missing opportunities to be grateful, including myself.

So, on Sunday morning, I found myself with a little free time and used it to try to sew those loose threads together for a talk on Gratitude. I was looking for some poetry about Gratitude and I stumbled across a fantastic article that not only included various quotes and poems on the subject, but a TON of other great insight on incorporating Gratitude in to our daily lives.

The article, by a gentleman I was not familiar with (Phillip Moffitt), was PERFECT for my needs. I ended up highlighting sections of it to discuss and had so much material that I really had to prune it down to fit it in the time frame we had.

Anyhow, once I found that incredible selection from DharmaWisdom, all I needed to round out the group meet was a nice guided meditation on Gratitude. I reached out to my #Twangha (all my Twitter Sangha from all over the world, including the #OMCru - Online Meditation Crew) and asked if anyone had a suggestion. Kayla Hewitt, a great young aspiring Dharma teacher, immediately reminded me of Gary Sanders recorded meditation on the topic. It was PERFECT!

So, we had our 20 minute guided meditation, followed by a beautiful 10 minute walking meditation in the gardens (Which was so lovely one member didn't even hear the bell and ran a little long enjoying the trees) and finally another 15 minute silent sit. We wrapped up with the reading from the article, and some discussion. It was truly a beautiful way to wrap up the weekend and I was FULL of gratitude for our wonderful little Sangha and my amazing #Twangha. 

If you don't belong to a Sangha yet - and perhaps if you're participating in the RealHappiness challenge, you might not - I would definitely encourage you to seek out one in your area. If you have good ones, that's a great thing to be grateful for! If you don't, start one and be grateful for that! ;) Best of luck with this practice, and may we all be at ease!

Want to be smart? Walk Hard.

Since I walk about three miles a day just for exercise purposes, I found this article interesting.  I also can't resist a slam dunk reference to Dewey Cox.  Anyhow, it seems that if you walk you actually become smarter (or is that 'get more better smarter'?).  So Walk...Walk hard!

Walking May Increase Brain Size and Boost Memory

And just for fun.....Enjoy:

Savor the BOOK!

Last night I did my usual three miles of walking meditation.  When I had finished my usual meditative musings, I turned my thoughts toward an issue that has been on my mind lately.

Maintaining Mindfulness.

I have been very fortunate to have had an extraordinarily easy time losing my weight so far.  There's been a few challenges along the way, but all VERY minor.  The hardest time I have had has been recent.  I had a week long stretch where life simply demanded my time elsewhere and I was not able to do my Tai Chi in the mornings, or my walking at night for almost a solid week.  As those fell away, so did my drive to wake up and meditate in the four o'clock hour every day.  By the end of the week, I found myself struggling to get back in the swing of things.  But I am fully aware that this sounds very whiny when weight loss can be so incredibly difficult for us.  I know, I've been there...my whole life.  BUT, as it has been so easy for me this year, this minor challenge has been a little tough.  Tough enough, at least, that it got me thinking about just exactly "Why HAVE I had it so easy?"  And just exactly "Why IS it hard right now?"

That's when it came to me.  And, once again, I have Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung - as well as their book "Savor" - to thank for it!  The answer was in front of me every time I logged in to Twitter and saw "@SAVOR_the_book" or went to the web site for the Savor Sangha which is www.SavorTheBook.com.  The answer couldn't have been more perfect, if they had crafted it intentionally.  The answer was:

"Savor...the...BOOK!"

Instead of reading the book through, and then forgetting about it.  I recommend that you read it more than once.  Truly savor it!  Over and over again.  Or at least make highlights and notes and re-read those randomly.  Heck, if you do nothing except read "Chapter Two: Are you really appreciating the apple?" before your meals, I think you'll be reminded to be mindful while eating.  (This apple meditation has proven extremely powerful for me personally.)

I will definitely be revisiting my highlighted passages on my iPad regularly.   And, while on that subject, let me just say that the eBook version on an eReader is THE way to go for something like this.  You can gain instant access to exactly the quote or passage that you want, as well as your notes on that passage.  iBooks is kind of made for this.

Anyhow, I really loved this little bit of insight.  It made me smile, and it made perfect sense.  I'll let you know if it helps me maintain my mindfulness.  As for my week off, and subsequent struggles to get back in gear, it seems to have passed.  I'm back to eating healthier than ever, exercising daily and getting my weight moving again.  I am down 82 pounds as of today!

Are you having any struggles or issues, big or small, in sticking to your plan?  What are you doing about it?

MS

"I Love You, I Love You!"

My first morning in Bermuda, last week, I woke up and set off for my three miles of mindful walking in paradise.  I fully expected to have one of the best mindful walks a person could possibly hope for, and I got just that.

I walked along famous Front Street, breathing in and breathing out paradise. 

Breathing in, I am grateful to be on this island paradise.
Breathing out, I am awake and aware in this beautiful place.

I took in the incredible views of the harbor, the sun rising over the east side of it.  The beautiful Front Street stores.  The people all saying "Good Morning" as is their custom for all.  It was exactly what I expected and it was wonderful.

Just as I neared the 1.5 mile point, where I would turn around and head back, at Crows Lane Roundabout I saw a statue of a bearded man stepping forward and waving with both hands.  I snapped a picture and figured I would check it out later. 

A little further along, right where I turned around to head back, I saw a man who looked exactly like the statue leaned forward in the roundabout waving with both hands to all the people coming in to Hamilton for work. This spot is where all the traffic pours in to the city in the morning. 

The man, whom I later learned was Johnny Barnes, was waving at all the drivers and saying "I Love you, We Love you!".  He spotted me, and shouted across to me "Hey buddy, don't forget we Love you, we Love you!  Have a great day!"

I was so stunned, taken aback and positively filled with happiness from this guy who simply radiated happiness and joy, I waved back and told him I loved him too.  I walked back to my hotel and went about my day and I'm telling you that my day was ten times brighter because of this stranger who so sincerely told me he loved me.  Not because he loved me, although that was sweet, but that this guy was such a shining example of happiness. 

I did a little research, and it seems Johnny Barnes is a local legend.  He's Bermuda's very own Good-Will Ambassador and he's darned good at it!  Seems that he was an electrician until about 1948, then a bus driver.  Then, according to legend, on his way to work one day he just stopped and "took up waving at people". 

He can now be found pretty much every morning, there, from 5am to 10am making people smile.  Some people assume he's a crazy man, but he's not.  He's a happily married man, allegedly, who by all accounts is just HAPPY! 

How cool is that?

The world needs more Johnny Barnes.  Every City and town could benefit from a good will ambassador like Mr. Barnes.  I hope he lives many years to come and keeps doing what he's doing.  He certainly warmed my heart on a day I didn't think it could be any happier than it already was!

MS

Mindfulness Is Easy In Paradise!

Y'know, some days it's just easier to be present in every moment.  It helps tremendously when you're in paradise! 

Elbow Beach, Bermuda, at Sunrise

I started this week out in Bermuda, and had a truly great time.  It was a beautiful place to be, and it made my mindfulness very easy indeed.  

Mindfulness is being fully present in every moment.  Sometimes, it can be very easy to do but for most of us there is effort involved.  I practice a lot of mindful walking, as any regular readers of this blog will know, and that makes it pretty easy.  It's even easier if you are in a nice place like a park.  The prettier the nature or surroundings, for me, the easier it is to be very mindful and grateful for all of the incredible elements that make up my life.

So being in Bermuda, surrounded by beauty at literally EVERY turn makes it about as easy as it can possibly be!  Here's a few scenes from my week of mindful moments in Bermuda:

I'll probably write several more posts about, or related to, Bermuda this week as I was struck by many things there.  However, I have started several of those posts and found them challenging so far.  We'll see what comes, but for now I wanted to share this one thing I took home from Bermuda with me:

The amazing ocean views from Elbow Beach are no more incredible than the rich life at the park near my house.  Sure the beach is more striking to the eye, but when you really focus on being mindful and present, you find that they aren't any different.  In fact, they are the very same.  They are both made up of the exact same elements, and are both brimming with diverse life and incredible beauty.  The things that make them both beautiful are the exact same, and the rest is a matter of perception.

Ponder that for a bit, the next time you are at your local park or neighborhood enjoying a mindful walk.  If you are truly mindful, it will be every bit as wonderful as that beach was.  That's the true power of mindfulness.

MS

"I Feel Right Comfortable Sittin Right Here"

Man, I am having a great week with regard to my meditation practice! 

I have been reading Brad Warner's books recently (reviews to follow soon) and I have been wanting to start sitting zazen.  Until now, I have been doing all my various meditations in the style I learned from several Thich Nhat Hanh books.  I guess I would characterize it as Breathing Meditation, not knowing if Thay has a certain tradition he promotes.  If he does, it hasn't been evident to me so far.  In fact he seems to purposely advocate "whatever works" from what I have seen, being more interested in helping the masses live mindfully than to have them following a particular path.

Anyhow, I currently do 30 minutes of sitting meditation in the mornings, 3 miles of walking meditation in the evenings and any time I feel like it, I use the same style to just do very brief micro-meditations using Thay's "Breathing In, Breathing Out" style thoughts.

So, recently I decided to start devoting my morning sitting practice to trying zazen.  This has been fantastic so far!  Mind you, I've only done it for four days so far, but the effects have been profound.  First off, the unexpected side effect is that the loss of my morning sitting "breathing" meditation has made my walking meditations significantly more rewarding.  Because I miss the time in the mornings, I am relishing the time in the evenings all the more, plus I think the evening mindfulness is being heightened, in some way I can't quite put my finger on yet, by the zazen.

As for the zazen sitting I'm doing in the morning, it's been extremely interesting so far.  I had been considering this for some time, but wasn't crazy about some of the stuff I read about the Soto and Rinzai Zen traditions with regard to all the protocol involved.  Reading Brad Warner's books is making me realize that I could participate in zazen, and even in Soto Zen, without SO much tradition (although a good bit of it is necessary regardless). 

Nothing that has happened for me this week has been earth-shattering, but it's definitely been beneficial.  First off, and perhaps most exciting for me has been posture.  Until now, I've had ongoing issues attaining a posture that was comfortable.  I did ok, but would not go so far as to call it comfortable.  I had heard Brad Warner talk about the posture (and I am paraphrasing here) being almost like "stacking" your meat and bones up or something along those lines.  It made sense to me, and I made an effort when I started the week to reach a better posture with that in mind.  Immediately, perhaps through dumb luck, I found a posture that I kind of just fell in to that first morning.  I knew I was on to something when I had not slouched after ten minutes, and at a certain point I had the sense that I felt like a high-rise building that moves in the wind but doesn't topple.  Very solidly grounded at the bottom, but flexible at the top.  It's hard to explain, but for lack of a better way to explain it, I'll just say I felt extremely balanced.  I stayed that way for the remainder of my sit and all of them since!  Reading what I've written it kind of sounds very minor, but I was extremely happy about this.  Additionally, my posture seems to have eliminated my leg discomfort at the same time.  Either way, I'm happy about it!

The other development is, of course, just the zazen itself.  I had also heard Brad Warner say that the thing he doesn't like about meditation in which you focus on your breathing is that it works in driving away other thoughts, but now you are just focused on one thought.  You've introduced a thought to get rid of thought, so you've added to the predicament.

With this in mind, I sat zazen and let the thoughts come and go as they pleased and it has been entertaining, and interesting to say the least.  Perhaps most importantly though, it has improved markedly just since Monday.

I'm really actively trying to participate in some group meditation both when I travel and locally as well.  My hope is to build on what I'm doing at home, but also to share with others and help them and myself improve the practice.

I leave you with a picture from my mindful walking in my neighborhood last night.  It was a beautiful evening, and I was fortunate to be walking at sunset.

Warm Regards,
MS

PS - The Lyric that comprises the title of this post is from a song called "Lazy Man" by Brighter Shade.  John Driskell Hopkins was the singer and writer of that song before he was in his current little band, the Zac Brown Band.  GREAT music, check it out if you get a chance.

WANT: Thich Nhat Hanh's new book "Peace Is Every Breath"

I'm very excited today, because I just bought the book - released today - "Peace Is Every Breath" by Thich Nhat Hanh!

It was just released and is the followup book to "Peace Is Every Step" which is one of my very favorites by the good master!

I just wanted to let you know it was out, give you some links to get your copy and let you know that I'll have a review of it in due time!

Breathing In, I can't wait to read it!
Breathing Out, I will start it tonight! ;-)

MondoSamu

I'm Positive That Negativity Sucks!

Man, I had a great weekend!  It sped by, as they tend to do, but it was great.  There wasn't anything special about it.  No big exciting fun.  Just lots and lots of little moments that were great.  Friday night, I had an excellent walk.  Saturday morning I spent time with a friend and my daughter, then more time with another friend and both our kids.  Had a nice lazy day around the house the middle part of Saturday.  Home alone for a few hours to read and relax.  Nice evening.  Sunday I hung out with my brother for a few hours, then more home alone time.  Sunday evening I took a great walk in the park at dusk.  The whole thing was just nice.  Here's a pic from the park.

Now, by this time you might be wondering what the title of this post has to do with the great weekend I had.  Well, here it is.

Friday night, I also had a lengthy phone conversation with a friend who was being extremely negative and complaining about everything, and they actually irritated me which is rare.  Saturday, another friend made a couple of sideways stabs at me online with some holier than thou attitude and crap.  I had a few minor disagreements with a couple of family members.  One of my favorite authors posted some blog stuff that was real negative.  As I said, he's a favorite of mine, and he's a cool guy, but his books and posts can sometimes come across as really negative.  And a bunch of other little minor annoying stuff happened that was a drag as well.

But come Monday morning, when I got to work and people asked me how my weekend was, I told everyone how GREAT my weekend was, and none of those crappy things came to mind at all.  This is generally how I live life.  I'm USUALLY a happy person with low stress.  I simply don't care about, or am not bothered by, most of lifes little annoying bitches and moans.  I'm not perfect, and I do my own share of negative business, but the majority of the time, my outlook is pretty happy and positive.

I was reading some stuff about Buddhism and negativity, and found a great quote by the Dalai Lama saying "...is an action influenced by anger not very likely to cause more negativity?"

That makes a lot of sense, right?  I mean, if I let all those little things get to me, and lashed out (more angrily than the polite lashing out that I did) at my friend who was being so negative, or if I pointed out to my "holier than thou" friend that his negative attack was worse for his Karma than the thing he perceives me to be guilty of, or if I just hauled off and pimp-slapped some of the people who pissed me off...no good would come of it.

Instead, I am happy to say that - with the exception of being slightly annoyed or perhaps even tickled by these things - most of this stuff doesn't even come up on my radar.  The more annoying things do, but even they are quickly forgotten.  As always, it is mindfulness that helps me with this.  Having a mindful hang-out with my brother or friends, some mindful walking in the park or my favorite of all - mindful breakfast with my daughter, just makes those negative things so unimportant that I mostly forget about them.  It's a great thing.

So, why write about them?  Am I being negative by just talking about these things at all?  Probably.  But I decided to write this post in the hopes that someone, ANYone, out there might read this and take a pause to think about whether they are sniping at their friends, or snapping at their loved ones or just taking pot shots at their acquaintances.  We all do it at some point or another.  And if they find that they are, maybe take a minute to reflect on why we feel we need to do this, then take a few more moments to be mindful.

Not only will this mindfulness possibly prevent them from being hateful or hurtful to others, but more than likely it will probably make them happier in their own lives which is probably the source of the trouble to start with.

Just a few thoughts for you on this fine Monday Tuesday (I didn't have time to post this yesterday)!  Have a good one!
MondoSamu

A Multitude of Mindful Moments

I just walked about a mile with just my daughter, then a half mile with her, my wife and dog, and then another mile and a half alone.  Then, when I got back, I spent about fifteen minutes walking and listening to Nguyen Anh-Huong's "Walking Meditation In Nature" from Thich Nhat Hanh's Walking Meditation CD.



While walking with my daughter, we talked about the beauty of the day.  While walking as a family, we laughed and joked and played.  While walking alone I did my usual walking meditations, and also spent some time pondering some thoughts from the book I am reading right now ("Hardcore Zen").  During the guided, slower, nature walking meditation, I spent time noticing the nature around me.  I stopped to admire the acorn caps, the twigs, the sky, the pine trees, the bare trees trunks, and most of all the leaves.  I felt the leaves of all the shrubs and trees around my yard.  Some of them dead and brittle and some as silky smooth as velvet.  I stood where my wife and I saw a barred owl sitting on our fence a couple of nights ago, and I dwelled on the wonder of that.

Just an incredible day of wonderful moments.  I thought I would share them with you, and wish for you to find the tiny wonders in your own day!

Mindfully yours,
MondoSamu


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Three Miles of Meditation

For months now, I've been walking almost every day.  I tend to average 2.5 to 3 miles.  Every since reading "Savor", I try to make my walking a meditative time as well.  This has worked wonders for me in many ways.

A couple of those ways are more exercise (obviously) and more meditation.  Like most folks, time is always a challenge.  Walking Meditation makes the walking more enjoyable, less effort and most of all it vastly expands my meditation time which has a ripple effect throughout the rest of my life.

Since the weather has gotten colder, and the days shorter, I have no longer able to fit a nice walk at the local park in to my schedule.  I chose to walk in my neighborhood.  The block I'm on, right in front of my house, is precisely one half mile.  I walk it six times to get my three miles in.  So while walking the last bit of it recently, I had the thought that since it is such a neatly broken down series of laps, it would be easy to describe how I use it for my meditation.

I get asked, a lot, HOW I perform walking meditation.  I have Thich Nhat Hanh's book on Walking Meditation, and LOVE it. 

 

I perform the guided meditations on the CD quite often.  I use that one for when I am severely limited on walking space.  Say, for instance, I am stranded at the office, and I know I will not get the opportunity to walk that day outdoors.  I sometimes perform the guided meditations in the hallway of my office building.  I've even performed these in hotel rooms before.

But when I walk outside, I don't listen to music or guided meditations.  I perform my own style of walking meditation based on the things I have learned from Thich Nhat Hanh's books.  The one in my neighborhood breaks down something like this:

0.5 - Breathing
1.0 - Walking Meditation on My Body and Nature.
1.0 - Walking Meditation on My Family and Friends.
0.5 - Walking Meditation on the World, and nothing at all.

For the first half mile loop, I focus simply on my breathing.  I don't try to think of anything in particular.  In fact, focus on my breathing to help clear my mind so that I don't start solving whatever problems are in my head.  Being a professional problem solver, that's just how my mind works.  Every little thing such as how to get a better rate on my insurance, how to teach my daughter to tie her shoes, how to spend more time with my friends who live far away or how to write better CSS code for a web page that I am working on or whatever.  When I am not thinking of anything in particular, my mind starts solving these problems for me.  So…I try very hard to focus on my in-breath and my out-breath, for the first half mile, so that as I enter the second half mile loop, I can turn my mind toward mindful thoughts for me, my family and my friends.

On the second half mile, I begin focusing my thoughts toward my body.  By this time, I am warmed up with the walking, and I can become keenly aware of my body.  Thich Nhat Hanh, in a couple of the books I have read which talked about walking meditation, suggests a process where you first release the tension in your body and let worry and stress fall away as you walk.  Let it sink out of you and in to the earth, acknowledging it, but releasing it.  Then you can start to give gratitude for your body and health.  I start by saying to myself, mentally:

Breathing in, I am aware of my body. 
Breathing out, I appreciate my body. 
Breathing in I welcome the energy of the universe to my body. 
Breathing out, I send the energy throughout my body and back to the universe.
Breathing in, I keep the energy I need,
Breathing out, I send the rest back to the universe. 
Breathing in, I am aware of my leg muscles,
Breathing out, I am aware of their wellness"

and so on for my entire body.

I usually end this portion of the process with something along the lines of:

Breathing in, I am grateful to my body
Breathing out, I appreciate my body's function
Breathing in, I thank my body
Breathing out, I smile to my body.

If you have never done any of this before, these meditations can sound a little odd, but when you are actually doing it, I assure you that it will feel more natural.  For that matter, and this is important, it doesn't matter how you do it or what you say…these are good guides, but I only do them because they work for me.  I arrived at these by starting with some of the suggestions that Thich Nhat Hanh recommends, but I rapidly evolved the suggestions in to my own things.  Things that matter to me, or that feel natural to my inner mind.  The only thing that really matters, at least in my opinion, is that you are focused on gratitude.  The feeling you get from gratitude (and I mean the chemical reaction your body has to the emotion) and the physical benefits from the walking give you a double-whammy of healthy benefit, and there's hard science to back it up.  (I'll be reviewing the book Buddha's Brain for more on that soon)

Anyhow, once I have finished the laps two and three, focused on gratitude for my body, I spend the next two laps doing the same thing, but focused toward my immediate family.  Basically I do breathing-thoughts (as I tend to refer to them) focused on my Wife, Daughter, Brother and Sister for the first of those two laps, then on my entire extended family and set of friends on the second.

I then spend the next lap (being the final half mile) focusing on nothing at all.  I release all thoughts, I typically spend that time smiling.  I let my mind drift and don't focus on any thoughts.  If I notice that I am starting to think of a particular thing, I give mental thanks for the thought, and ask it if I can get back to it later.

At the end of my walk, I slow down, and if possible I like to end the walk with a very slow walking meditation like the guided ones in the Walking Meditation book, or sometimes I will do some mindful movements that are sort of loosely based on Tai Chi.  They are a great way to smooth the pulse back down to a normal rate and be fully relaxed.

That's it!  I hope that you find some use in this information.  I get asked about it often, and it's rather hard to describe quickly, so I often feel I've not helped people who ask.  Alternatively, I hear myself describing it and realize that the average person might find this all to be a little uncomfortable.

A buddy of mine, whom I recommended Mindful Running to when his iPod died tried it for a while and then called me one day with a lengthy poke in the ribs about it.  The story was too long to tell, but suffice it to say that it ended with him buying another iPod.  Maybe it's not for everyone, but I think if he would have tried his running would be much improved.

Please feel free to post and questions and I'll try to answer them.  Meanwhile if you Google "Walking Meditation" you'll get TONS of useful information, guided meditations and assistance.  I highly recommend the Thich Nhat Hanh book "Walking Meditation" as well.  It has been a great thing for me.

MondoSamu