Week 11 Day 7

Week 11 Day 7

Medi object choiceless
Intention observe positive vedana in more detail

APS 14

Long post alert (sorry)

Afternoon all! I survived my flying visit to Sheffield, left at 3pm yesterday got back 3.15am today. Was lovely to see my friends and hopefully will see them again soon. They are friends of my last boyfriend and we've kept in touch after split up...which is longer than the relationship! 

Today my intention was to see positive vedana in all sensations if possible. Practised metta for 10 mins and the noting for 20. Metta was tough because my neighbours decided to have heated conversations at that point! They are Italian so all their conversations sound like arguments but aren't really.  I chose to focus only on my niece after all this is a fixed point concentration practice. I was able to mantain the sensation of loving kindness on the front of my chest and throat for a while...just need to keep at it!

As I started noting, thoughts of planning popped into my head, which I noted. I had re watched the very first 7DMK video and wanted to note that thoughts were simply thoughts and not to identify with the content. I also wanted to note sounds as just sounds. Sounds came from upstairs, heated conversations but they soon stopped. Heating clicks, ears ringing. Oh I heard an airplane sneak by (we are not on the flight path). I had momentary thoughts of my friends yesterday and felt pleasant vedana. I noted that overall I had no aches and pains, only minor itches and that was pleasant. I was clasping my hands (I usually put them on my knees) and they felt like a solid warm block...in fact towards the end I started to overheat. I noted this uncomfortable sensation and my desire to adjust the blanket but I remained still and observed the aversion. My neighbours must have dropped something heavy upstairs, as it made a loud bang, but I passed the SNAT so I congratulated myself on being alert! The front of my body was cooking as were my hands. I had set the timer to ring mid way, and this time I did not look at the time at all, although I did note a thought about peeking! I think I must have tried to extend the practice too much. I launched into 10 mins metta and 30 mins noting when I previously had only done 20 to 25 mins altogether. Oops...too keen, must rein in.  The final bell went and I decided to complete and not continue.

I read with interest, your partners' responses/reactions to your promotion or even just act of meditation. When I first tried to do ashtanga yoga from a book, my husband would stand in the door way and make karate chop Kung Fu noises as a joke. I would communicate some choice words and ignore him. He did stop after he realised I wasn't deterred. I started doing meditation post yoga on a yoga 'retreat', I even recall doing walking meditation there (in Whitstable no less). We did candle meditation which gave me a big headache most of the time. I say 'retreat' because whilst the participants were very serious, the main British teacher was smoking dope, had invited a  young Israeli yoga teacher to be his bed mate for the week and the organiser had arranged a striptease for the him! Ha! What an eye opener. Most of the students were eating raw food and sitting in lotus whilst the organisers frittered away their non teaching time. It gave me great insight. Although the yoga teacher's classes were amazing, he treated it as a job. It appeared to me to be somewhat hokey (love that word). I had thought that all yogis and the like would be 'holy' people.  That is a view of the uninitiated lay person of things like yoga and meditation. For those who are not inclined to try or believe anything vaguely spiritual, meditation is a activity for monks or for fluffy people who want to relieve stress...a bit like a spa day. Or it's a hoax. So it's not for them. They've already formed their views about how nonsensical it is. 

I am definitely not fluffy nor spend many days in the spa with cucumber slices on my eyes (although might be nice...). After my experiences with religion I absolutely do not want some thing that is fluffy buffy and muffy. But I've always thought that there was something about meditation that is more applicable to everyday life. Before 7DMK, I'd only come across the fluffy chillout stuff. After watching Nick's videos I went ohhhhhh now this is something with potential, something much more than zoning out (be careful of the craving for achievement though). However, meditation is essentially an experiential activity, you can't really understand it without doing it. The other stuff I tried was like spacing out and having a nap. Many people form opinions before they try something, like kids and food...it is their habitual reaction to laugh at or avoid anything unfamiliar.

If I had read all your posts about metta, itches, breathing and such before December 1st I would have thought Yikes! We have a bunch of crazy people here who are talking sentimental tosh. It's only because I have experienced the trials and inspirations of mindfulness that I find all your comments so fascinating and supportive. They are positive reinforcement to my experiences. 

We are studying a skill that has its own set of jargon and jokes that only the cogniscenti can appreciate. It's really is psycho babble to the uninitiated. Equanimity? I never used that word before December. It is a technical word associated with mindfulness. 

My practice is something very precious to me, so I don't want to throw 'my pearls to swine' therefore unless I am talking to those who already meditate, I only mention it in passing. I can be very evangelical about golf, that is a 'safe' topic. But if I were to wax lyrical about meditation bzzzzzt! No experience no can do, weirdo fluffy! I have mentioned it to one or two who are open minded, but have been disappointed when they say...oh and are you very relaxed after it? Sigh...fluffy buffy and muffy...I think to myself just wait till I can do telekinesis and fly myself around the world! Oh umm...do you think that might be too much?

Oh missed the biathlon because I was writing this, but it was worth it.. ski jumping now.

Thanks for reading, for your patience. 

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