The Body Fights Hard

The body does not fight fair. Is it the cause that drives the effect or does the mind/body cause the cause to occur resulting in the desired effect? My meditations were stalled for a few days because of a large amount stress on the job and at home. The effect was that I stopped meditating for awhile - I tried to meditate when the stress was just starting, but it was way too noisy in my mind to continue. I then didn't even try for a few days. I began again yesterday and have found the noise to have subsided somewhat. It is better now. So, was my body/mind/ego/conscious self resisting the meditation - afraid of the coming transformation - and thereby causing the stress to come into my life? I don't believe anything "just happens" - all things happen as a result of thought energy directed to a specific event. That's the topic for another paragraph though.

Starting to Sink In

The meditation is starting to sink in.  It seems that the practice for me is easier at night, I can get a deeper level of calm than I can in the morning.  This might be because I'm a morning person - I'm always ready to go every morning, thinking about lots of things, planning the day etc.  I've noticed some of the effects in my meditation that I've read about in other books.  There comes a point roughly 5-7 minutes in for me, that my whole body seems to go limp, things really calm and a sense of heaviness overcomes me.  This is very relaxing and it's still very easy to stay alert in this state.  Last night, my daughter asked where I was (physically - she was calling my name) and I replied while in this state.  It felt like I was another person answering - I was very detached from the speaking voice.
This morning I feel very calm - much like I used to feel as a small child when someone would hold me.  At peace. 

I like this meditation stuff!

Practice makes perfect

Practicing meditation takes a force of will.  The book I mentioned below gives an easy way to start practicing meditation.  Once started, though it takes an intent to continue practicing.  Finding additional time for regular practice in you daily schedule can be difficult.  Most of us have routines that we follow daily, even of that routine contains free time.  We expect that free time to be there and look forward to it - we plan activities throughout the day to get to during our free time, however short.  Taking some of that free time, even a short amount for meditating can cause an internal resistance.  Once this is accomplished though, once the resistance is ignored and the new routine set this will dissipate.  You must overcome this resistance and persevere - practice makes perfect.

Meditation Practice: A Good Book

I'm currently reading a book entitled: Moon over water : the path of meditation by Jessica MacBeth. She has a unique writing style, one that almost puts you in a meditative state as you read; centered and calm. She has good exercises and a simple plan for starting meditation. Other meditation books I've read are sometimes vague or outline procedures that must be strictly followed. I suspect the vagueness comes from the fact that the authors aren't really adept at meditation - they are just writing about it - but not from experience.
Jessica's exercises are simple (imagine a blue sphere encircling you) and kept short for beginners. She recommends starting off with a 5 minute meditation twice a day. This is easy for anyone to do. She explains the exact phenomenon I experienced as a novice and what to do about it. I highly recommend this book!

Hey Jimmy!

Hey Jimmy!
"Yeah?"
Know what I hate?
"What?"
I hate it when I take every decision I make with full integrity and then some jerks don't. Know what I mean?
"Huh?"
Like when those people getting FEMA aid spent it on champagne and dirty girl movies and they didn't even care it was someone else's money.
I hate that.
"I know what you mean Billy, I know what you mean."
"Jerks."