Meditation (post 11)

This goes up to eleven! -Spinal Tap

review of 6 cards: A thing of beauty, Go to the light, Patience, Reading, Forgiveness, Acceptance

A THING OF BEAUTY
pick a beautiful object, any object
-meditate/breathe
-notice everything about it
-now, close your eyes and visualize it in as much detail as you can
-open eyes, compare images
-notice what you missed, and (lather, rinse, repeat)
-see how much you improve with each repetition

GO TO THE LIGHT
-light a candle
-med/deep breathe (for a few minutes)
-open your eyes and focus on the candle
-notice height, width, color of flame
-visualize the flame inside your body (ouch!) burning away doubts, fears, insecurities
-with eyes open and focused on the flame, meditate a few minutes more
-when u r finished, blow out the candle, imagining you are blowing out your problems.

PATIENCE
helpful exercise for when it will be tested
-think of an ongoing problem where you lose your patience (person, object, home, work)
-what's your normal response? does it improve the situation, or not?
-what are the shortterm and longterm fx of your response, for you/others
-imagine an alternate, patient response, e.g.
instead of lashing out, inhale deeply and exhale loudly making a whooshing noise.
-the exhale whoosh is getting rid of all the negativity :-)
-if the noise feels inappropriate, breathe deep without the sound.

READING
Contemplation is a type of meditation where you focus on a piece of writing, like my blog, or the koran, or the bible, or People magazine.
-find a favorite book (like a dictionary?)
-do a few minutes of med/deep breathing
-without looking, open the book
-again without looking, place your finger somewhere on the page
(this is called bibliomancy)
-read where your finger lands
-think about the meaning in the context of your current life situation
(everything relates to everything else, I think)
-if you receive any insights, use them during the day

FORGIVENESS
If you'd like to ask for from someone, but can't talk to them, try this:
-meditate/deep breathe
-imagine yourself in your sanctuary with you higher or wise self
-ask if it's an appropriate time to talk to the other's higher self
-if appropriate for both, invite this other's higher self into your sanctuary
-imagine both surrounded in light and love
-mentally ask the other for forgiveness, tell them how you really feel, and why you feel regret
-notice if there are any changes in the other person, and ask if anything else needs to be said.
-write your experiences, if you wish.

ACCEPTANCE
this does not mean passive resignation. This exercise is designed to make acceptance into an active, creative process.
-sit comfortably and close your eyes
-think about an event in your life that was difficult to accept
-what can you learn about what you truly want in life from that event
-refocus your energy on what you want, as clearly as possible (a picture should be your goal)
-without trying to force yourself to feel differently about the difficult event, explore whether you can see it as an opportunity to strengthen your commitment to what you want.
-come back slowly