Thank you to everyone who joined me in this wonderful challenge! I will continue to keep the site up and active, as I am going to continue to meditate daily. Feel free to stop back anytime for new postings and updates.
Again, thank you.
Welcome to the 21 Day Meditation Challenge.
Welcome!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Notes from class
I am taking the Psychotherapy and Meditation course with Tara Brach and including my notes here. Please keep in mind that the information here is copy written and meant for personal use and not public distribution. Also, because they are notes, do not be bothered by grammar. Respect. Thanks!
Session One: Introduction to the Course
We live behind a false veil, an exterior that keeps us separated from who we truly are. Trapped behind this cloak, we build stories and beliefs that may temporarily serve our safety and well-being, but that ultimately separate us from the reality of our lives. Beyond this veil is the great sea of potential for living fully, with an understanding of our true self. In this session, we begin to uncover the layers that we’ve created and to learn how the practice of mindfulness can open us to the realization of our true identity.
The trend of bringing meditation into the psychotherapy practice is because of science. Meditation frees the heart and mind. The essence of the training of professionals is the capacity to come into the presence of Now. There is aliveness in this moment. This is another way of saying coming home to who we truly are.
The Key to teaching client's Healing and Freedom: Trust the power of heart and awareness to awaken in all circumstances. In Buddhism, heart and awareness are the two wings. The heart = compassion & amplification of awareness = clear seeing and having moments of awakening. Another way of saying this is to "practice loving presence".
The process of healing is the process of coming home to loving presence or coming home to who we really are.
The 3 main objectives being explored in this course are:
Basic core principles of Buddhist Psychology
Meditations focused on loving presence
How to implement these principles and practices into the clinical practice
How does this work in your own heart and mind? Your own practice is essential. It strengthens present-centered attention (dealing with wondering mind), it arouses compassion and empathy, and it arouses affect tolerance in our own inner states.
When you put a cup of salt in a basin of water, the water becomes salty. When you put a cup of water in a lake, there is very little difference.
There is a transmission of energy between you and your client when your practice is solid.
The Power of Intention: Everything rests on the tip of one’s motivation (Tibetan Buddhism), this essentially means that it is essential to reflect on what really matters, in any circumstance.
Sincere reflection: Open to what is right here, feel the breath, notice the sense of arriving: in this moment, this body, this heart.
What is my intention for this training, what really matters? Notice what it is about your life’s mission that you really care about? Using the quote of Mary Oliver “Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Aspiration and motivation are essential to the process of discovery and growth. This guided reflection will create a space to ask the question, “What really matters to me, and what is my motivation?” These questions help you set the ground before you wholeheartedly enter this process.
Before you begin, find a comfortable place where you will not be disturbed and listen to the reflection with an open heart and mind. Use the space at the end of the reflection to record your thoughts.
Questions for Reflection:
What are your intentions for this commitment?
What thoughts or images came up for you about your aspirations?
How has motivation been a support or a block in your past endeavors?
Realistically, what type of time commitment are you able to make toward your individual practice during this course?
We create, out of necessity or forgetfulness, a covering that can protect us from all manner of pain and trauma. Suffering occurs when we mistakenly believe that this false layer is our true self. In order to fully realize our identity, we need a technique for recognizing those times when we identify with the covering. That technique is mindfulness, which is the act of being in the present moment. This segment will further explore the roots of our suffering, and begin to investigate the antidote of mindfulness.
Buddhist philosophy on suffering has it’s connection with several schools of psychotherapy. Wisdom, generally speaking, merges at the core with several schools of thinking.
Perception of separation: We suffer because we identify with the concept that we are a separate self.
With taking form (by becoming human), we identify with form. Primal mood of the separate self is fear. With more self-concept/self-consciousness, the more we are driven by fear. As a consequence, this self-identification leads to greater attachment, i.e. holding on to good experiences and running from circumstances that are unpleasant. Separation causes us to feel this mechanism in a very deep (and unconscious) way. This is truly the essence of negative ego effects such as proving, obsessing, blaming, self-numbing, defend and so on.
There is a fundamental mistrust at the core of it all. Trust is a sense of belonging. Ego is necessary, but our reptilian brains are highly active. We are designed to be vigilant. (Fight or flight).
Our nervous system is designed to be aware of what are the consequences are when things go wrong, rather than what happens when things go right. This is a product of the sympathetic nervous system which rules our fight or flight tendencies. It is a very old system because before we evolved to our current human form, we needed this system to survive. There is a built-in a built-in bias towards the negative. This is what makes us Velcro for pain and Teflon for pleasure.
We learn from failure and it is very hard to extinguish that conditioning. Our mood of fear becomes full blown when we get caught in the cycle when our ego identification gets hitched to that looping. Core patterns, both conscious and unconscious, dictate the level of pain that we endure on a regular and consistent basis. In other words, who we are is identified with the loop that causes suffering.
In fight or flight, we cannot connect to the wholeness and openness of love.
We get so caught up in our own survival that we lose connection with this great mystery that we are co-creating with.
Inquiry requires us to investigate the basis of this:
- · Degree of bonding as children
- · society pressures
- · genetics
- · culture
Each of these contributes to the trance of unworthiness.
This is how we fall victim to our identity with our insufficiency.
All negative behaviors related to not having deep levels of health and intimacy are rooted in the idea that “something is wrong with me.”
This is also what drives us to seek spiritual meaning. This is the other side of the perception of separation. There is a possibility to believe in the depth of our wholeness. There is a possibility to venture beyond our conditioning, both by confronting it and by choosing to be vulnerable in spite of it.
We can live today with fear, or we can drop into who we are, our essence.
Pay attention to the identification of our conditioning. Our real sickness is home sickness. Home sickness is the tendency to not love who we truly are are, despite our imperfections.
We leave home by leaving the present moment. When we leave, we suffer. It also makes the people who love us suffer. We cover our purity in order to make it, in order to survive. But we suffer when we take the covering to be real, and not the purity that rests within it.
Questions for Self-Reflection:
Are there any instances in your life in which you identify with insufficiency?
What are some ways you self-judge yourself or your actions?
What are the results, big or small, of those self-judgments?
What do you feel would be essential to include in your idea or definition of mindfulness?
What, if anything, has changed or been added to your understanding of mindfulness?
How might you incorporate mindful attention into your daily life?
How might you use this exercise in the process of helping others, in a personal or clinical setting?
The benefits of mindfulness have been proven in research settings across the globe, but what is really happening when we train in mindful attention? Session one concludes with an exploration of the psychological processes at work behind this training.
Two powerful questions to implement into the practice with clients:
What is happening right now?
Can I be with this?
R.A.I.N.
R = Recognize
A = Allow
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Day 17 of the Challenge
Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in communication. We have had several days of feeling under the weather. It is great to be back and I am looking forward to hearing how your commitment is going. Please post comments below or on the events page on the Amber Moon Wellness site. Thanks for your support and happy meditating!
Sorry for the delay in communication. We have had several days of feeling under the weather. It is great to be back and I am looking forward to hearing how your commitment is going. Please post comments below or on the events page on the Amber Moon Wellness site. Thanks for your support and happy meditating!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Solfeggio Harmonics - 852 HZ - Awakening Intuition
My husband shared this with me last night. I used it for meditation, with earphones on. I found it to be very powerful. Enjoy!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, Study Finds
Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, Study Finds
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff WriterMonday, January 3, 2005; Page A05
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
You CAN make a difference
Please take a moment to watch this funny and inspiring video with Seth Godin.
Katy Perry - Firework
This is in support of Santosha and the Still Point Healers who are gathering this weekend.
I am really looking forward to sharing depth and connection with you.
Bless you,
~Avantika
Tara Brach - Audio Dharma (Teaching Talks)
Tara Brach, Ph. D.is a psychologist and internationally renowned expert on Buddhist meditation. She is also the founder and senior teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, a spiritual community that teaches and practices Vipassana meditation. She has worked with Jack Kornfield and other prominent Vipassana Meditation experts.[1] Dr. Brach also teaches Buddhist meditation at many centers in the United States and Canada including Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts. A clinical psychologist, she has taught extensively on the application of Buddhist teachings to emotional healing.[2] In 2003, Dr. Brach authored the seminal work, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha,which encapsulated Dr. Brach's application of Buddhist teachings such as mindfulness to the psychological process of accepting and healing trauma.[3] Dr. Brach is a peace activist, and an engaged Buddhist. As such, she co-founded the Washington DC Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
The following is a link to her website which has a wide variety of free audio files: Tara Brach - Audio Archives
Works Sited:
The following is a link to her website which has a wide variety of free audio files: Tara Brach - Audio Archives
Works Sited:
- ^ Kornfield, J. (2003). Publisher's Weekly review of Radical Acceptance: Embracing your life with the heart of a Buddha [Publisher's Weekly Editorial Review]. Retrieved April 17, 2009, fromhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553801678/ ref=dp_proddesc_1?ie=UTF8&n=283155
- ^ Adelman, K. (2005, May 1). What i've learned: Tara Brach. Washingtonian Magazine.
- ^ Brach, T. (2003). Radical acceptance: Embracing your life with the heart of a buddha. NY: Bantam
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Guided Meditation for Day 3 of the Challenge
Hello Everyone,
I am launching the third meditation a little early. After much effort, I am able to upload guided meditations specifically for you. I am basing each guided meditation on your comments and questions from phone conversations, Facebook comments and comments from this official site page.
If you are benefiting from this service, I encourage you to consider donating to cover the expenses of running such a comprehensive site. I thank you for your generosity.
Have a beautiful meditation.
Namaste,
The Meditating Yogini
Avantika
Muppet Show - James Coburn and Animal in Meditation
Hello Everyone,
Ashera, Amy W. reminded me of this clip from the Muppet Show. As a mother of a 2 year old, I am constantly confronted with the importance of not taking myself too seriously. As a wise woman once told me, "If it is not pleasurable, it's not sustainable."
In the spirit of joy,
~Avantika
Free Online Meditation Timer Link
Thank you Logan. This is a wonderful tool. This will make keeping track of my time so much easier!
Circling the Wagons - Surrounding With Protective Light
Thank you to Sumetra for sharing this...
Some people may have difficulty accepting or even recognizing aid when it appears in unexpected guises from unlikely sources. All we can do is to follow our inner guidance, give when we are moved to do so and shine our light to the best of our ability. As we join our energy with those in the circle, we become part of something that is larger and more powerful than the individuals within it.
When we act as part of a community of service like this, we are reminded that we are not only assisting an individual or select group in the moment, but we are serving the greater good. We are creating a better world, and can rest assured that help will be there for us as well. As we offer our own light to the collective glow to help someone through a time of darkness, all of our lights become brighter. We can live every day from this place of light, knowing the freedom from fear and worry that allows us to receive and share the protective and supportive light of life.
Guided Meditation Day 2
Hello and welcome everyone to day 2 of the meditation challenge. We are working on bringing you full 20 minute guided meditations and these will be available to you very soon. In the meantime, we invite you to watch/listen to the following meditation as a support to your commitment to practice.
Also, keep the comments coming. Let us know how we can best support your journey.
Wishing you happiness and peace.
Also, keep the comments coming. Let us know how we can best support your journey.
Wishing you happiness and peace.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Preparation and Posture
Preparation
Find a room in your home where you will be undisturbed. If this is not possible, a corner in a room could become your place of regular meditation. Prepare the room if you can with a lighted candle, some fresh flowers, and some lighted incense, or aromatherapy oils to purify the space. Make sure the room is warm, and that the lighting is soft. When you first begin to meditate choose a place that is not too noisy. A blanket over your legs can be comforting. Placing a shawl, or blanket around your shoulders can also be a part of your attire for your meditations. Wear loose, comfortable clothing making sure there is no tightness at your waist, hips, or chest. Switch off your mobile, and take the phone off the hook. Turn off any other appliances that may interfere with your meditation. This is time out for you, your time away from all other responsibilities. Affirm that you deserve this time out.
Posture
You can sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, and your hands resting in your lap, or on your thighs. It is preferable to sit for meditation without leaning onto the back of the chair.
You may choose to sit on a cushion on the floor. You can do this by sitting cross-legged. Choose a cushion that elevates your buttocks. Rest your hands in your lap. Traditionally the palms of the hands can be upturned on your thighs with the thumbs and index fingers lightly touching.
Some of the meditations you can do lying down. However, in the early stages there is a tendency to fall asleep, and so lying down is not generally recommended. As you continue your practice lying down to meditate can also be a challenge to stay awake.
However you decide to sit, keep your back straight throughout the practice.
To help centre yourself, gently sway from side to side, and then gently move from your hips, forwards and then backwards. You will sense where the centre of gravity is in your body to keep you aligned.
For more information visit: The Fragrant Heart
Find a room in your home where you will be undisturbed. If this is not possible, a corner in a room could become your place of regular meditation. Prepare the room if you can with a lighted candle, some fresh flowers, and some lighted incense, or aromatherapy oils to purify the space. Make sure the room is warm, and that the lighting is soft. When you first begin to meditate choose a place that is not too noisy. A blanket over your legs can be comforting. Placing a shawl, or blanket around your shoulders can also be a part of your attire for your meditations. Wear loose, comfortable clothing making sure there is no tightness at your waist, hips, or chest. Switch off your mobile, and take the phone off the hook. Turn off any other appliances that may interfere with your meditation. This is time out for you, your time away from all other responsibilities. Affirm that you deserve this time out.
Posture
You can sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, and your hands resting in your lap, or on your thighs. It is preferable to sit for meditation without leaning onto the back of the chair.
You may choose to sit on a cushion on the floor. You can do this by sitting cross-legged. Choose a cushion that elevates your buttocks. Rest your hands in your lap. Traditionally the palms of the hands can be upturned on your thighs with the thumbs and index fingers lightly touching.
Some of the meditations you can do lying down. However, in the early stages there is a tendency to fall asleep, and so lying down is not generally recommended. As you continue your practice lying down to meditate can also be a challenge to stay awake.
However you decide to sit, keep your back straight throughout the practice.
To help centre yourself, gently sway from side to side, and then gently move from your hips, forwards and then backwards. You will sense where the centre of gravity is in your body to keep you aligned.
For more information visit: The Fragrant Heart
The Quote of the Day - Thich Nhat Hanh
Can you share with us how mindfulness plays a role in your everyday life?
"Mindfulness makes life beautiful and meaningful. When I am mindful of my in-and-out breath and relax my whole body, I am in touch with how good it is to be alive. I am in touch with my state of health and feel grateful for everything that is going well in my body. Then with mindfulness I can be aware of the beauty of the sky, the smile of the flower, the singing of the birds. I can be deeply in touch with my own suffering and hold it with love and tenderness, rather than suppressing it or running from it. Because I can be truly present for myself, I can be truly present for those I live with, listening deeply to them and speaking words that inspire hope and self-confidence. In this way, I can bring joy to someone each morning and relieve the pain of someone each afternoon."
"Mindfulness makes life beautiful and meaningful. When I am mindful of my in-and-out breath and relax my whole body, I am in touch with how good it is to be alive. I am in touch with my state of health and feel grateful for everything that is going well in my body. Then with mindfulness I can be aware of the beauty of the sky, the smile of the flower, the singing of the birds. I can be deeply in touch with my own suffering and hold it with love and tenderness, rather than suppressing it or running from it. Because I can be truly present for myself, I can be truly present for those I live with, listening deeply to them and speaking words that inspire hope and self-confidence. In this way, I can bring joy to someone each morning and relieve the pain of someone each afternoon."
The Buddha, A Film by David Grubin
The following is a link to the PBS film, The Buddha by David Grubin. This film is masterly produced and feature some of today's leading teachers and scholars of Buddhism including: His Holiness The Dali Lama, Bob Tinzen, Jane Hirshfield, Mark Epstein, and The Venerable Metteyya Sakyaputta, among others. This film is also available on DVD and on Itunes.
Please Enjoy.
The Buddha, A Film by David Grubin
Please Enjoy.
The Buddha, A Film by David Grubin
The Noble Truths Explained
The Noble Truths of Buddhism
Interpretation by Barbara Engler
The First Noble Truth
Universal dissatisfactions characterize human existence. This is the problem of suffering. Our perceptions of pain are due to not getting what we want, being exposed to what we don’t want and not being able to keep forever what we love and not being able to eliminate what we hate.
The Second Noble Truth
Begins the application of dependant origination to the problem and on identifying the causal conditions on which suffering depends. Suffering and dissatisfactions, the disease, if you will of human existence, cannot be by themselves. They arise from our craving, our thirsting, and desiring for things to be other than they are.
Comes in Two Flavors:
Attachment - This includes greed and possessive love.
Aversions-Which includes anger, resentment and hate.
The Third Noble Truth
Derives a solution through the application of the same principle. Because human suffering arises out of craving, to bring our disease to and end, we must cease the self defeating liking and disliking that causes it. Although we cannot get rid of physical pain, emotional pain and aging, we can eliminate the anxiety we cause ourselves with our cognitive processing. To eliminate suffering we must get rid of craving, in doing so we can achieve freedom from unnecessary psychological pain.
The Fourth Noble Truth also known as the Eightfold Path
- Right Understanding - Understanding the interconnectedness and the impermanence of everything.
- Right Thinking – Cultivating thoughts of selfless detachment, compassion, and non-harming and then extending these to all sentient beings.
- Right Speech – Abstaining from lying, slander, gossip, and injurious speech and speaking that which is positive and constructive, otherwise maintaining a “noble silence”.
- Right Action – Acting in ways that will benefit and not cause suffering to others or oneself.
- Right Livelihood – Avoiding ways of making a living that are based in the exploitation and the suffering of animals or people.
- Right Effort – Cutting off unwholesome thoughts before they can be transformed into actions and nurturing wholesome ones instead.
- Right Mindfulness – Maintaining full awareness of our actions and experiences in the present moment and their likely consequences.
- Right Concentration – The disciplining, concentration, and one-pointedness of the mind resulting in the practice of meditation.
The first two components of the Eightfold Path are related to wisdom, the following three to moral conduct, and the last three to mental discipline. (Engler, 2009)
Guided Meditation for Day 1 of the Challenge (Reloaded)
WELCOME TO DAY 1 OF THE CHALLENGE
Hello Fellow Practitioners. Today begins our first official day of the challenge. I will be uploading guided meditations to help support your practice. Please use the comment section to post insights, challenges and reflections. Continue to check-in with the blog to see what others in the community have posted.
Today's video is about 15 minutes in length. Unhook the phone, set aside the day so that you can be in full relationship with your breath. Be sure to sit in a relaxed, open and comfortable position. Once the guided meditation is complete, spend another five minutes (or more) to complete today's practice. Good luck!
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