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March 2005 Newsletter
Feature ArticleA Broken Egg Moment or Being with What Is
To truly understand the possibility of being with what is, and meeting our experiences freshly, we must first notice how often we do not experience our life with fresh awareness. We often do not notice what's right in front of us. We have filters of prejudices, ideas, and inattention between what our view is and what is.We usually see what we want. It's as if we are standing at the sink doing dishes, and our son comes in with blood streaming down his face, from a cut because of a fight at school. We aren't going to see the truth (the blood) because we don't turn around and look at him. We keep doing the dishes. We say, "How was your day, Honey?" "Oh, it was OK, Mom. Nothing special happened-I'm going out to play soccer-be home in time for dinner!" "OK, honey, see you later!" Finish reading about Broken Egg Moments A Question of Interest
When we are aware of busy, monkey mind, isn't that being aware? Yes, that's part of awareness. However, are we also aware of trying to make things different than they are? Of wanting to fall asleep and getting caught up in thoughts like, "Why can't I fall asleep?" "How am I ever going to get to that 8 AM meeting if I don't fall asleep soon?" "How will I get through tomorrow with the kids if I don't sleep?"Awareness is certainly about noticing what is happening on a surface level. Sleeplessness can happen with awareness; noticing active mind, feeling energized, wanting to find a way out of our predicament, using tools, not using tools, and getting caught up in wanting things to be different. Noticing and Wondering However, awareness is also about noticing a disturbance and wondering about a disturbance of body/mind, and going deeper.When we have the desire, energy, and space to simply be with sleeplessness, we may notice thought, energy moving, and stay in bed and wonder about what is; being curious and listening fully to whatever the body/mind has to say.Or we might get out of bed to meditate, write, or do yoga, qi gong or energy medicine. Sometimes that's what we do, and that's enough. Good stuff can come from being present with what is in the silence of the night. However, it is also true that most of us have tremendously busy lives and we need to get plenty of rest to balance our every day activity. Here are a few suggestions for when we need to sleep, and have active, monkey mind in the way: A Few Suggestions Stay with the present experience of active, busy mind without struggling with it and wanting it to be different. Something may relax enough to allow you to fall asleep. Count the breath (see link for instructions). This practice helps train the mind to focus and can be relaxing for the body as well-fewer busy thoughts, more inner space for relaxing to sleep. Before you lie down, practice simple mental energy balancing as a preventative measure. That's what I do. I recommend Energy Medicine by Donna Eden for practical simple exercises which help balance the body/mind energies. For bedtime, I recommend the Crown Pull, the Wayne Cook posture and Zip Up. You can order the book through the Suggested Reading link. . If you need help after you get the book, contact Dr. Jeff Harris on my Links link. He is an energy medicine practitioner extraordinaire. Herbal supplements can also be useful. Consult with a respected herbalist to find what may work for you. Further Help After a sincere effort with the above suggestions, and you are still unable to get the rest you need, there may be other causative factors besides mental activity to be considered. If this is the case, a Qi Gong or Loving Presence Guidance consultation with me may be helpful. Check the sidebar links for information regarding qi gong and guidance standard fees and combination packages. Instructions for Counting Practice Helping the Body Heal
This section of The Open Letter provides helpful information for those who are curious about how they can help the body heal on a daily basis and in acute situations. The Colors of Healing When we practice visualizing the organs with the Six Healing Sounds presented last issue, we improve our skills for visualization. As we build visualization skills with this inner work, colors can be added for more healing. If you have been practicing with the Six Sounds, you will now be able to integrate the use of color for each organ, as you breathe into each of the six. Colors can be visualized together with sound, as well as separately. It is easy to understand the advantages of quietly sending healing colors when we are with others who would probably not understand why we started to make strange sounds all of a sudden! Just as with sound, each organ has a preference for a particular color vibration for healing and balance. All we need to do is imagine the color the organ likes, as we inhale the color into the organ. If we are using sound as well, we exhale saying the sound, and imagine two layers of color leaving through the mouth, with the out-breath. The top layer is the healthy color and the bottom layer is a gray-ish form of the color, filled with the stuck or toxic energy. Remember to do all the organs, in the same order, each time you practice to help keep the energy balanced. It's fine if you want to send a color occasionally to just one organ, as a boost during the day In an acute situation, like a bronchial, or a kidney infection, it is best to focus more time on the afflicted organ during your regular practice, by repeating the sound and color breaths a few more times. Also, it would usually be good to practice the whole sound and color meditation three or four times a day when you have an acute or chronic condition. Useful Tools When You Need ThemThese practices are useful when we are stuck in confusion and pain. They help us experience an alternative way of being with our pain, and help us directly encounter what is in the way of finding more honesty, joy, balance and freedom. As with all tools, please remember to let go of them when they don't serve a purpose. Eating with Awareness
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An excerpt from Nina Livingstone's book Let's Not Call It Meditation: Practical Information for People Who Think They Can't Sit Still and Quiet the Mind
How does Awareness help when I am aware of busy mind and still can't fall asleep at night? 
What you can do for yourself when you feel physically out-of-balance with pain and injury, or any physical dis-ease.
Did you enjoy the food the last time you ate alone? Were you just eating, or were you completely absorbed in doing something else as well? Just eating, rests and refreshes the mind, and feels like a mini-vacation in the middle of a busy day. Usually, we eat and read, or think, or even write when we are eating alone. We are so busy, in fact, doing other things while we eat, that we barely taste the food. How about taking a break? Next time you eat alone, plan on just eating. That means focusing your attention completely on the chewing, the smelling, the tasting, and the swallowing. Thoughts come and go and you return your complete moment-to-moment awareness, back to just eating. You can take a break like this at work, at restaurants or at home. You may find you eat more slowly and don't overeat. You may taste your food and chew it better. You may find you have more energy for the rest of your day. Once you've experienced the benefits from just eating, you may excuse yourself from people you usually share meals with in order to treat yourself to a quiet-mind meal in an otherwise busy day. You may find you love eating alone, yet remember there needs to be balance in all things. You can still enjoy sharing meals with others!