Happy Halloween!

Have a Happy Halloween weekend everyone! I'm still really sick so I'm just kinda phoning in today's post, but I plan on watching lots of Halloween movies this weekend. The scary variety and the funny kind. I plan to begin today's movie watching with "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"  which you can totally watch on ABC.com. Today's pic is from the pumpkin I carved last year. Ganesha!

Armed & Dangerous

Keep your spiritual practice armed and dangerous.

Your mental afflictions should pee in their pants when they see you coming for them.

~ Lama Marut

Exuberant Giveaway

After all this meditation talk, I'd like to take an off topic day. As I mentioned a week ago - I've reopened my Etsy Shop Mayhem Arts, and I've been filling it with eye pillows that I make myself. This post is primarily about a specific pair of eye pillows. They're not sold as a pair, but they inherently exist together.

I have two eye pillows listed under the "Upcycled" category in my shop - they're hand tie-dyed organic cotton (not dyed by me) and they once led a completely different life. Well not completely different. Before they were eye pillows - they were my favorite pair of yoga pants. Shining Shakti "Exuberant" pants in bright yellow and pink. See, I love my Shining Shakti pants. I own a couple different pairs, but the Exuberant pants were too long for me. I chopped off the bottoms to a more appropriate length and was left with a fab pair of pants and two circles of fabric. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them - I figured I'd wear them as headbands or something, but I set them aside because I felt like the answer was something other than "chuck em". Finally one day after I'd started on this crazy eye pillow-making spree I came across them again and realized that they were the perfect size to make eye pillows! That was that. The Pink and Yellow Shakti eye pillows are the softest in my shop and I seriously considered keeping them for myself.

In non-me news - The Dainty Squid is having another giveaway! This time she's giving away something from someone else's shop, but it's still amazingly cute stuff, so check it out. Here's the details:

What? $25 gift certificate from This and That from Japan. They sell tons and tons of super cute crafting supplies including fabrics, Japanese craft books, trims, clay molds and more!

When? October 25th- 28th

How? Leave a comment telling us what your favorite thing in the This and That from Japan shop is! (Make sure there is a way to contact you if you win!)

Extra entries? Of course! You can earn one extra entry by posting about this giveaway on your blog, tumblr, myspace, twitter, etc. Just leave a SEPARATE comment with the link for each place you mention the giveaway.

Who can win? ANYONE, anywhere in the world!! Winner will be announced Friday morning.

GO HERE TO ENTER

P.S. I'm Sick. Have been for a couple days, and I don't think it has peaked yet. Blech. Think I'll lie around and watch scary movies all day.

A Tree for You, A Tree That's Me

Since I've been talking about meditation for days maybe you guessed that I would be leading up to an actual meditation.  I hadn't planned ahead what meditation to use 'cause I like to just "wing it" when it comes to my blogging, but I found this one that I had written about before (back when I had a different blog) and someone else had blogged about it in return. So as Thanks to Teri Rees Wang, for preserving some of my past writing, go Visit her Blog.

This is a Grounding Meditation that anyone can do. It's great for beginners, and you do it in a standing position. I love it, my students love it - it's popular.

Stand with your feet hip distance apart (feet together if you have good balance). Bring your palms together in "prayer pose" at the center of your chest. Root down through your feet while simultaneously reaching tall through the top of your head. Draw your shoulders back away from your chest and down away from your ears. Close your eyes and watch your breath in it's natural state. (This is the position you stay in the entire time.)

Imagine that you are a tree. It can be any tree at all. A tiny sapling full of possibility, or a giant Ponderosa pine - stable and wise. Any tree. Does your tree have needles, large leaves, flowers, or fruit? Now imagine that those around you are trees as well (unless you want to be a lone tree). Choose a setting for your tree. Is it in the middle of a busy groomed park? At the top of a snowy mountain? Maybe in a parking lot? Really SEE your surroundings.

Feel the four corners of your feet ROOT down into the earth. Grasping downward for stability and taking nourishment from the soil. Feel your leaves and branches reaching for the sky. Searching for the sun... forever optimistic that you will grow and touch the clouds. Start to fill in even greater detail... are there birds in this tree? Are there pine needles all around or a sea of tiny purple flowers? People meditating beneath you perhaps? Squirrels playing?

Notice that there is a slight breeze blowing through your leaves. Allow yourself to wave with that breeze. No tree is completely still... it is always in motion. Watch your breath as you take in these tiny movements throughout your trunk and roots. Feel the sun shining on your skin (bark)... warming you... enveloping you in golden light. Soak in the life it gives you... reach for more light. Allow yourself to truly become one with nature. Allow yourself to JUST BE.

Continue to fill in the details of your tree experience and settle into your "treeness" for as long as you like. I usually teach this meditation in ten-minute intervals, but this would be a great LONG meditation of twenty minutes plus.

Now - Go and do this meditation. You can wing it, or you can have a friend guide you through it - spacing out the instructions. If you try it, let me know how it went. And whether you try it or not tell me in the comments - What kind of tree are you?

Time for Meditation

Another frequently asked question regarding meditation when outside of a class setting is - "How do you time yourself?". To me, timing yourself doesn't really matter as much later on. For myself I keep a cell phone nearby so I can glance at the time just as I'm going to begin, and again when I'm done. Just for curiosity's sake and to see if I'm meditating for a longer or shorter amount of time than yesterday. Overall I don't think the actual TIME you spend meditating in a given session is all that important. The very fact that you're meditating counts and is progress.

In the beginning, however, it can be helpful to keep up with time because you may have an initial goal of, say, 5 minutes. If 30 seconds in, you feel like it's been 30 minutes - and you keep checking the time - you're going to defeat the purpose and just irritate yourself. Setting a timer can be helpful. There are special meditation timers all over the internet that will play bells, chimes, or nature sounds to gradually draw you out of your meditative state, but they are crazy expensive. If you're going to be a few rooms away from it - a kitchen timer could work in a pinch. Just don't be too near it or it will startle you when it goes off. The same goes for most alarms.

When I need something like this timed I occasionally use the husband. Sometimes I find myself being paranoid that he's gotten "into" what he's doing and isn't paying any attention to the time, but I figure worst case I'll get a few extra minutes meditation or Savasana and that can only be a good thing. Another method I've employed is to listen to a playlist that I am familiar with. Most songs are about 3 minutes long, so if I can sit through 3 songs then I'm right around 10 minutes in. If I get all zoned out then great - I'll just pick up counting where I left off. 

Once you're sitting for at least 5 minutes just fine - you can pretty much stop timing yourself if you want. I like to set an intention to sit longer today than yesterday, but I listen to my body more than anything. I time myself these days by checking the time, beginning meditation, and staying under as long as my body can take it. When my legs eventually become uncomfortable I remind myself that "It's not pain, it's just different" and this buys me some more time. Eventually I say - it's just different, but I can't take it anymore! and I slowly draw myself out and straighten my legs out in front of me. This method has helped me to lengthen my comfortable sitting time (most days) from 5 minutes to 30.

On another note, there will be new items listed in My Shop every morning for the next 3 days!

Take a Seat for Meditation

I mentioned yesterday that a great way to prepare for meditation was to do an asana practice. That way when you sit down you can say "My hips are open, my shoulders are back, my back doesn't hurt, and my knees aren't complaining." One of the major questions that keeps coming up with novice meditators is - "Do I have to sit in lotus pose to meditate? because I can't even do lotus." The answer is an easy one. No you don't have to sit in lotus pose, in fact, you can sit any old way you're comfortable as long as you have a straight tall line from your tailbone through the crown of your head. Feel free to prop yourself up on pillows and blankets. They work well supporting knees, butts, backs, and sometimes arms. Seriously - do whatever you need to - to find a comfortable seat you can maintain for at least 5 minutes.

On that note, I wanted to share a few of the 5 most common seated positions you can adopt for your meditation practice. Click on any of the pictures to see larger versions, adapt the postures with cushions, and if you have any questions - Ask!

First is Sukhasana (Easy Pose), which many of you know as Indian Style. Lots of beginners do this, but it may put undue pressure on your feet.

Next is Virasana (Hero Pose) which can be really good for your knees if done properly. Done poorly it can be really bad for your knees. I recommend this pose when seated on a cushion between your feet.

The one whose reputation presedes it - Padmasana (Lotus). If you have open hips and open knees, give it a shot. Personally, I like this pose, but not for meditating. This is a poor picture of it, but it's the best I had going that day.

Ardha Padmasana (Half Lotus) is much more accessible for everyone, but still requires open knees and hips.

Finally, the way I sit all the time - Siddhasana (Perfect Pose). I sit in this pose everyday for meditation because it's just the way I sit. I sit in this pose everytime I'm sitting on the floor and half the time that I'm sitting in a chair. It's just what I do.

Questions? Comments? Please.

On Monday I plan to continue with Meditation being the main topic - Perhaps for the entire week. If you have any burning questions related to meditation - this is a great time to ask.

Fit Body, Clear Mind

Often times people think of meditation and asana practice (the postures) as completely separate. I beg to differ. For some, the flow of their asana practice is meditative, and for me (and many others) the asana is just a jumping off point to leap into meditation.

Each morning I do about 30 minutes of inversions and sun salutations just to open the body and get myself in the yoga groove for the day. It really clears my head, energizes me, and loosens any tight spots my body gathered over night. I immediately follow that tiny yoga practice with seated meditation. Why? Because the whole point of asana practice is to condition the body and prepare it to be able to sit comfortabley for long periods of time in meditation. Asana also leaves you with the perfect mental atmosphere for quiet self-study. Especially if you do a full practice with savasana. Savasana-head anyone? Perfect for meditation.

Some people ask how practicing yoga postures is supposed to get you to enlightenment. Well, it's not really supposed to. That's what the meditation is for. I'm not going to say that asana practice won't get you there, because I don't know, but that's not its intention. Yoga is a complete system - it's a lifestyle. Just going to yoga class is a fine start... and who cares if you're going there only for the yoga butt. Eventually though, you might want to delve deeper - and that is the point.

Stay tuned for more meditation chatter tomorrow and into next week. Tomorrow - The Meditation Seat.