Marblehead School of Raja Yoga
Self-awareness and meditation – group, private and online classes
Beverly – #174 Cabot St. – The Village Oasis
private lessons by appointment
A rather insightful elderly friend said to me the other day “You like the ladies.”
It wasn’t a question. 😂😂😂
Guilty, but today there are only four women capable of pressing my buttons:
But Mom is always in the mix. I’m still seeking my deceased mother’s approval. Pathetic? IDK. True self-awareness is a prerequisite for lasting peace.
I write. It’s what I do. For me it’s simultaneously evocative and cathartic. Someone once said, “I write because I can’t not write.” Feel ya Pal.
The other day as I was writing the following, I had to use every ounce of strength I had to ride out [rather than stuff!!] a ten-minute torrent of grief:
Not even loved.
Thank God my guru introduced me to scream therapy and thankfully our neighbors didn’t call the cops! 💔😭
The experience was tremendously cathartic. I released some seriously deep-seated anger.
Until we know and love ourselves we can’t know true peace.
Meditate.
Find answers, faith and peace!
It’s simple – not easy.
God bless, Skip
If you have a friend or neighbor who spends all day every day doing things for other people to the point that they’re not taking care of themselves (e.g., not eating, sleeping and/or exercising adequately – my mother comes to mind)…..
….with love, let them know that there’s a reason the stewardess tells us to put our own oxygen mask on first: so we can do a BETTER job serving others.
Take care of ALL of you, including your non-physical bits!
2 Sub-conscious mind “does” – this aspect of our mind:
3 Consciousness “is” – the awareness OF our thoughts (i.e., the witness: the “YOU” behind your thoughts) doesn’t “do” anything, nor can anything be “done” to it! For all intents and purposes, as long as your body/mind is sustained by energy, this aspect of you benignly “witnesses” it all – WITHOUT judgment (which is a product of our conscious mind).
Our deep, calm, quiet, still, underlying, non-judgmental consciousness is a source of indescribable bliss.
Tap into it!
Learn to drop beneath the static and noise (and the voice!) of your conscious mind – and experience a holistically restoring and energizing state of being – AT WILL!!
RECHARGE. RESTORE. REJUVENATE.
Take yourself offline! Meditate!
Blessings, Skip
To a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile who’s been under considerable stress:
For five minutes, once a day, for three weeks – take your mind offline as follows:
[If you can’t sit comfortably on the floor, sit in a chair. The physical part of this Rx is to eventually be able to readily get up and down off the floor!]
Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Optional: use a meditation app if it helps you focus. I like “Insight Timer”. I suggest something you can synchronize your breath to.
Sit comfortably. Close your eyes almost all the way.
Breathe “manually” into your stomach: expand your stomach as you inhale; contract it as you exhale. “Navel away on the inhalation. Navel back on the exhalation.”
Focus 100% of your attention on the mechanics of breathing. Observe the sensations. Try not to hear words of judgement or analysis in your head. Literally just enjoy witnessing your body breathe.
The long-term goal is to be able to sit upright comfortably while breathing rhythmically and subtly (i.e., quieting our physical bits in preparation to still our mental bits).
I recommend a pre and post flight system check: scan your self (again, without words) observing your physical, mental and emotional states. Did anything change between check-ins?
Mechanically, you’re distracting the typically noisy, thinking conscious part of your mind, and settling into your quieter, deeper, calmer, otherwise sub-conscious mind – thereby taking it “offline”.
Learn to give yourself, specifically your busy tired mind, a chance to rest, restore, recharge, and refresh – at will!
As an added bonus, each time you do, you draw a little closer to nirvana: the source of that sense of calm stillness, your awareness itself.
Hugs, Skip
[that’s Buddha watching over our winter garden]
I’m proud to hail from this neck of the woods.
I grew up in Vermont; went to school & met Sue in New York; and we moved here with two kids & a dog in ‘95.
Our 01945 neighborhood (2 rows of 7 houses) received more than a foot of rather heavy late-season snow today.
I just walked Penny around the block; virtually all of us are dug out; sidewalks cleared, cars dusted off – ready to go.
Not a pretty analogy, but it’s as if a giant foot kicked sand on our anthill and within a few minutes we were out and going about our business as usual.
#RespectNature
Do you know where I can find out what time of day I was born?
It’s a Zen thing. Apparently, not only the day, month and year we’re born – but
Sounds bananas, but it’s as if humans grow and whither seasonally like everything else on the planet. Go figure.
Apparently after thousands of years of observing nature (including us), ancient Chinese scientists figured out that – just like flowers planted and blooming in different seasons have different characteristics –
Friggin’ fascinating. They’ve got it down to such a precise science that the time of day we’re born has a distinct effect on:
The “charting” gives the “doctor” (in this case a Zen Master I’m fortunate enough to have access to) another piece of information to work with when prescribing a personal “restoration protocol” for the student (i.e., so I can adjust my personal practice to make the most of it holistically).
Thanks Bud – for the time of day info and listening. Love you.
I think it’s great to encourage men to honor both their yin and yang attributes but yoga and other Eastern mind/body disciplines train us to control our emotions rather than remaining vulnerable to them.
Strength over emotions is essential; they color our thoughts and precipitate our actions which account for 70% of what bothers us!!
That said, stuffing, ignoring or distracting ourselves from emotions isn’t a long term solution. The solution is a lifelong discipline of self-awareness and self-control.
That includes daily physical and mental exercise, specifically meditation.
That’s where Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras come in!
My grandfather used to tell me not to worry about a bad haircut. It grows back!
Ever go to a dental or hairdressing school to get fixed up at lower, student-teacher rates?
It’s USUALLY a win-win-win: you get a hair cut or a tooth pulled and the good doctor or stylist gets a little better at his/her job – benefiting the next client or patient.
Same concept – only in this case, here’s how it works:
QIGONG = ENERGY WORK
Namaste, Skip
Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!
$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes
Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)
#BringBackPatanjali
[Remember to engage your senses as part of the visualization experience!]
While seated meditating, work up to a rhythmic breath cycle: inhale – pause – exhale – pause, with each of the four quarters of the cycle lasting an equal four counts.
Here’s the visual:
Imagine you’re actually standing comfortably, boyantly in thigh-deep water as part of some luxurious spa treatment – as if you were bathing a newborn – but it’s happening to you:
Inhale – as water is being drawn up your cool back;
Pause – as the water pours gently over the top of your head;
Exhale – as water washes down the warm front of your body; and
Pause – as the water drops off the bottom of your torso back into the water below.
Meditate. It’s what’s good for you!
Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!
$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes
Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)
#BringBackPatanjali
To varying degrees, half of us are generally drawn downward towards the relatively heavy, dense, darker aspects of our self and life.
And to varying degrees, the other half of us are generally drawn upward towards the relatively light, bright, airy aspects of our self and life.
I took down the recent FB rants about the NRA’s tax exempt status. They were weighing me down.
Namaste. For better or worse, we’re all in this together.
Love, Skip
Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!
$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes
Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)
#BringBackPatanjali
