Saturday, October 4, 2008

Meditation, days 3 and 4

Fridays are very hectic for me - two yoga classes to teach plus a lab meeting, in addition to morning practice. Knowing that I mostly likely will not have time for yoga nidra in the evening, I tried a walking meditation, based on the instructions taken from here. The method is based on bringing mindfulness to the mechanics of walking, concentrating on the feelings in the feet and the movement of the foot. One is supposed to name every part of the walking process, such as "lifting, pushing, pressing down" or something like that. Eventually, with experience, one should be able to divide the process into even smaller sections, name them and keep pronouncing the name during the process. Let me tell you something - you can't walk fast while doing this meditation! Moreover, the walk becomes somewhat robotic, when you lift your foot and then get stuck in the mid-air, trying to remember which name goes with this part of the movement. But it was interesting, nevertherless. I tried it yesterday, spending 10-15 minutes on working out the details, and actually liked it a lot. Probably entertained some of my fellow NIH co-workers,too.
Today I had a lot of walking done - first to Dupont circle to my accupuncturist, then to Georgetown to get haircut-manicure-peducure, and then home, to Foggy Bottom. I left home well in advance, giving myself plenty of time for the robotic walk. But the meditation went well, although only with 3-part naming of the step. It was somewhat difficult to keep the attention on the walk, because the weather was amazing and the city looked so pretty early in the morning. Nevertheless, I did get 20-30 minutes of pure meditation done, and it felt interesting. The rythm of walk and relentless repetition of the same words puts you in a some kind of trance, not altogether unpleasant. I will explore it a more!
I like my new haircut! It is a little shorter than I had before, and a little sassier. Of course, it will look completely different tomorrow, when the effects of the blowdry are gone, but I can enjoy feeling pretty today, right?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, I love it, a bit of parallel lives today--I also went for a haircut and to dye my hair today in Georgetown :)

I'm curious, where do you teach? Maybe one day I'll take one of your classes, I'm sure they are fun :)

alfia said...

How funny! So many yoginis had their hair done this weekend! Where do you go in Georgetown? I use a Tara salon on the M street, it is very pricey, but I like the stylist. I have a very problematic hair :(

I teach at sun and moon yoga studio in Arlington (http://www.sunandmoonstudio.com/) on Fridays - all levels, from 6:30 to 7:45 and on Sundays - vinyasa, from 4:30 to 6:15. Please come! It is going to be fun.

Nairam said...

I go to L'eau in P street. I've had my hair stylist for years and years, I love her!

Anonymous said...

What was in the air that we seemingly all got haircuts?!?!? How fun that you are feeling sassy!

That's a lovely walk on a beautiful day.

alfia said...

Hi, Anna:

Weird, isn't it? I wonder if something in the stars gave us all an imperative - go and get your hair done! A little scary, too. :)
We had a gorgeous day yesterday. How was it in NYC?

Boodiba said...

The morning WAS gray and rainy but now the sun is peeking out!

Hey I "sat" for 30 whole minutes last night. I sent the interval timer to chime after 20, with the next interval being another 10m. If I'd had enough after 20 I'd have gotten up, but I didn't feel that restless. I am practicing "swirling" my mental energy while my concentration is focused on the edges of my nostrils, so that I can stay in nonverbal awareness for longer periods. Is interesting.

Arturo said...

hi Alfia
typically, in Zen the walking meditation (kilhin) is meant to give the body time to circulate blood to the feet after having sat for 45 minutes. TNH leads a lot of walking meditation in his instructions as well. it is ideal to be able to do what you did, to make part of your day a meditation, by taking advantage of the time you have to spend circulating about and making it meditative. i think that after a while, you don't have to rely on counting as you did. that appears to be a technique to get you to focus, but after a while you can just have mindfulness regarding the movement.
hugs,
Arturo

alfia said...

Hi, Linda:

I do not believe I can sit for 30 minutes straight yet. But I am working towards it - you are my inspiration.
Though today I would not be able to do it even if I wanted - work kept me very busy very late. I did do a little of walking meditation, but was not able to induce the same pleasant trance I got before. Too preoccupied with work, I guess. But the attempt counts, right?

alfia said...

Hi, Arturo:
I really appreciate your input. Being a novice in all meditation matters, I am glad to be able to count on you with advice and support. Thank you!

I am going to try a seated meditation today, if there is still time before bed.
:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Alfia,

Susananda said I should ask you about Glucosamine & Chondroitin being good for dodgy knees? Also something called MSM. Do you think these supplements are worth taking?
Thanks

Globie

alfia said...

Hi, Globie:

I heard that glucosamine should not be taken all the time. It is to replenish the spongy stuff on top of the bones, does nothing for the ligaments that are the major problem in "yoga knees". MSM is really good to fix the muscles after overworking/overstretching them, I am not sure it it works of ligaments as well. A Bhakti Yogi got me hooked on MSM, and I love it. But I did not notice my knees feeling any better after I started taking it. I would recommend to lower the general level of inflammation in the body by taking more omega-3 and going easy on omega-6 and 9. That should help to reduce the inflammation in the injured ligaments and promote their healing.
I hope this helps
:)

Anonymous said...

Thanks Alfia, I have an appointment with my massage/nutritionist tonight. I have never taken any kind of supplement, ther are just so many of the things.

Thanks again
Kevin (AKA Globie)

 

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