Does anyone have a daily meditation practice? Would anyone like one but needs motivation?

[mangolassi]

Ooh, I feel all shy

I am agnostic and generally confused about spiritual things, but after recovering from a bout of pnd found a great book - The Mindful Way Through Depression. It has a programme of daily meditation, and I've tried in the past, but it's soooo hard to stick to with no support.

The meditation style in the book is 'western insight' - basically vipassana with the Buddhism taken out - but it would be great to have a thread for anyone trying to get started with daily practice, whatever kind of meditation appeals. Even better if there's anyone who actually has a daily practice already

hmm, unfortunately think the yoga one will be too much for me...am not completely crippled but find Yoga, which I used to love, very hard work since having the dcs. Pilates is what I am now reduced to

so, the one in September?

september one sounds good to me, ms brittle - especially as DH appears to be around that weekend (shock) - he's been going off mountain biking etc a little too often recently for my liking. on the other hand, i've accumulated a ton of brownie points, so retreats are, consequently, go! hurrah. agree we can definitely keep costs down re the plum idea by sharing travel etc - there is room for optimism i am sure. peanut let us know what transpires with your DH's job - eek. good luck. will check with DH when he gets home re september just to be doubly sure and get back to you - sounds great, though!

peanut, DH keen to kick me out to retreat (almost wrote 'to pasture') in july now, rather than september - will go onto website and assess what proportion of the time would be devoted to physical jerks of the pelvis-endangering variety - may even ring them tomorrow for more info. perhaps we can persuade them to do half and half yoga and pilates but don't worry i will not force you to come along to some ludicrous yogafest if it's a major part of it all. maybe i can go in july AND september - my new hobby!!

ps girls, i recently subscribed (it's free!) to a poetry website, google 'poetry chaikhana' if you are interested - you get a daily poem, often with a spiritual bent, into your email inbox and the result is a little oasis of beauty and calm in the midst of your busy day. just a thought!

you know katie I could always just sit out the yoga bits...or meditate, read, be...

but might be best if you call (if you don't mind) and find out if that is ok...would be lovely to have something to look forward to before the summer break

justa - keep it in mind, maybe there will be a way you can make it. If I did end up driving I'd take you with me for nothing, so then you'd just have to find the retreat fee, and they might even do concessions...

anyway, what's the betting plum village is booked out for the next decade

did a lovely little meditation tonight while waiting for DD2 to fall asleep. The hungry crocodile was playing in the background but I managed to get over that somehow and get right into my head, felt like I was actually in there completely for the first time ever...the monkey thoughts came but they couldn't get in...phew, was lovely (even if it sounds like I am just going slowly insane )

hope mangoL and louie and all our other threadmates are doing well...

Ooh, sorry to have missed you all yesterday, retreats sound exciting - not very doable from here, but like the rev I want to hear all about it...

My summer trip to the UK may be done for, potential pregnancy complications. Am in that limbo of not being sure enough to either cancel plans (trip has been literally years in the making, long story) or be able to move forward.

Will take advice from whoever is just be-ing

oh mango - hope the complications aren't too serious ...was starting to worry about you when we hadn't seen you here for so long

what a shame your long awaited trip might have to be cancelled, but hopefully not, or hopefully just postponed at least

still, will be worth it in the end when you have new baby in your arms...mmmm...

thinking of you and sending lots of warm and positive vibes your way

oooh, and me mango - we've been missing you on here. let us know what transpires. and don't worry - the year after plum, we're descending on you in bangkok for our annual MN retreat, so get ready for 2011!

peanut, hello there and i liked your hungry crocodile meditation - might try it at this end
and so to business: i called taraloka. the upshot is that i reckon we should go back to our september plan! it is more oriented towards buddhism and meditation. the yoga weekend sounds very yoga-ey, plus it's hatha and i am strictly an iyengar girl so all in all, september sounds more the thing, whaddaya say! it does feel rather far away is the only downside, sigh - could definitely do with a retreat to set me up for the long summer hols
back soon, love to all xxx

yep, let's book sept then. just us or any other takers? justa - can we tempt you for a weekend? are you happy to do it for both of us Katie or want me to?

I'm going to check out my other more local centres and see if I can get something between now and then

yes definately recommend the hungry caterpillar as a meditation backdrop - adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the whole proceedings

that's great peanut - i will do it, no worries - i very much look fwd to booking myself 'and my friend ms p. brittle' in for that weekend
back soon X

aah, there's a point! we should exchange RL details at some point...although for now I quite like the idea of masquerading in my buddhist form as Ms Brittle!

Hi - I've been lurking for the past few weeks as RL kicked in, (house move, Easter, unpacking etc) it's been great reading the messages and seeing what's happening to everyone. THe new house is great, but I've yet to get a buddha for the garden but may get one for my "study/hovel". I'm out of practice with the meditation but each time I"ve done it I feel SOOOO much better.

Thanks SO much for recommending Taraloka - it sounds like my dream holiday... but I can't imagine being able to wrangle a weekend pass from aetheist DH though.

I was going to go to a meditation class next week but I realise that I've booked to go wine tasting. Woops!

Ok DH is moaning that i"m not doing anything so must away back to RL.
Thanks for being there everyone - this board is my little room of sanity/ tranquility.

katie, just realised you will prob have to pay a deposit in which case let me know and I can send that on either direct to them or to you

you can email me on mspbrittle (just for you) at gmail dot com

justa - if ever you do get a windfall would be lovely to have you along. I hate cleaning too, but fin dit much easier if approached in a mindful rather than immensely resentful (my go to approach for years) way. Hope things feel calmer for you soon.

Pinkfluffyslippers - I think Katie and I are in the same boat with atheists for husbands. (actually, maybe buddhists count as atheists too - anyone know?) Mine hasn't been told yet he is giving me a freedom pass, but as he has just been off to the other side of the world on a 2 week holiday (ok, sister getting married, but still) without any of us he doesn't have much choice Chance it, tell him it'll make you calm and lovely to have around, you never know.

my DH is slowly coming to terms with my interest in all of this. Indeed yesterday when I emailed him in the middle of a blinding headache and mentioned that I had one again he responded along the lines of "shame about the headache, what would the buddha do?" you could have knocked me over with a teaspoon

am reading tnh miracle of mindfulness now (thanks for tip Katie) and it is so lovely, so gentle but also full of practical tips to make meditation in the midst of real life possible. I am really enjoying it so far.

Meanwhile I received two copies of Psychotherapy without the self from amazon, ordered in error, I am obviously very keen indeed to shake off that self I've been saddled with all these years

have a lovely day everyone, the sun is shining where I am and the sky (the bit I can see from my tiny office window at least) is a beautiful shade of blue

HI saffycat and welcome to the thread!

Argh - so many posts to read and so little time! I would definitely be interested in going on a retreat but I haven't had time to look up those mentioned, will hopefully have some peace tomorrow to be able to do it. I also couldn't do it in July as I have used up all my brownie points going on a three day relaxation break conference to Oxford, so September would be great.

My dh is Hindu, so he is more accepting of Buddhism, but like so many other things that I have started and not finished he probably thinks this is a passing fad. Also at the moment we are both very busy and stressed, moving house, finding tenants for our house in NZ, and relatives coming from overseas to visit so I don't think it would be a good time to mention it, maybe in a month or so.

I was just going to say though that although I have been busy and a bit stressed, I have felt a lot more calm this time around than I have in previous situations like this. I think I have realised that working myself up into a frenzy is not good for anyone, and that if I just step back and breathe and take on one thing at a time without imaging all kinds of ridiculous scenarios, it will be much better for me. Something to keep up I think.

hey Louie - would be great if you could join us in September - the dates are 18-20th at taraloka

glad to hear the ne wapproach has helped you in a stressful time - i am finding that too, very much so indeed. And am hoping I can ensure this isn't just a passing phase (am guilty on that score too!) but something I can continue with for the rest of my days...

I read an interesting interview with Leonard Cohen recently (he's been sort of practising buddhism since the 70s) and he said everything in his life (he's depressive too) became easier when he took the buddhist approach and just stopped thinking about himself so much...I take that to mean stopped ruminating as the mindfulness for depression book would put it...

it makes a lot of sense, is so obvious in a way, yet it took me until I am 40 and had to have it pointed out to me to realise ...

hello everyone, just a quickie as i need to stumble out into the dark and get the Sodding Guinea Pigs into their hutch and do the usual 100 other chores (er, mindfully, of course )before going to bed. fluffy, justa, louie, girls in general, it would be so lovely if you would consider taraloka too. peanut, glad you are enjoying that TNH book, i will order the ones you mentioned shortly - DH is constantly astonished by my amazon addiction. he asked me the other day whether i was ever going to read 'a book with a normal title' again ...oh, and in answer to a previous post of yours, i think buddhism is one of the best 'religions' to explain to atheists since it does indeed lack any sort of god figure - i have even managed to explain the basics to my completely cynical parents (as well as DH obv)without getting too much flak(!!)and explain why it is of so much comfort to me.

and leonard cohen rules. i read an interview with him recently too and immediately dug out an old cd of his and listened to it solidly for a few days, to the utter dismay/cruel mockery of DH, DD and DS (who favour the ting tings and david bowie respectively). sigh!!!

ooh ooh ooh!!! congratulations - that's fantastic. positive vibe switch duly switched to 'ON' and ramped up to 'FULL POWER'. thinking of you xxx

Wonderful news, rev - lots of positive thoughts coming your way xxx