Can you move from frantic behaviour to concentration? Can you move from disturbance to instant focus? Can you jump from requests for help to focusing on a job that you are trying to get done?
I can’t! Spinning on that sort of dime doesn’t fit my personality.
I need to have time set aside, undisturbed time in order to be able to focus on and accomplish what I am doing. In fact I need to be sure that I won’t be disturbed.
I have a new podcast is up. Called “Behind The Thoughts,” it is for those who would like to start meditating, have sat once or twice but find it hard to keep going, are wondering what meditation is all about, and are lacking a supportive community. Broadcasting two or three times a week, each episode will include a short meditation time, or hit the pause button and meditate for longer.
You can find the podcast on my website. If you have any requests for subjects to cover, just let me know.
Meditation is my life blood. My days feel better when I start them with meditation, even the bad days. I have touched into something inside me which only grows more familiar with time…I am reminded of the inner resources which we all have at our disposal. We only need to cultivate them…and at times, despite my best intentions, I miss a cultivation session.
The “miss” in the title is not a yearning to be back on the meditation cushion at some point in a busy day - though that wish might be there!
Two minutes walk from where I live is a bluff. It is not immediately obvious that the bluff is accessible, being as it is down a short path at the end of a cul-de-sac. For those who do find their way there, they are afforded a view of a great part of the North Shore of Maui - across Paia Bay to Baldwin Beach, then further in the distance to Kahului, Wailuku and the sweep of the West Maui mountains.
Two days before Christmas, two days before the socializing of the Holiday season really got into swing, two days before I felt that at some stage in the next week I will need to dip deep into my inner resources to navigate my introverted self through the busyness of seasonal jollity - I get a migraine.
Migraines for me are a three day presence of dull thick, hard throbs in my head and psychologically feeling completely out of sorts in my body.
I find it interesting watching people clean their teeth. This is not a regular pastime of mine I hasten to add, but from time to time I find myself visiting friends and we happen to pass in the evening as we get ready for bed, toothbrushes in hand. I believe that observing how people clean their teeth can give a glimpse into how their mind is working…at least in that moment.
Melissa Schwartz of Leading Edge Parenting, where she coaches parents of highly sensitive children, recently interviewed me. Our discussion looked at the overlap between Tibetan Buddhism, particularly meditation and High Sensitivity. You can watch the complete interview below.
I hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the conversation with Melissa.
As I journal and reflect on the Medicine Walk that I went on last Monday, I am reminded of the importance of some digital tools that I make use of to help prevent me from getting caught up in the digital world. I thought that I would share them here with you should you also want to explore moments of mindful stepping back while engaging in your digital life.
Before I go any further, I just want to mention a couple of things:
Boredom is an interesting beast. I don’t know if it is who I hang out with, but few weeks go by without someone complaining of “feeling bored." They’ll scratch the itch as best they can, usually by finding something to distract them, but boredom’s irritations never appear to be far away. If it is such a constant and uncomfortable visitor, how about getting to know boredom a little more intimately instead of pushing it away?
Buddhism speaks of Buddha Nature, the fundamental nature of all beings. This is our natural, innate wisdom free from all obscurations. It is a state of simply knowing which is right now clouded by the mists of our untamed mind. In the coaching world they speak of people being naturally creative, resourceful and whole. The implication with both of these views, and others similar to them is that we have a natural, compassionate wisdom at our core, we just have to create the causes to allow that nature to grow and manifest in our lives.
I am writing this on a flight back to the US from England. I have spent the last two weeks in the UK, where I was born, visiting with family and friends. The UK is home and so visits back there become a run around of trying to see and do as much as I want to in the time available. The truth is though there is never enough time. For those who need their quiet time, the phrase “run around” can get the alarm bells ringing, and indeed my first week back was exhausting - seeing friends, meetings, coping with jet lag - read, “little sleep”.
How do you deal with those situations where someone dishes out an attack on you, offering accusatory remarks that are untrue? Their words are spoken before reaching out and trying to understand where you are coming from. You know that an image of you is now out in the world, however small a corner of the world, which is unfounded and not a true representation of who you are. What do you do?
See if this rings true for you? You’ve just got off a telephone call or are out of a meeting where something was said to you that felt like a blow to the solar plexus. However, you barely have time to come up for air and take stock of the situation when your schedule calls you to your next appointment.
So you are sitting in your next appointment trying to stay focused on the people and task at hand, but that last conversation is banging at the door and won’t leave you alone.
Practice - to rehearse, to work at, to train; from the Greek, praktikos - active, practical.
Practice is a word that we use to describe our meditation and yoga training. We speak of a meditation practice, our yoga practice, our qigong practice. In this vein, what might practice have to say about our day to day endeavors that surround these trainings?
When we turn up for our yoga class or sit to meditate invariably there is that part of us that is looking to be better than last time - to have a clearer mind, to hold that position longer than last time.
Meditation and introversion have something in common - the mind. For introverts the mind is a place of activity, but also a place of refuge. Meditation is an activity for familiarizing ourselves with our mind, and for developing its unrealized potential. That might sound exciting and scary in equal measure, but hopefully this article will lend some perspective. With this close connection, I believe that there is a place where meditation can be of service to introverts.
I’ll have to ask you to fill in the blanks on this one. I am writing about extroverts and introverts, but any dualism can be exchanged in replacement for these opposites. This article is primarily about awareness, a tool that is central to meditation practice. I’d also like to suggest that it is central to our interaction with others and in that vein it is also a post in support of introverts.
How much time do you give to be just with yourself? Why should you want to? For six mornings of the week members of Portland Japanese Garden have access to the Gardens for two hours before they open to the general public. The other morning I finally made it up there to benefit from this special privilege.
The silence and stillness on that summer’s morning, the sound of the birds singing and running water, the vividness of the views seen many times before, but being all the more precise with the absence of people.
In the last article we looked at scenarios where you find yourself becoming overwhelmed. That is you are at an event, whether business or social, and you start to notice a creeping sensation of exhaustion enveloping you. There might be pain involved, physical or mental, and consequently you have to muster all of your strength just to stay present.
If you have the opportunity to excuse yourself and leave, you are free.
This is the first part of a two part article exploring ways of helping yourself when you feel that you are hitting overwhelm. While written from my experiences as an introvert, these techniques are applicable to anyone. We all have our limits. When we reach them if we are still called to act, we need ways to keep ourselves afloat and stay focused.
Here are some scenarios:
You’ve had a long day, the conference has been very interesting but perhaps your stimulation levels have maxed out.
Sometimes it is just about showing up.
No matter what our resolution is for a project, and despite what I wrote about in my last post, sometimes getting anything done can feel like near impossible. For some reason the chances of us moving ahead with our undertaking feels like a trudge through treacle. Enthusiasm is thin on the ground, self-belief seems to be taking a day off and reasons to just run for the hills seem to far out weigh doing any work.
This article first appeared on Arthur Coddington’s Peak Performance website.
Call to adventure… The vision is set. The goals are in place. You are positioned in front of your computer, note book, or on your way to your office (even if that it is 30 second walk from bed to another room in the house), and nothing is going to stop you. Today is not only the first day of the rest of your life, but also the day that your life vision is to take birth – business, sport, learn a new musical instrument, walk round the world – the “what” does not matter.
This is an experience of mine, see if this rings true for you. I am out walking, let’s say on my way somewhere as opposed to just being out for a walk. I am in the world, but also in my own world, living in a world of thoughts that people around me are completely unaware of. That inner world can be harmless, but it can also be your worse enemy.
