The Forest Unseen ~ 30 Day Meditation Wrap-up

Throughout the 30 Day Meditation Challenge I was reading a wonderful book, The Forest Unseen ~ A Year's Watch in Nature. This book is a cross between meditation and biology. It was not a book to hog down like The Hunger Games. Rather, it was to be taken in small sips, savored and let to bubble inside.

The author, David Haskell uses the idea of a Tibetan mandala, in this case a patch of old-growth Tennessee forest, as a window into the natural world. He committed to visiting this mandala, as often as he could, for one whole year. As I read, I was continually delighted with both the learning I was gaining through his knowledge of the natural world, and with his obvious connection to meditation / yogic philosophy. And, I am amazed at his perseverance; committing to sit every day for 30 days seemed like something - but committing to sit for a year? Wow.

I would like to pass on one of the author's insights, a summing up of his year, based on his idea of taking a meditative stance while sitting in nature:

The interior quality of our minds is itself a great teacher of natural history. It is here that we learn that "nature" is not a separate place. We too are animals, primates with a rich ecological and evolutionary context. By paying attention, this inner animal can be watched at any time: our keen interest in fruits, meats, sugar and salt; our obsession with social hierarchies, clans and networks; our fascination with the aesthetics of human skin, hair, and bodily shapes; our incessant intellectual curiosity and ambition. Each one of us inhabits a storied mandala with as much complexity and depth as an old-growth forest. Even better, watching ourselves and watching the world are not in opposition; by observing the forest, I have come to see myself more clearly.
~ David Haskell

Lovely perspective. Is that not what we are each trying to do as we sit? We are looking to know ourselves better; to know our light and our shadow; to know ourselves as one with all.

Day 30: 30 Day Meditation

Yea for us - we made it! I hope everyone enjoyed practicing the discipline of quiet. For me it was both a challenge and a pleasure. I like to think that I will continue my practice but I know myself and I doubt I will be as diligent now that the challenge is over. (And I'm ok with that.) I would love to hear your final thoughts as well.

As I said yesterday, I recorded my Yoga Nidra class from Thursday and for a special treat of leaving you with a longer practice, I am posting a link here. The practice includes gentle yoga in the beginning as a body warm-up and soother, then moves on to Yoga Nidra (guided deep relaxation and meditation). This includes a practice of healing and a short gratitude meditation.

Just like the Deep Relaxation with Gong practice, the audio from this live recording is fairly quiet and there are background noises too but maybe that will make you feel like you are in class, practicing with the group.

Here's the link to the free, guided, deep relaxation and meditation practice (1 hour, 13 minutes - 34.13MB): Yoga Nidra + Healing
Note: To  download, click or right-click the link and select "save file," "save link as," or "open with iTunes."

I would suggest resting in Supported Savasana for your Yoga Nidra practice. Like this:

Again, here is a list of links to support your home meditation practice as we finish up our 30 day community practice.

1) All posts from this challenge: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation: Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Audio files for breath work, meditation, and relaxation: Audio Files
6) "Like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of the learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

I have enjoyed practicing with you all.

Namaste ~ Sara

Day 29: 30 Day Meditation

Today I felt settled in mind but not in body. My stomach hurt, my back hurt, and I had a hard time sitting still. I ended up doing more of a restorative yoga practice than a seated stillness practice. By this I mean that I let myself come into a couple different poses and then I rested in those poses as long as it felt good. I did sufi rolls, child's pose, and I laid in reclining 1/2 hero's pose with my back resting on  the therapeutic spinal strip. This ended up working well for me. Here's what my sequence looked like.

Child's Pose

Reclining 1/2 Hero's Pose

Prepping for the Therapeutic Spinal Strip

Laying on the Therapeutic Spinal Strip

Last night I taught a Yoga Nidra class and I recorded it on my iPhone. I plan to listen to it today and if the recording works, I will post a link to download this 75 minute guided deep relaxation.

Today is the 2nd to the last day of our 30 day challenge. I will continue to list links to support your home meditation practice as we finish up our 30 day community practice.

1) All posts from this challenge: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation: Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Audio files for breath work and meditation: Audio Files
6) "Like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of the learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

Day 28: 30 Day Meditation

Yesterday I enjoyed the guided meditation from my friend Satyam of Renaissance Yoga so today I decided to enjoy another one of his podcasts. This one was called Pranayama Meditation. We practiced Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing), imagined ourselves able to breath in the beauty and vastness of space, and practiced 2-point and 3-point breath. A very lovely practice! Here's the link to the post: Pranayama Meditation, or you can download the file here.
Note: To listen, click the link. To download, right-click and select "save link as."

I will continue to list links to support your home meditation practice as we come into the last few days of our 30 day community practice.

1) All posts from this challenge: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation: Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Audio files for breath work and meditation: Audio Files
6) "Like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of the learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

Day 27: 30 Day Meditation

I listened to another guided meditation from my friend Satyam of Renaissance Yoga. It's a recording he made while teaching a class. It includes a really great guided breath practice. Here's the link to the post: Breathing and Meditation, or you can download the file here.
Note: To listen, click the link. To download, right-click and select "save link as."

We are coming into the homestretch of our 30 day practice. To continue your support I've listed a few links:
1) All the posts from this challenge on the blog: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation (Yoga Nidra): Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Please remember to "like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

Day 26: 30 Day Meditation

Yesterday I listened an interview podcast with Anodea Judith from Sounds True. One of the things she mentioned was that when you find yourself moving spontaneously in your meditation (rocking or gently circling) this is an indication of your chakras aligning. (If you join Sounds True you can download the podcast for free.) As was discussed earlier on the Facebook Event page, some of us do find ourselves moving or feeling like we are moving or spinning. So I thought it was interesting to come across this explanation.

Today I listened to 33 Tibetan Bowls while I sat and it was lovely. It was as if I were in a sound healing session. I did find myself moving a little bit from time to time. When my timer went off I reset it and sat a bit more.

Note: This CD has 2 songs, one is 27 minutes and one is 45 minutes, and they are both available as mp3 downloads for 89 cents from Amazon.com. I highly recommend this CD.

Enjoy!

Day 25: 30 Day Meditation

This is Yoga North's gong:
the very one you hear in the recording.

Today for my meditation I listened to my own recording of the Deep Relaxation with Gong. This is a live recording from my Yin Yoga class. I really enjoyed the gong. In person, of course, it is much more intense. The sound waves transport you. You can feel them coursing through your body. But the recording is very relaxing and enjoyable to listen to also. Time passed very quickly and my mind did not wander much.

FYI: For folks who missed the explanation for the Deep Relaxation with Gong recording, (posted on Day 19) here it is: this was recorded on my iPhone during class and the audio quality is only so-so. The audio is fairly quiet and there are background noises too but maybe that will make you feel like you are in class, meditating with the group. My students were all in Savasana so you can choose to sit up or lay down to start.

I think you can just click on the link to download, but if that doesn't work try right-clicking and then choose "save link as" in order to download this file and listen on your iPod or mp3 player. This file is 12 minutes, 10 seconds and about 6 Megs.

Enjoy!

Day 24: 30 Day Meditation

Although I wanted to sleep in, I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep. So I decided to go ahead and do my meditation. Even though it is not recommended to do meditation laying down, I didn't get up. I just laid in bed and listened to my breath, noticed my thoughts, noticed when I was planning (my fav mental activity), brought myself back to present moment, and enjoyed the quiet. After my 15 minutes were up I turned over on my side and promptly fell back asleep for another 2 hours. I guess meditation really is relaxing.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Day 23: 30 Day Meditation

Today I sat with awareness of the present moment and practiced deep listening. I caught myself drifting into thoughts and plans time after time. I noticed that every time my mind wandered, my body slumped. Then when I brought myself back to the present moment, I would lengthen my spine again and set my head more comfortably at the top (vs. neck bent, head tipped a bit back and chin jutting - aka, the neck slump).

A student shared a poem with me a few days ago and I thought I would share it here for the rest of us.

Meditation Poem

From  The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, by Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tick-Not-Han)

"The fourth element of our body is air. The best way to experience the air element is the practice of mindful breathing. "Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out." After saying these sentences we can abbreviate them by saying "In" as we breath in and "Out" as we breath out. We don't try to control our breathing. Whether our in-breath is long or short, deep or shallow, we just breath naturally and shine the light of mindfulness on it. When we do this we notice that, in fact, our breathing does become slower and deeper naturally. "Breathing in, my in-breath has become deep. Breathing out, my out-breath has become slow." Now we can practice, "Deep/slow". We don't have to make an extra effort. It just becomes deeper and slower by itself, and we recognize that.

"Later on, you will notice that you have become calmer and more at ease. "Breathing in, I feel calm. Breathing out, I feel at ease." I am not struggling anymore. Calm/ease." And then, "Breathing in, I smile. Breathing out, I release all my worries and anxieties. Smile/release." We are able to smile to ourselves and release all our worries. There are more than three hundred muscles in our face, and when we know how to breath in and smile, these muscles can relax. This is "mouth yoga." We smile and are able to release all our feelings and emotions. The last practice is, "Breathing in, I dwell deeply in the present moment. Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment. Present moment/wonderful moment." Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment fully alive and aware.

"In, out
Deep, slow
Calm, ease
Smile, release
Present moment, wonderful moment.

"If you use this poem during sitting or walking meditation, it can be very nourishing and healing. Practice each line for as long as you wish.

Enjoy!

Day 22: 30 Day Meditation

My sit passed quickly today. I listened to Deva Premal singing mantras and really enjoyed the repetition of the music. It seemed easy to stop my whirling thoughts with the mantras going in my head. I found myself wanting to do some spontaneous movement for a few minutes and then settled back into stillness. I sat longer than 15 minutes because I wanted to keep listening to the mantra songs.

Day 21: 30 Day Meditation

I had a hard time keeping my eyes closed today. My eyelids kept fluttering. I decided to let my eyes open and just sit. I kept awareness on my breath and let my eyes rest on the trees outside my window. This was actually very restful. I felt less mind-busy than I usually do with my eyes closed.

Also, Noah had asked the other day about how to sit to relieve back pain. Here's one idea:

Sitting with belt support. Use a yoga belt (or any belt which is big enough to go around you from lumbar to easy-seated-knees). Snug the belt up til you feel like your knees and back are mutually supported and see how it feels for your meditation. You may also notice that I am sitting on a wedge. This tilts the pelvis forward and relieves back strain.

Day 20: 30 Day Meditation

It is too exciting to meditate but I did anyway. All I could think about was the rain. It is biblical here. Here's a bit of news from the Duluth News Tribune:

Mayor Don Ness has declared a state of emergency in the city of Duluth, citing "significant damage, debris and popped manholes."  "We have a coordinated response with city, county, State Patrol, Coast Guard, Red Cross, and the feds ready to help,” Ness wrote.

Evacuations are under way in the Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth and Thomson Township in Carlton County, and officials at the Lake Superior Zoo are assessing damage and counting their losses after animals drowned and some escaped in the flooding. Duluth fire and police crews helped zoo staff track down escaped animals, including the polar bear and a seal. Johnson said many of the zoo’s animals have drowned, including all but one of the zoo’s barnyard animals.

Dean Melde, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said an inch of rain usually equates to between 10 and 12 inches of snow. So the current system could have dropped 60 and 70 inches of snow on Duluth.

Personally, I am devastated by the loss of life at the zoo. Because we humans need to keep animals penned up for our "viewing pleasure" those animals have died. I am greatly saddened by this. 

Day 19: 30 Day Meditation

Isn't funny how sometimes you feel fine while sitting and other times there is a nagging body part that won't let go? Today it was my upper back. I had a student tell me once that she often got a "kitchen" back ache. I was like, "What's that?" and she said, "It's when your upper back hurts after you've been working in the kitchen for a long time." Well that made sense to me. I guess I get those too. And today was once of those days. Of course I hadn't even been in the kitchen yet but I think it's from my recent long and intense days at the computer. I was able to keep breathing and listening to the rain and my timer went off in what felt like a short time.

Here's a link to a short, guided, deep relaxation with gong: Deep Relaxation with Gong. This is a live recording from my Yin Yoga class last Friday. The recording quality of my iPhone is only so-so. The audio is fairly quiet and there are background noises too but maybe that will make you feel like you are in class, meditating with the group. My students were all in Savasana so you can choose to sit up or lay down to start.

I think you can just click on the link to download, but if that doesn't work try right-clicking and then choose "save link as" in order to download this file and listen on your iPod or mp3 player. This file is 12 minutes, 10 seconds and about 6 Megs.

Enjoy!

Day 18: 30 Day Meditation

Today, as I sat, words came to me (I guess I am thinking of them as a poem). I'll try to remember them here.

I am love,
I am light,
I am sorrow,
I am hope.
I am all of these things and more.
I am one with god.

I am body,
I am space,
I am nothing,
I am everything.
I am all of these things and more.
I am one with god.

I am thought,
I am breath,
I am sensation,
I am sound.
I am all of these things and more.
I am one with god.

Wow - being raised to not believe in god, being raised to believe that christians and christianity are bad is making me feel sick to my stomach to even type these words on the screen. I can't believe I wrote the words, "I am one with god." I feel hot and nervous - obviously some work for me here.

Day 17: 30 Day Meditation

Today was a nice sit. I listened to the audio file I posted on Talking us into Meditation and then sat in silence. My dog joined me and laid down right up against me. I imagined healing energy filling me, filling my dog, and filling my partner. When my timer went off I did a short gratitude meditation, naming all the things for which I am grateful.

Gratitude meditation can be a practice in and of itself. I detail this practice on this post: Finding Contentment.

Happy Father's Day!

Day 16: 30 Day Meditation

Today is Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. I love watching the runners. I am inspired every year to imagine that I, too, could train and run. Of course I never do. It hurts to run across the street - knees and ankles cracking, organs joggling around in my belly. Running doesn't feel safe to me.

Of course meditation doesn't always feel safe either, does it? Sitting with our thoughts, feeling and emotions, day in and day out. I guess we can liken ourselves to the runners: here we sit, training our minds, schooling our thoughts, developing our will.

Today I sat with a recording I made last night at Yin class of a short deep relaxation practice. First a breath and body awareness practice followed by the gong. It was a bit odd to listen to myself but the practice was enjoyable. I'll try to get the audio posted by Monday.

Have a good weekend. I am off to the races!

Day 15: 30 Day Meditation

Well, here we are, 15 days into 30. For me, this habit I am trying to cultivate is starting to feel natural. Get up, put the tea water on to boil, take the dog out, feed the dog, pour the tea water into the pot to brew, go do my sit.

Today I listened to a guided meditation by my friend Satyam of Renaissance Yoga. It's a recording he made while teaching a class. Here's the link to the post: Meditation: Space of Stillness, or you can download the file here.

Note: To listen, click the link. To download, right-click and select "save link as."

As a side note, it is Petra's birthday today. She is 13! We got her at 7 weeks old and have enjoyed this thing called dog-ownership to no end. She brings us joy every day. She's been with us through 3 houses, 2 camper vans, knee surgery (hers), the start up of a business (ours), and many other milestones and every day events.

Here's our baby doggie just after we got her - about 8 weeks old. Oh so tiny.

Day 14: 30 Day Meditation

Thunder, lightening and rain. I decided to to do my sit inside instead of trying the walking meditation as suggested by Kristin yesterday. My dog joined me again. I think she likes meditation. She sat right in front of me, facing the same way (like I should give her a shoulder rub) and did not nudge my hand or scrub around on anything. She seemed to be enjoying the peace and quiet, as was I.

Here's a couple of free meditations from Yoga Journal:

These two meditations by author and yoga teacher Kate Vogt appeared in the feature story "To the Garden" in the May issue of Yoga Journal. The first meditation, "Earth", helps to ground your connection to the planet and feel supported by its deep strength. The second, "Flower", guides you to let go of any tension and to feel the light within your heart connecting to the light of the sun. Whether you do one or both, you'll emerge feeling clear, calm, and energized.

Download Earth Meditation Audio MP3
Note: To listen, click the link. To download, right-click and select "save link as."
Download Flower Meditation Audio MP3
Note: To listen, click the link. To download, right-click and select "save link as."

Enjoy.

ps - don't forget to join us on the FB events page for more comments and community.

Day 13: 30 Day Meditation

Listening to Elesa Commerse reminded me that our life does not happen on the cushion, it happens every moment. We do meditation to practice being present for our life, to practice living in the moment - not in the future and not in the past.

I had a very hard time sitting today. My back was really bothering me and I felt like I had a lead weight pressing me down. So I went with it and laid down. I did some mindful somatic movements and when my back stopped hurting I came to stillness. I focused on my heart center and tried to maintain mindfulness of the present moment.

Here is a poem I love:

Here is a calm so deep, grasses cease waving. 

The sun shines not on us but in us. 

The rivers flow not past, but through us, 

thrilling, tingling, 

vibrating every fiber and cell of our bodies, 

making them glide and sing. 

Nature’s peace will flow into you 

as sunshine flows into trees. 

The winds will blow their own freshness into you, 

and the storms their energy, 

while cares drop off like autumn leaves.

— John Muir

I love the imagery of being so calm that not even grass moves.

Have a good day everyone.

Day 12: 30 Day Meditation

Today I listened to Elesa Commerse's Deep Listening track from her Sit Comfortably meditation CD (click on the tools link on her website to find this). This CD also includes a meditation timer with the sound of the bell at the end. You can set the timer for increments of 5 minutes from 5-30 minutes. So after I practiced Deep Listening I set the timer for 5 minutes and sat in silence trying to maintain my focus on deep listening. Quite a nice practice today.