March 20,2014- Taking Care of the Self

It is very difficult to encapsulate how we are able to take care of our needs when we are stuck on this endless hamster wheel.  Whether is it taking care of a loved one 24/7, making sure a mother keeps the house and the household together in a flurry of activities, and trying to meet a deadline at work while trying to reach a productivity of 120%, where do we take the time to make time for ourselves?

I remember last week driving over all over Los Angeles meeting with people, attending sessions, making house calls, going to network meetings and keeping a smiling face that one day I left the house with two different color shoes.  That’s right!! I got to my coffee shop with two different shoes and boy were they laughing; joke got all the way to the guy in the back making the doughnuts.  The point I am making is that time is not on our side, despite what the Rolling Stones may say.  As bad as our day/week is, we should try to make the time to take care of ourselves.  Case in point: trying to cram everything in two weeks and not taking care of myself has lead me to deal with clumsiness, a viral infection, as well as not being able to match my shoes correctly.  I can make time to do the following items. I can dedicate 20 minutes a day to my mediation regime or take the 25 minute jog in the afternoon/early evening to get rid of the stress.  I can get to bed at a decent time.  I even use a great link www.dailymile.com to track my miles and https://insighttimer.com for meditation.   As I have stated before in my blog, my sessions, and my caregiver’s group and on a freaking mountain top, if you are not good to yourselves, how can you be good to others around you?

March 11, 2014- Sharing is always beautiful

I was siting at the dealer today getting my car serviced.  I was able to resume my meditation practice that I had stopped for a short time but rather than focusing on that decided to venture onward.  I was getting some coffee in the lounge section chilling like a villain when I decided to sit in one of their nice leather lounge chairs far away from the salesmen.    I sat down to put my backpack on the floor, put my glasses away, and get into my pose.   I closed my eyes and started to concentrate on my breathing.  Probably thirty seconds into it, I heard someone say " excuse me sir, but are you going into some kind of meditative trance happy place?"  I opened my eyes and looked up into the face of one of the sale agents.  At first glance, he was very well put together, handsome, clean cut, dressed to a tee and sporting one of the best starched shirts I have seen in quite some time.   As he kept looking down towards me,  I took a better look at his face.  I could see some anxiety and concern around the eyes.. they never lie.  I asked him to sit down and tell me what was going on.  He expressed  concern over his sales quota,  issues at home, as well as some other factors.  Mainly,  he was not able to deal with the stress. I informed him that I was about to engage in mindfulness meditation which would not only help him deal with the stress but become more focused and alert.  He humorously asked me if he was needing to buy a Buddha statue and informed him that he did not need to do so.  Meditation is more of a practice of becoming more self aware of one's attunement to life.   I provided him with a brief explanation, gave him instruction and off he went.   He was honest about not being able to just " turn off" his thoughts but I told him the practice itself is  about recognizing this and moving on.