Tag: meditation

Monday Meditation: Breath in, breath out

Posted on by Joy Held

“When I stop, I pass out,” said one of my college hatha yoga students. That means we are out of balance. It means we have neglected the quiet, still moments in life and our energy levels are at an all time low, so our bodies seize the moment (when we stop) to knock us out cold so it can recharge. I call this backwards living because when we are going and doing constantly, it takes a punch in the belly to dump us a$$-over-tea-kettle so the body, mind, and spirit can get some rest. This is the hard way to achieve balance. In this zippy age of “just DO it,” 99% of the students I meet in yoga are looking for something to slow them down, but when they meet it head-on they resist. What we resist is what we need the most.

To look up the definition of “balance” in the dictionary would cause most people to slam the book shut and think, “How can one word have 27 different meanings? Forget it.” If we will spend a breath on the Latin (don’t freak) derivation, we’ll see that “balance” is Latin for “two scales”. Take the thoughts a bit farther and the image of the scales of justice should roll across our mind’s eye and we might take the leap to understand that “balance” is another word for “equality.” Hopefully, we think equality means giving both sides the same amount of time. It means striving to equalize our “doing” with our “being.”

We call ourselves human “beings”, but we are actually more human “doings”. Aren’t we always doing, going, getting, asking, etc. almost all the time? “Doing” is everything we’re responsible for and everyone we answer to. “Being” is much simpler. It is calming our mind until the only “doing” is breathing. Strangely, the human body, mind, and spirit react positively to an inequality of “doing” versus “being.” We can be much more active than inactive and our human carriages will show positive signs of health, but we must offer our bodies organized sessions of peace and quiet at regular intervals. In other words, it takes only a few minutes of “being” per day to balance many minutes of “doing” and we can achieve equilibrium.

The “being” is simply sitting or lying in a quiet, meditative state that is conscious relaxation when we are not talking, moving, thinking without obsessing (more on that later,) and simply appreciating the moment in which the only requirement of us is to breathe. It is not sleeping. It is conscious relaxation when our minds are focused on the breath and only the breath.

“Breath in, breath out,” is all we need to think and when something interrupts or tries to supersede that simple mantra, we do not follow its lead but continue the easy words in harmony with our natural breathing. As you breathe in, repeat to yourself, “Breath in.” As you breathe out, repeat to yourself, “Breath out.” Try it for five minutes, then ten minutes, then fifteen, and twenty minutes gradually increasing the time as you feel ready. It sounds easy, but let me know how easy it is or isn’t for you. If you’re human like the rest of us, it will present a lifelong challenge that will change your life forever and for the good.

 

 

 

 

 

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

 

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

 

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

 

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

 

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

 

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

 

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

 

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

 

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well.

Monday Meditation: Just Breathe

Posted on by Joy Held

 

Relax? What does that really mean? It can mean taking a moment in the face of stress and remembering how inconsequential the problem is. But is that practical? What if the problem is a really big issue like something burning? Thankfully, the natural “fight or flight” response will kick in and you can probably put the fire out but what about responding to the everyday stresses we encounter all the time? It all matters a little bit but how we react to the situation is the real cause of most of our stress. It’s a matter of choice.

I believe that what causes the most stress for people are expectations. The fear of not living up to the hype causes us to tense up and that tension results in poo-poo thinking and the release of stress hormones that don’t dribble out later. They hang around and sludge up the works making blood sticky, muscles achy, and thinking unclear.

What helps? Breathing helps. Meditation helps. Exercise helps. Loving helps. Heck, hugging helps reduce the stress response and makes us think maybe we can cope with all this crap after all. Everything happens for a reason, and you are here now at this moment for a reason living life the way you are. You may not know it, but I think the human experience is only about finding that reason for living and pursuing it with everything you’ve got body and soul.

Find your reason for living by paying attention to the little things and to how fast time flys when you’re engaged in a particular activity. When do you lose all track of time? When do you feel refreshed no matter how intense the activity? When is your thinking focused on one thing and nothing else can get in until you let it? These are clues to finding your reason for being here, for contributing to the existential drama that causes us so much stress because we don’t know for sure what our true purpose in life is supposed to be.

Be still, breathe, and listen and the answer will overpower the stress. Has meditation helped you see the clarity in your work or life?

(Photo by J. Purkey, 2003)

Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity

 

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

 

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

 

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

 

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

 

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

 

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

 

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

 

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

 

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: Quick and Tidy Way To Meditation

Posted on by Joy Held

If someone were to ask me how after 35 years of meditation the practice has contributed to who I am today, I’m not sure I could answer succinctly. Just like there is nothing really quick and tidy about life, there is nothing quick or tidy about meditation including the results. Yes, we can sit down for a quick five minutes of peace and quiet four times a day to equal our goal of twenty minutes a day, but the results are scattered for the average person. Instead of cumulative, each session is beginning from the beginning each and every time. But that is the valuable trinket many people fail to recognize about meditation and that’s why some of them give up the practice. They don’t see any big changes. They don’t feel like they are progressing. They don’t know if they’re doing it right. They are tired of starting over the same way every practice. And they don’t see a tangible goal, something they can grab onto and work toward, a reason to meditate.

Thirty-five years ago I was in love with my IBM Selectric electric typewriter  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric. I could type like the wind and writing became even more of a compulsion when I found out how quickly and efficiently I could write and edit articles. Once I cracked open the seam of a story and had the Selectric turned on, the poems and columns poured out like water from a spigot. I was in a mental zone while writing, and nothing short of a child screaming, “Mommy, she has the matches again!” could break me out of the writing trance. Ideas, words, and fingers reaching frantically in every direction of the compass across the span of the keyboard, known lovingly to me then as “the keys” of the typewriter. They were the keys to finally getting all that stuff out of my head, onto paper, and into the hands of others. They were the keys to my deciding to become a writer, get a journalism degree, and publish as much as I could possibly pass from my brain to my hands to the keys to the printer to the reader. This was actually my first experience with meditation even though I didn’t realize it. I was intensely focused on the writing and the process. That’s what meditation is: focus. And writing is where I learned to focus and when introduced to meditation, the ground work was already in place because I had learned to focus on a story and stay dedicated to the idea until it was finished.

Sure the pure definitions of meditation say things like “calm tranquility,” “emotional detachment,” and “blissful state,” but I had already experienced those trance-like places of clarity as a writer. Learning to breathe and call it meditation was a “peace” of cake. Because writing requires awareness of detail, clear steps of organization, and the results are any number of acceptable variations, the similarities of writing to meditation are easy to recognize. All writers are practicing a state of focus while writing. The next logical step is to roll the office chair from the keyboard for five or ten minutes and sit in stillness with your breath. When you return to the craft of piecing together the twenty-six letters of the alphabet into words, ideas, sentences, and stories your perspective will be the fresh and new you’ve been hoping for.

So it is writing that led me to meditation and meditation that continues to lend it’s nothingness and its everything-ness to my writing. Did you know you are meditating when you write? Notice next time, simply notice.

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: Renaming Today “Fun-day”

Posted on by Joy Held

Monday Meditation: Renaming Today “Fun-day”

Monday is typically a dreaded day. It’s more unwelcome than a case of athlete’s foot. Yet it returns and reruns itself no matter what remedy we try. So it might be time for a change of perspective and to think positively about this day instead of always trying to avoid it. I’ve decided to rename Monday to “Fun-day”, the day of the week when we make an effort to enjoy the opportunities a fresh start to a new work week can offer. It’s time to look at all the potential Monday, I mean “Fun-Day”, presents.

First, we should admit that our problem with Monday is that it seems to end the fun of the weekend. If we make a choice to continue the fun on the first day of the week, sleeping on Sunday (the “day of rest”?) night won’t be the challenge is it for people who don’t look forward to Mondays. If we think of the day as “Fun-day” instead of Monday we might get enough sleep on Sunday to make the most of this promising day.

The next issue we have with Monday is that it never seems to have enough time built into it. That’s because we spend most of it being disgruntled that it has reappeared instead of making the best of something we can’t change anyway. The sun comes up and Monday comes back. That’s reality on this big round thing we live on. Like some other distasteful things I won’t mention, Monday happens. So it’s worth the LESS STRESS to plan ahead to make Monday more like “Fun-day” instead of I-hate-life-day. Take a few minutes on Friday to make a “Fun-day” plan. Look over the list and do one of the “Fun-day” jobs on Friday (P.S. I’m renaming Friday too, more on that later.) That way, “Fun-day” will have more space for taking care of something that invariably pops up or poops out.  Those last minute, didn’t-know-this-would-happen things that Mondays are famous for.

Time and trying to live against it instead of with it is a major contributor to creating bad stress in humans. Take a minute or two on some day in advance of Monday to make it “Fun-day” and relieve yourself of a tiny bit of stress.

What will you do today to make it “Fun-day”?

CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED! The winner of the drawing for a free digital copy of WRITER WELLNESS, A WRITER’S PATH TO HEALTH AND CREATIVITY and a month of free Writer Wellness coaching via email is

 

JOANNA AISLINN!     Congratulations. Contact me to arrange for your prize package! Thanks to all who entered.

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: Part Deux

Posted on by Joy Held

At the “friends-giving” celebration in my home recently, a dear friend told me that one of her teachers spoke something that resonated so deeply she couldn’t get it off her mind. Part of “studying” the teacher’s words for her was to share them and see what others might have to say. Her teacher said that all of life’s relationships could be simplified to four sentences. She said that if everyone could somehow apply all four sentences to every relationship they had, there would be no stress.

1.I love you.

2.I am sorry.

3.Please forgive me.

4.Thank you.

She wrote the sentences down and they’ve been posted in my kitchen for several days now, and I’ve noticed a difference in my relationships without really trying to think too much about the four sentences. Just reading them several times a day has implanted them within the folds of my interactions with others.

1.I love you. This is very true. In the case of becoming upset with another person’s actions, these three words appeared out of nowhere. Before I could get much deeper into my frustration, this sentence reminded me that I DO love you, and I DO NOT want to jeopardize that with anger. This sentence enabled me the pause necessary to find another way to deal with or discard my unhappiness.

2.I am sorry. This is a very difficult sentence to utter. We are all resistant to pointing out our flaws even though we all have room for improvement. This sentence simply reminded me to avoid having to say it by thinking before I reacted to something. This way I didn’t have to say this to anyone because I remembered my love for them.

3.Please forgive me. It’s one thing to apologize, but it’s another thing for the wronged person to accept the apology. I’ve come to realize in my life that forgiveness is an option for some people. I don’t have the right to expect someone to forgive me. Therefore, it’s much easier to remember that I love them than to be placed in a position of waiting on forgiveness. It may never come.

4.Thank you. These are two amazing and powerful words. It doesn’t seem like we hear them enough. So I remembered to say it as often as warranted and to add a little smile. It works. We all just want to make a difference.

I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.  What would happen if you wrote these four sentences on a slip of paper and tacked them up somewhere you would see them multiple times a day, day after day? I’m interested in knowing your results.

 

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

 

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

 

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

 

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

 

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

 

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

 

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

 

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

 

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: Stillness

Posted on by Joy Held

 

The soft, gentle place of peace and tranquility at the end of a yoga class is known to some students as the “prize” at the bottom of the box. After the stretching and the breath work, the relaxation pose at the end of class for five to ten minutes is a welcome relief. It’s also a place for something we don’t receive often enough during the day: stillness. We are so busy doing, darting, and thinking throughout the day that we forget or run out of time to find balance and do nothing but breathe. Day after day of being out of balance creates the stresses we are desperate to dissolve in our bodies and minds. The simplest way to reduce stress is to be its opposite. Stress is an active pressure on something. The physical or emotional pressure created by stress is blasted into oblivion by simply being still, not moving except for breathing for whatever time can be set aside for it.

Physical stillness is miraculous in its ability to energize our muscles and internal organs. However we’re so used to putting demands on ourselves physically and mentally, that it feels awkward to some people to be without motion so they “hold” themselves still and think this is relaxation. This is more doing. Stillness is letting go and just breathing in and out for five minutes and nothing else. It works better and achieves a better overall result to lie down, but it’s possible to let go while sitting up. But that’s the challenge of meditation isn’t? To meet the urge to do something with just being. So if life feels out of balance, it probably is. When we try to find balance with the practice of stillness, remember that there are two ways to achieve the stillness. We can grip something so hard it is still, or we can let go of everything until the bliss of just being pervades us on the deepest of levels. This is stillness.

How do you achieve stillness?

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

 

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

 

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

 

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

 

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

 

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

 

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

 

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

 

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: Books that changed my life week

Posted on by Joy Held

LIGHT ON LIFE by B.K.S. Iyengar changed my life with its straightforward, head-on approach to the questions we face as we live. As we live a life that includes the multi-limbed practice of yoga, we encounter quandaries that challenge our decisions about how to live in a world of other people also challenged by their own questions. Iyengar’s book written in 2005 is presumably his final chapter offering in a long list of quality books he has penned about yoga, meditation, and spirituality. LIGHT ON LIFE resonated with me and continues to provide a source of go-to support when I’m seeking a way to explain or make sense of a rarely perfect existence. What Iyengar offers is plain talk about the freedom that awaits those who make the yoga journey. The trip includes profound and not so intense moments, but Iyengar reminds us that recognition of the smallest things is a profound step in the direction of peace. And then we are asked to share that with our communities.

“Yoga is the rule book for playing the game of Life, but in this game no one needs to lose. It is tough, and you need to train hard. It requires the willingness to think for yourself, to observe and correct, and to surmount occasional setbacks. It demands honest, sustained application, and above all love in your heart. If you are interested to understand what it means to be a human being, placed between earth and sky, if you are interested in where you come from and where you will be able to go, if you want happiness and long for freedom, then you have already begun to take the first steps toward the journey inward.” (LIGHT ON LIFE, B.K.S. Iyengar)

 

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Thursday Thot: Time for a “Joy-Fix”

Posted on by Joy Held

I was named after my Grandma Joy. When I was a little bit of joy, she told to watch out for days when it would be difficult to live up to our name. In other words, feeling joyful would be challenging sometimes. That’s life. I grew to be a practical person who doesn’t like to waste time or breath. So I tend to work hard before I get to the joyful parts of life. Sometimes the work is so overwhelming that I’m too tired for the joyfulness that should be my reward. Alas, the conundrum Grandma Joy warned me about.

Many people mistake my diligence and persistence for unhappiness. I am happiest when I’m working and productive. Some people don’t believe that work is a joyful occupation. I do. These folks think I need more joy in my life when my whole being is made up of joy. I take joy in my work. I find joy in my purposes as parent and teacher. I know joy with every word I publish. Joy is achieved, at least for me, through my desire to make a difference. I have found my niche, my way to make a positive difference in my life and that of others through teaching and writing. Those are occupations to some but they are joy-filled opportunities for me. I do run into stinkers every now and then. They try to threaten my ability to find joy in my work. I’m only human. So I turn to my journal and hash it out in words and drawings and thank-you notes from people I’ve helped.

 

But everyone needs some helpful reminders now and then on how to find joy in life and therefore that positive attitude that is October’s mission. Here are a couple of tips I’ve found useful.

1.Daily affirmations-these are little snippets of what I call “cheerleader talk” that you write down and keep handy throughout the day. Examples of such positive self-talk are “Today is a good day to notice one good thing about myself and share it with the world.” There is a list of positive affirmations in my book Writer Wellness.

 

2.Daily meditation practice-five minutes of sitting in stillness and listening to your own breath rotate through your body and mind sounds mundane, but the results of such a long term and simple practice are amazing. Don’t discount the simplicity. That’s exactly the point in this crazy, work-till-you-drop world. I should know. That’s why meditation is an important part of my plan for joy. There is a chapter in my book to help you get started with meditation.

So when it’s time for a “joy-fix”, pull out the simple things and watch your negativity gradually fade away until all that’s left is pure joy.

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Thursday Thought: Guest Post CLAUDIA TALLER on “Balance”

Posted on by Joy Held

When I stepped off the bus this morning, it was pouring down rain.  A complete stranger put an umbrella over my head and we chatted easily for the five minutes it took to get to the building.  After I thanked him and went on my way, I thought about the nice surprise of spending time in conversation with a good-looking guy first thing this morning.  It felt like the universe was telling me to live in the moment.

During last evening’s religious study class, we talked about how important it is to have a Sabbath so we can refuel.  I have been struggling with all the social networking I have to do to communicate about my events—it’s keeping me from getting my writing done.  I need balance, not just in my life but also in my writing.

I journaled this morning.  A planned stay at a hermitage at a monastery awaits me in October.  I have allocated some blocks of time for social networking and keep my “real” writing time sacred.  This morning proved I’m open to possibility and synchronicity, which are important for ideas, and zest for life, and trudging forward.  And my walk at lunch time allowed me to let my worries go, a form of meditation.

Interesting how I can hold the tree pose for ten minutes on each leg and feel totally centered and balanced, but once my day gets going I soon feel like I’m going in a million directions.  Julia Cameron had it right in The Artist’s Way when she recommended Morning Pages, Artist’s Dates, and attention to synchronicity.  In her second book, she added walking.  If we add sorting out priorities to her formula, we can achieve balance. 

When life feels out of control, we just need to do tree pose and go for a walk to ruminate on our morning journaling, retreat time, and life’s surprises.  Writing then becomes what we dream it should be—a bit of ourselves flowing through the keyboard and out into the world.  It happens when we’re in balance.

Claudia Taller writes about writing, living well, and striving for excellence for a number of publications. In 2008, she launched Igniting Possibilities (http://www.ignitingpossibilties.blogspot.com/), which seeks to encourage unbounded creativity and personal exploration in others. Her Word Lovers retreats are held twice each year in Lakeside, Ohio, and memoir writing, spiritual quests, and other events are sprinkled throughout the calendar. She published the book Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries (http://www.ohiolakeeriewineries.blogspot.com/) in June 2011.

 

 

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: Banned Thoughts During Meditation

Posted on by Joy Held

It’s national Banned Books Week. Sigh. A history of yet another way, besides disappearing bricks-and-mortar bookstores, to make a writer’s life more challenging. In spite of the collected freedoms we and others support and sometimes die for, the concept of banned books is ultimately about freedom of speech and censorship. When it comes to meditation and choosing not to follow a path of thoughts but staying present in the moment of the breath, are we actually censoring our mind’s free flow of ideas instead?

 

In the colorful history of banned books, there is the concept of books being ‘challenged’ as well as actually being removed from the availability of certain populations such as children. Just as often however, books are kept away from adults with the right to choose what they read. It is the sense of challenge that permeates meditation practice rather than total separation. As we meditate and thoughts surface in the consciousness, we are given the freedom to choose at the very moment if we want to dwell on the thought or simply not. We have the freedom in our minds to set aside the thought temporarily, and this is in a sense meeting the fundamental challenge of all meditation practices. Do we grasp or do we let go?

 

Famous classics have been and continue to be challenged and/or banned by institutions and groups for various reasons that seem clear to those taking advantage of their right to free speech to question the propriety of a book. I see a contradiction there. If it weren’t for the freedom of speech and ergo freedom to read and write, these particular entities wouldn’t be allowed to oppose these books. In our minds during meditation, we are ultimately free, freer, in fact, than anywhere else or time. Real freedom of choice exists during meditation. We are free to challenge thoughts or free to follow them down the spiraling road of tangents. The spiral is thinking about something, and that’s entirely different from meditation as I see it practiced. Thinking is good. But the freedom not to think while meditating is just as good.

For more information on Banned Books Week 2011 visit the American Library Association website.

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/index.cfm

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

 

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

 

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

 

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

 

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

 

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

 

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

 

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

 

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Be well, write well