Post by Obtuse1 on Jun 20, 2016 13:16:38 GMT -5
From Mindful Magazine a nice short article which teaches concrete things which can be used to start ones meditation. It is based on the fact that the people of modern times are much more stimulated than the average person to whom the Buddhists of old were speaking. Nowadays, says Chris McKenna:
Thanks to computers, smartphones, television, and other technology, our senses are extremely busy. The more our bodies strain to pay attention, the more our minds space-out. Chris McKenna suggests ways to help us go from tense and strained to relaxed and focused.
Excerpt from February 2016 issue of Mindful:
By Chris McKenna | February 24, 2016
Thanks to computers, smartphones, television, and other technology, our senses are extremely busy. The more our bodies strain to pay attention, the more our minds space-out. Chris McKenna suggests ways to help us go from tense and strained to relaxed and focused.
Excerpt from February 2016 issue of Mindful:
By Chris McKenna | February 24, 2016
3 Practices to Relax the Eyes, Face, and Head
Thanks to prolonged computer and smartphone use, TV watching, and other forms of focusing that were little practiced before the 20th century, our senses are extremely busy. They’re conditioned to process a steady stream of information. When we’re asked to pull back from that stream, a withdrawal response can ensue, one that’s a little bit like detoxing from drug use.
After two hours of fairly unconscious meandering around the internet, we might experience a gap where our awareness and sense organs spontaneously wake up and attune to the inner and outer sensory environment. Some things that keep us from surrendering to this gap of self-awareness are the unconscious mental, physical, and emotional contractions that have accrued during our sojourn into The Huffington Post and our friend’s Facebook baby pictures.
After a brief moment of relief that comes from being back in the present moment, we find ourselves having to pay the toll of the last two hours by experiencing any of a series of unpleasant sensations: tightness in the forehead and neck, a sense that the eyes are exhausted but simultaneously wanting new content to focus on, ambient discomfort throughout the body, and fatigue mixed with currents of compulsive energy looking for new objects and activities to attach to.
The three practices below work with the role our eyes, facial muscles, and head position have in cultivating stable relaxation and attention. They ask us to make microadjustments to how our focus is affecting our body. Working with them immediately after a period of prolonged unconsciousness—and before attempting to re-direct attention deeper into the body—can be extremely helpful.
...
To read the whole article click here.
Thanks to prolonged computer and smartphone use, TV watching, and other forms of focusing that were little practiced before the 20th century, our senses are extremely busy. They’re conditioned to process a steady stream of information. When we’re asked to pull back from that stream, a withdrawal response can ensue, one that’s a little bit like detoxing from drug use.
After two hours of fairly unconscious meandering around the internet, we might experience a gap where our awareness and sense organs spontaneously wake up and attune to the inner and outer sensory environment. Some things that keep us from surrendering to this gap of self-awareness are the unconscious mental, physical, and emotional contractions that have accrued during our sojourn into The Huffington Post and our friend’s Facebook baby pictures.
After a brief moment of relief that comes from being back in the present moment, we find ourselves having to pay the toll of the last two hours by experiencing any of a series of unpleasant sensations: tightness in the forehead and neck, a sense that the eyes are exhausted but simultaneously wanting new content to focus on, ambient discomfort throughout the body, and fatigue mixed with currents of compulsive energy looking for new objects and activities to attach to.
The three practices below work with the role our eyes, facial muscles, and head position have in cultivating stable relaxation and attention. They ask us to make microadjustments to how our focus is affecting our body. Working with them immediately after a period of prolonged unconsciousness—and before attempting to re-direct attention deeper into the body—can be extremely helpful.
...
To read the whole article click here.