Riverspointe Spa’s Weblog

Better health for the New Year – start with a calmer mind, body & spirit : Starting A Personal Sit Practice

by Joe Wollen, Licensed Acupuncturist: www.wbtrclinic.com

With New Year’s Resolutions abound, one of the most common ones are: “I want to get healthier!” However, what does “healthier” mean? Physically? Mentally? Emotionally? Spiritually? Perhaps all of the above! For the purpose of this article we will assume you have a good physical regimen in place. So we will focus on what you can do to improve yourself Spiritually. It is good to have a healthy interest in taking care of yourself and your Spirit! This can be a very important undertaking and it will change your outlook on life. I personally love many of the Asian philosophies of seeking within to know what is without. Even some Saints such as: Saint Catherine of Sienna, St John of the Cross etc. believed that because we are all “created in his image” we can better know God by knowing ourselves. So meditation, visualization etc can be fantastic ways to learn about yourself better. However, this day and age there is a lot of New age thoughts out there that is dangerous, exploitive and unethical. I strongly discourage you from just learning from any old book, or person or website. So this is a tricky area. Personally, I would recommend to start out, just start a daily sitting practice. What do I mean by this? The following will be helpful:

1) Pick a consistent time each day you can do this for the first month:

~This will help establish a regular rhythm for your mind, body and spirit to develop a routine. Put this in your schedule book and treat it “like a job/meeting” that you simply don’t miss.

~I personally recommend either the Morning (not too long after getting up) or in the evening. I recommend this because in the morning the mind and spirit is calmest (especially after just waking up) and you will find it less difficult to have “monkey mind” (or jumping thoughts). This “monkey mind” will come up no matter what you do, but it will be less difficult if you have not already started your day and have “things to do”.

~As you progress you will find you will be able to be more flexible in your time of which you practice sitting. This is because it will be more of a routine and be easier for you to sit.

2) Pick a quiet sit place:

~Preferably in nature or a separate room that is set aside for a quiet atmosphere. You don’t want your sit area to be a place where you do business etc. because your mind and spirit is already conditioned for this to be a place of work and stress. So it will be harder to calm down.

~Try to have it be clean room (in every sense of the word) a cluttered room can lead to a cluttered mind! If you are practicing sitting and breathing deep you don’t want a room to be dusty or unclean either!

~If you have the luxury decorate how you feel comfortable with anything that makes you feel at peace. This can include tabletop fountains, books, plants etc. Whatever makes you feel at peace, you don’t need to do “Asian themes” or anything to be Spiritual. Do what speaks to your heart and spirit, paintings you enjoy etc. Let your heart and spirit be your guide on decorating.

3) Now you have your sit place and time picked, now it is time to practice:

~It is usually easiest for beginners to get a good, thick padded cushion of which to sit on. Only experimentation can give you the best sense for the proper firmness. But what you are seeking to do is to have a cushion to sit on, with your legs “hanging” off the cushion before you sitting “indian style” or simply with crossed legs. The reason you are sitting on a cushion is: 1) Because if you are sitting on a floor it pads the buttocks 2) It naturally cradles the pelvis and aligns the spine to enable you to sit easier ~You can sit in a chair, but make sure it is high enough to allow your legs to be close to parallel to the floor. Sit with your your buttocks near the edge of the chair (This again allows the spine to naturally align) and have the feet flat on the floor.

~However, it is important to remember that no matter the sitting position you choose, initially you will only be able to sit for a few minutes at the beginning. This is because you will find sore spots on the body, muscles tighten and relax etc. This is normal and your time of sitting will gradually increase as your body and mind get used to the practice.

4) You are in a good place, a good time & sitting:

~Take a Breath to surrender this breath is as follows:

a) Take a nice deep breath into the abdomen, abdominal breathing is used mostly for meditation practice for a few reasons (this can be covered more in depth later). To do abdominal breathing: 1) Place your hands over your belly button. 2) As you inhale feel your stomach expand (Making yourself appear “Fat”) 3) Feel your hands raise as you inhale deeply 4) As you exhale simply let the abdominal muscles relax 5) During your exhale you will feel your hands move back in 6) Initially this breathing style will make you feel short of breath. This is normal until you get used to it (usually after 1 week of practice), this SHOULD become your normal breathing.

b) With the Breath to Surrender, as you exhale you let out an audible sigh (“AHHHHHHH”) just like you are sitting into a hot bath, a comfy recliner, you finished a long day etc.

c) Make it audible and feel your body relax as you sigh.

d) Do this 3 x with each successive time the inhale becomes deeper and longer.

e) This is one of the most powerful breathing methods I have ever found! It is simple and can be practiced WHENEVER you feel stressed etc.

5) Now as you finish your breathing, simply sit:

~As you sit, take on an appreciative attitude, look outside the window and see the world around you. Feel the magic of the Creator, the Magic of day to day life. Sit in silence and APPRECIATE all that is! Notice how the snow may fall always seemingly in the “right place”, or how a leaf twirls on a tree, if you can open windows listen to the birds, squirrels etc.

~As you sit your mind may begin to wander…”Got Milk?”, “Oh! I have to do ‘X’ for the company!”, “Gotta take Jimmy to soccer!” These thoughts will come and go, when you are sitting it is important not to let your mind follow these thoughts so it disrupts your quiet sitting. A great trick for this is the following: a) As an errant thought comes up simply answer it with one of three answers: Yes, No, Later. “Got milk?” YES! (The thought drifts away…), “Oh! I have to do ‘X’ for the company!” LATER! (The thought drifts away…), “Gotta take Jimmy to soccer!” NO! (The thought drifts away…) b) This will get easier as you progress in a practice.

6) Use this time as you sit to pray

~With your appreciative attitude and silence it is a great time to pray however you see fit! Again speak from the Heart and Spirit, it is usually best to make it Thankful and positive for example: Rather than: Please help “so and so” with their Cancer (Cancer is negative and focus on negativity is never good!) Say: Let “so and so” be happy and healthy! Rather than: “I want to be happy and healthy” Say: I AM happy and healthy! ~Stay away from words such as: Don’t, Not, No, Want etc. Or if for health, don’t focus on the Disease (i.e. Cancer, Diabetes, Pain etc.) always frame it as being Healthy!

7) Sit for as long as is comfortable:

~This could be a matter of minutes (usually 5-10 for beginners is the average) but you are in charge and can sit as long as you see fit! Just allow the time you need, I personally prefer to allow nearly an hour and sometimes I use the hour, other times I simply need to sit for 10 mins. Remember be flexible, don’t force by a imposed time limit. This is to be ENJOYABLE!

8) Get up slowly

~Depending on how long you have sat you could feel a little sore. This is normal, just get up slow.

9) Use your time afterwards as relaxing as well!

~This is where I see a lot of people make mistakes! Don’t just get up and rush out the door! Try to maintain the peace and appreciation you just cultivated as long as you can. This can then be built to last throughout the entire day!

10) Cautions:

~I have explained some cautions above but to elaborate:

a) Simply sit, DO NOT start visualizing “moving energy throughout the body” unless you have a qualified teacher! -This can be harmful because when you do visualizations you are training the mind, the mind controls the body, if you train the mind to believe something or operate in a certain way it can really harm you. Our thoughts are powerful! Especially when added with feelings and emotions! Look how easily we can feel depressed, then we lose (or gain) appetite, then we feel achey or tired etc. REMEMBER YOUR THOUGHTS CONTROL YOUR BODY!

b) Don’t force your sit time! -Again, sometimes you will feel like sitting for 2 mins other times for 20 minutes! Simply enjoy whatever time you sit, enjoy the peace, enjoy the life, enjoy your time! Sitting for longer does not make a better practitioner! You can sit for an hour and have thoughts the entire time! This is NOT meditative! On the other hand you can sit for 2 mins. and have NO thoughts! Remember it is the PRACTICE that matters, NOT the TIME!

c) Don’t try to do anything complex! -I often hear of people starting their own practices and they start doing “This or that” because they read it in a book. Again, this is dangerous! Just by sitting, listening to your heart and spirit, being appreciative of all that is, developing a love for yourself and others you will find unique ways to practice for yourself!

d) Remember you are learning about yourself! -I once had a teacher say: “When you find out who you are, you may not like yourself!” This is true, many of us think we are beyond “Negative or evil thoughts” we are not, we are human. We at times think of ill will towards others (Remember that “Road rage” incident? Or how that person talked to you and you got angry? How you got frustrated with waiting in line?) It is important to remember that as you develop your practice you will eventually find out why you feel this way, why you acted this way, you again will understand yourself. I put this under cautions because this can be hard for some people. This is an important aspect of why a Teacher is important to guide you and listen to your thoughts and feelings. This is why I recommend Journaling…

11) Books:

~Now you have started a practice and are ready to learn more! Good for you! But please remember the Internet, Books, Tapes etc. are NEVER a replacement for an actual teacher! A teacher has been there and is there for you physically for questions, answers, guidance and understanding. This is important because you are an individual! Books, Websites, Tapes are written to make money for MASSES! A true teacher will be able to guide you along your practice and make it PERSONALIZED! This is something that cannot be done with Material teaching tools. ~Books & other Media should be used to learn and understand deeper of what you are seeking. They should not set the foundation for a practice. Let me explain: -If you are a meditating Christian one of the best meditative books is the Bible! When you sit, maybe focus on certain Psalms, quotes etc. that you always liked. See what it means to you, look at how it could have different meanings, feel it from your heart and develop a deeper understanding. -Use philosophical books, holy books etc. to better understand the Human spirit. -Use teaching books (of which there are many) to learn of other methods out there if you are curious! What I have given above is easily enough to take you through a lifetime of speculation, understanding etc. -This is why so many Holy books (The Bible, Quran, Tao Te ching, Buddhist texts) seem to have such a similarity in their teaching (Compassion, Kindness, Understanding oneself and the mysteries of the universe). They are meant as guides for people seeking to help their fellow man. With the above information I hope you will develop a great practice that you can call your own! As always feel free to contact me with any additional questions!

Take care & a New Year of Blessings,

Joe