Think Away

My shoulder has really been bothering me the past week or two. I'm pretty sure I aggravated it climbing. It's given me problems before I was a climber, but it seems to have gotten a bit worse. Anyhow, I decided to focus today's session on my right shoulder. I imagined all the pain being sucked out of it as I inhaled and pushed out of my body as I exhaled. I tried to imagine my shoulder getting better with each breath. Clearly that won't actually work, I'm too much of a realist to believe in something like that. It was fun to imagine though.

Race

During my meditation today I started thinking about when I ran track. I want to pick up running again. I won't necessarily compete for a team, but I would like to get back into the shape I was when I was racing. I might enter unattached to some races eventually. We'll see. I definitely want to run though. I've got the itch!

Here and There

I tried to imagine myself meditating outside. I still focused on my breathing, but imagined doing so in a field somewhere in the mountains. It's a place where I feel most at home. I want meditation to be more than simply controlling my breathing. If I have something else that I can focus on, it'll will be worlds easier to avoid any stressful thoughts.

Unfulfilled

I come out of today's meditation feeling like something is lacking. I still have some issues blocking out all my thoughts, but that's not a big issue. I feel as if there is something deeper that I could be feeling when meditating. I have always imagined meditation as a time when your mind travels to a different world and can even give you insight. That is what I want. How do I get that?

Pressure Drop

I used the same technique that I did yesterday in focusing on my breath. Today I really tried to focus on the sensation of cool air entering my nose and hitting the back of my throat. Also very cool was the feeling of releasing the pressure build up from inhaling before even exhaling. Normally when you exhale (when focusing on breathing), the tendency is to push the air out. Instead, I sort of released the pressure and let the air flow freely on its own.

Air Flow

Today I observed my breathing in a different way. When inhaling, I imagined air flowing into my nose and pausing at the back of my throat before exhaling and traveling down through my chest and ending in my stomach. I guess it traveled there because that is where the 'hara' is said to be; nearly behind the belly-button. My focus was very strong in the beginning and began to falter only slightly at the end of my meditation. It lasted 8 minutes though.

Forgive and be thankful

As usual I began my meditation by focusing on my breath. Gradually I transitioned to acknowledging all the things that bothered me or worried me today and excused them. I let them pass so that I could move on. To end my session in a more positive light I revisited all the good things that happened to me today. To no surprise, the good holds more weight than the bad. Today I am happy to forgive the events that hindered my mood but relished in my thankfulness for those events that shone brighter than the sun.