I learned more and improved meditation techniques during my spiritual journey. At the end I had a breakthrough I hadn’t experienced in the 40 plus years I have been meditating. Teachers always say focus on your breathing. That never seemed to work well for me. It always led to increased breathing rates and not enough of the empty mind thing that is also taught. I was wondering about my breathing when I was drifting off to sleep a few nights ago. I have a few things I consciously think about before going to sleep. After that I tell my subconscious mind to take over. Lying there on my back I noted that my chest wasn’t heaving up and down like it does in the daytime. The only thing moving was my diaphragm. That’s when I thought let my diaphragm take over during meditation like it does at night while sleeping. Not thinking about my breathing leaves my mind clear for whatever may or may not be there. Another thing during meditation is to sit erect with shoulders back and spine straight as an arrow from one's backside to the crown of the head. That and diaphragmatic breathing has improved my meditation tremendously. I just found this quote below: “When practicing diaphragmatic breathing, the stomach, rather than the chest, moves with each breath, expanding while inhaling and contracting while exhaling. Deliberately paying attention to each breath serves to distract and quiet the mind.”
The practice of minimalism has been a wonderful experience for me. I enjoyed the practice immensely. My only issue now is after getting rid of all extras and duplicated items and anything I can’t replace for less than $20 in 20 minutes is over, but my enjoyment of the process leaves me wanting to do more.
The Mind.
Controlling the mind is a challenge like no other. I was having a problem trying to get my laptop to perform what should have been a simple task, but it would not do what I wanted. I got all worked up and frustrated. Then I went into my crazy mode. I had to bulldog through the problem and my elevated blood pressure with the situation. I finally figured out the solution. It was something I had known how to do before, but forgot how to do it this morning. The sad of it is that I don’t do that operation on a frequent basis, so I know the next time I want to do that task I’ll have forgotten how to do it. As I age, I forget things I used to do with ease.
I remember an old 1940s episode of the Sherlock Holmes radio series. Sherlock told Doctor Watson not to tell him anymore things because his brain was currently full and if Watson told him anything else he would have to forget something he already knew.” His brain was full at the moment. I’m no Sherlock, my Doctor Watson passed away 2.5 years ago, but I manage to forget so many things I once knew. I have a lot of things in my memory that are useless to me or to anything I want to do or to anybody else.
I need somsone who could put things back into my brain that are useful to me at this stage in my life. I keep thinking I’m 79 years old, why can’t I forget my age and have some free space to store something useful to me?
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