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Recliner chair meditation technique

BEG

Senior Member
Messages
1,032
Location
Southeast US
My sincere apologies if I am being redundant with this post. I haven't a clue where I came upon this.

After reading many posts, I am on sensory overload and emotionally drained. I siimply can't grasp the devastation this illness has done to so many lives. Here is a technique that I hope helps some find some peace and inner strength.

Recliner Chair Meditation Technique

Sit in a recliner chair with the bare soles of your feet pressed against each other and your legs relaxed, knees pointed out to the sides of the chair. You can drape a towel or blanket over your bare feet for warmth. The hands can be locked together, laying comfortably in your lap, or pressed against the center of the chest, one on top of the other, on the center of the emotional heart. Your eyes can be fully closed or left slightly open, letting in just two small slits of light. If your eyes are fully closed be sure to keep the room brightly lit so that some light passes through the eyelids. Total darkness will evoke dullness and sleep, not meditation.
Sit quietly for a period of between thirty minutes and one hour. While sitting, be gently aware of the breathing process felt at the belly. Feel your belly moving in and out slowly as you breathe. If you start to have distracting thoughts, simply bring your attention back to the belly and the process of breathing. Maintain alertness and do not let yourself drift into sleep.
This meditation can be done once, twice, or even three times a day. After practicing this method for some time you may become aware of what the Japanese call the 'hara.' No one really knows what the hara is, but it may be related to the enteric nervous system. The hara is felt just behind and slightly below the navel as an ethereal ball of energy. When your consciousness is centered at the hara instead of in the head, your thinking process slows down and can even stop. When the thinking process slows down you relax deeply and experience pleasing sensations of spaciousness and comfort. Trying to stop distracting thoughts with will power alone leads to even more thoughts and a self-defeating inner struggle. By transferring your center of awareness to the hara, thoughts gradually disappear on their own, without any inner conflict.

Hope it helps! :hug:
 
V

Vega

Guest
There's too much noise in my house and around my house for me to truly meditate. I find the best place to relax and possibly meditate is in the woods. There's this one place that I go to that I can't hear a single car or person. There's also a stream nearby that I can sit by and close my eyes and listen to the water curl over the rocks in the stream. It's very tranquil and a great place to relieve stress, re-energize and meditate.
 

jackie

Senior Member
Messages
591
Thank you, brown-eyed Girl! (just saw this thread) I was never very good at meditating (strange, as an aging "hippie"...we ALL meditated ALL the time when I was younger - but I let my head get in the way and always try too hard! even though I listen often to Pema Chodron's tapes on Tonglen Meditation I'm still pretty awful at it!))...but this method I think I can do! (and I happen to have several old recliners in different rooms...just in case I feel like collapsing!)

Interesting - the most "relaxed' I manage to feel is when I'm reclining in a fetal position and one of my little dogs curls up tight against my lower belly (hara?)...I've noticed that after a minute or two his breathing seems to regulate itself to match MINE!

If I concentrate on the sensation of our matched breathing in and out, I relax and begin to zone out!...until the dog starts SNORING, that is! Until then (or when he can't take the extreme heat my body generates), it's the most comforting experience for me (and I imagine for him, too)

(If one of the Poms isn't feeling well, I place him on my chest against my heart-beat...it always seems to help speed his recovery.)

Vega...I have an ocean nearby (two blocks below me) - but not close enough to get at anymore (when the wind is blowing just right and the ocean is wild and blustery with white-caps, I can sometimes hear waves crashing - but that's not the same as being close enough to SMELL the water.

(I sure wish I had some woods!)...this sounds so wonderful (I can picture those rocks with the water streaming over them)...I'm glad you have this retreat for yourself!

jackie
 

BEG

Senior Member
Messages
1,032
Location
Southeast US
Vega, oh yes, the woods. Nothing like it. Or maybe the waves crashing. So perfect, Jackie. I happen to be situated very closely in a triangle of busy roads, one of which is a four lane highway. Also, the airport isn't far, and we must be in a direct path to the runway. Therefore, I have a stack of restful music, and a portable CD player with a headset. Some of my favorite relaxation music:

HEAVENLY music for angels by Victoria's Secret
The Atmospheres Collection - Sampler
Lifescapes "Pure Relaxation"
Nature's Touch -- Stress Relief