Meditation: Round 2: Practice 1

I have begun the next round of seven sessions of Yoga Nidra Mindful Meditation with Corinne Peterson.
http://www.corinnepeterson.com/yoga-therapy/

It felt good to be back for the practice in what Corinne calls the "need to recharge." The session concentrated on the first 5 levels of the yoga practice (as pictured below) and lightly touched on the others.

My intention for the session was just to get back into the practice but also the word PEACE cropped up again.

My heartfelt desire is to be able to find a place where I can get away from yesterday, today, and tomorrow. To get away from myself, my responsibilities, my worries, my concerns. The ability to be in the NOW is so important and I want to be able to do that more often. The need to be at peace with myself and my life is so strong.

For at least one hour a week in Yoga Nidra, I can do just that, work on being able to do it more often on my own,  and as a bonus periodically get in touch with thoughts that I am not otherwise able hear because of all the noise in my head.

I revisited my Inner Resource, the place I have created in my mind where I feel secure, to which I can return at any time during the yoga practice or in my life when feeling over stressed, overwhelmed, or just in need of some peace and quiet.

I previously started out describing my Inner Resource as deep in a mature forest, with a clearing with dappled sunlight and flowers.

Then I added, just across a path, my tiny one room house just big enough for me to live, in my mind, comfortably and simply knowing how much is enough.

Next I added a rustic bench to the garden so I could sit and meditate and enjoy the flowers, the sunlight, and perhaps the mist dripping of the leaves during a rainstorm.

Later I added, about a block away at the edge of the forest, the ocean with waves that can be heard through the house's windows or while sitting in the garden.

Corinne suggested we give our internal resource a name so we can use it as a trigger to the inner peace and safety one feels there. I simply called it, "Peace."

This time while visiting my Inner Resource I added a few more things. First I decided that my RIP cats Mariah and Hoover and Broadway live there. When I visit I know they are asleep under the bed, or playing out in the forest, or whatever I want to imagine them doing.

Then I realized that my mother, the anniversary of her death coming up in less than a month, was there in the house with me. I decided that my "safe place" could also be a place where I could invite in and visit with family and friends who have died but whom I still hold in my heart.

It may feel a little strange to you, my looking forward to talking with the dead, but it makes me feel warm, and loved and will give me the ability to talk about things that I never had the chance to say while they were alive.

So I am well on my way to continued adventures with Yoga Nidra. I am also going to do a few sessions with Gregory which Corinne will tailor to his language abilities (if we can figure out where they lie) and see if he can benefit from just being in a quiet place with himself and no outside world expectations. As you can imagine, I will report back.

Finally I had to think about why I was posting my yoga experiences here on the Alzheimer's BLOG instead of my writer's BLOG. I guess Alzheimer's is such a large part of my life, as is Gregory such a large love of my life, that this was the best place for it.

Meditation: Class 8

The final class of this series got off to an ominous start. I have had a little cough tickle for the last three or four days but not a full flung anything. When I arrived at class I set up my "nest" with the bolsters, pillows, mats, etc and settled in for a long winter's "nap."

About ten minutes into the session, as Corinne was helping us settle in with her soothing voice, I had to cough. I suppressed and reached for a cough drop even though the room had quieted and people were beginning to enter the Yogi Nirdra "state." I suppressed again and realized I wan't going to make it. So I got up to leave the room and when I hit the hallway by the stairs, my cough exploded.

I proceeded down and around the corner and coughed, choked, hacked, all but vomited. Pretty huh? This behavior is not new so I was not worried but I hated to disturb the group and was feeling a little sad for myself at missing the last session.

A few minutes later, one of the group came to find me. She is a doctor and made my welfare part of her Yogi Nidra in making sure I was OK. I was moved by her action.

After a while my attack subsided and I went back upstairs and settled in just outside the classroom, laying on my back on the carpeted floor. I was surprised that I was able to get into a deep meditative state pretty quickly as I listened to Corinne talk about breathing, feeling the inhaled breath fill my entire body and the exhaled breath go out into the universe.

Then we arrived at the crux of this session, taking a deep look at our Heartfelt Desires (which we have looked at in various ways over the sessions.) This time we were to notice any emotions that were involved with our Heartfelt Desire. We shifted back and forth between the emotion and its opposite. Part of the purpose of this activity is to acknowledge that everything changes but that there is one essential thing that does not change and that is the Essential Self which is apart from Ego, being critical or judgmental of self, etc. I lovingly held both emotions in my arms and asked what they wanted me to know.

In my Heartfelt Desire, I once again looked towards my responsibilities as caregiver for Gregory. The emotions I alternated were Immense Sorrow and Great Joy.

The SORROW being our situation, the slow disintegration of Gregory, my loss of a friend and lover and life mate.

The JOY being what a good job I am doing of helping Gregory along his path, how happy and content he is, how good our life continues to be, and the many things I still enjoy doing with him as well as all of the creative life endeavors in which I continue to involve myself.

In relating to my Essential Self, I realized that both my SORROW and my JOY were the same ... LOVE! Love for Gregory and love for myself.

Next we looked for Beliefs that were supporting and Beliefs that were defeating the desires. Turns out my Critic is usually on full force telling me where I fall short of my goals, how I could be doing much better, what a failure I am.

At the same time my Essential Self is telling me that I am a wonderful, loving, creative caregiver, always doing my best even though I loose patience now and then and may not be as perfect as I would like.

As horrible as our situation is, the quality of our life and of my life is good. I continue to grow, to accomplish for myself and help keep Gregory's roller coaster of a life on the tracks.

I bring calm and love and order to both of us. There will ALWAYS be room for improvement and I am always seeking that. I am not as bad as my Critic would like me to believe.

Another awareness I have been working on is the ability to separate my Ego or Essential Nature from my Essential Self. I can almost FEEL who I am when my thoughts are quiet and I am not trying to label, identify, understand, interpret. Not totally sure what this means yet but wanted to mention it.

I am taking this class at the Heartwood Center in Evanston with Corinne Peterson.
http://www.corinnepeterson.com/yoga-therapy/

Meditation Class 7

Missed last week's class but will listen to the MP3 when I can. I had to struggle with the choice of "skipping" another week if only because of so much going on during the holiday season, I just didn't want to face the "work" of calming down enough to go through 40 or so minutes of intense mindful meditation.

But I went anyway and am glad I did. Even after missing a week, I was able to meditate deeply, although amid a whirlwind of competing images and thoughts. I was able to notice them, say "Not now," and tune back into Corinne's soothing guidance.

This week in my Nidra Yoga Meditation class we concentrated on beliefs. My intent was to focus on my weight. My heartfelt desire I labeled HEALTH. The idea is that my weight is at such a point that I am uncomfortable, do not like the way my clothes fit, do not like the way I look, find my energy lacking, sometimes have difficulty with being out of breath, tire easily, and generally do not feel that I am being as good to my body and HEALTH as I should be.

It is easy to slip into getting used to being where one currently is and coping with the existing conditions. They become internalized and become part of who you think are as opposed to what your true nature is. When you get used to the difficulties in moving around, bending, lifting, breathing, etc; you accept that as the norm.

Eventually one has spent so much time thinking that the norm is the truth that you need to spend at least that amount of time undoing the norm and rediscovering your truth and honestly, that feel hopeless. Easier to accept what is rather than change or revise.

So in our meditation, when Corinne asked us to look at our beliefs about our intent and heartfelt desire, I have to admit that my little voice said to me, "You really don't believe you can do this, do you?" And the honest answer was, "No, I don't! I know that I must take control of this situation, I know how to do so by eating well and exercising, I just don't believe that I can or will so it is easier just to have another cookie or piece of pizza."

Next week we will continue to look at beliefs as a way of bracketing the New Year. Kind of like my New Year's Resolution, stated in positive terms as though already realized:

I am healthy. I exercise regularly. I choose healthy foods and avoid sugar, white flour, and fried foods. I do not eat to "keep my child happy." I eat slowly and with relish and know when I have eaten enough. I am energetic and breath easily even on heavy tasks. My clothes fit well and I look good to myself in the mirror. I know I will never have the body of a 20 year old again but at least with my clothes on, I look good!

An interesting aside is that during the entire meditation Gregory did not exist. He was sitting downstairs reading a book, his companion had called in sick so I took him along, I knew he was busy and safe.

Upstairs I was meditating on issues that only had to do with ME! I thought of him once during the meditation but told myself he was OK and asked those thoughts to go away for now, which they did.

Often my heartfelt desires dealt with my being able to be patient with Gregory, and understanding, and successful as a caregiver etc. This was the first time I worked on only me, right from the beginning of the meditation.

Every now and then a "blessing" or "gift" arrives in your life. Corinne Peterson has been that for me. Arriving at just the time I needed to be able to find a peaceful place, outside my active and stressful days, away from the noise of my mind.

I had read a lot about the process and the need of meditation and I had thought I could just lock myself in the dark closet and "do it!" I never succeeded let along begun.

When Sarah McLaughlin, my massage therapist, introduced me to Corinne, my path was made clear. Thanks to both Sarah and Corinne for being part of my life.

I am taking this class at the Heartwood Center in Evanston with Corinne Peterson.
http://www.corinnepeterson.com/yoga-therapy/