I recently started doing massage at a place. I wouldn't call it a spa, it's someone else's business, they schedule the clients, and I show up to do the massages.
For many therapists, this is not the ideal situation - working when someone else wants you to, often with little to no breaks between clients, and not getting paid as much as you would if you were working for yourself. But I like not having to put any time into it when I'm not there, and so far it's working well.
Except for being exhausted.
It's taking a lot for my body to get used to doing this kind of work to this extent. What does this have to do with spirituality? A discovery I made.
Ascension is designed in such a way that you can use the techniques with your eyes open, or while you're doing activity. So I started using the Ascension techniques while doing massage. The techniques themselves are, in part, meant to bring us into a state of greater awareness. When you're doing basically the same massage routine for several people in a row, several days a week, it's easy to let your thoughts drift. But the techniques help me keep my thoughts from wandering too far off.
I often close my eyes while giving massage for similar reasons - it helps me focus on my sense of touch, so that I'm really feeling the muscles and the tissues beneath my fingertips. When I combine this with the Ascension techniques, I've found myself really sensing my clients' bodies' rhythms. It's almost as if the tissues themselves are telling me how fast (or slow) they want me to move and what would be most helpful to them.
As I do this, I tend to also get more in touch with my own body and how it wants to move to respond to the client's requests. I find I often move more like a Tai Chi practitioner, keeping my arms in closer to my body (so as not to stress joints by over-reaching) which also provides more stability in the massage techniques I'm using. I don't push my own body too hard when I am aware this way, so I find myself less exhausted and less sore after doing massages while using my meditation techniques.
Moving meditations often talk about moving with awareness and the value of really being grounded in our bodies. It amazes me how much of a difference it can make for my experience of giving a massage - I'm still using the same techniques and making basically the same movements - but the potential damage to my body and energy used is vastly different.
It's another one of those things that makes me really consider just how much our mental state, consciousness, and awareness can effect our health and experience of the world.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Why meditation is good for we twentysomethings
A little while back my friend Ryan showed me a blog by a guy named Ronnie Nurss, entitled "Why Gen-Y Should Practice Mediation."
Ronnie has some good points. It helps you focus, control your thoughts, etc. And, of course, all of the good things I listed in my last post.
But aside from the obvious, all the usual benefits and reasons why everyone should meditate, there are some good reasons why our generation specifically should consider meditation:
Generations X and Y (I'm never sure which one I really identify with more) have been raised in an incredibly technological, fast-paced era. We're used to watching TV while texting our friends and surfing the internet. We're great multitaskers, and can be incredibly efficient when we want to be. But it also means a lot of us have trouble slowing down. With all of the thoughts whirring through our heads, we lie awake at night because we can't stop thinking. Meditation helps us to slow that down (when we want to) and have more control over what we think about, when, and how much.
For example, consider a time in your life when something happened and stuck with you all day - someone was rude at the grocery store, a friend got mad at you over a misunderstanding, etc. - and it's all you were able to think about all day. You ruminate over it. Whatever the emotion tied to that interaction was, such as anger, sadness, or anxiety, it stays with you all day. Maybe it ruined a night out because you were thinking about it. Maybe you jumped on someone else because you were still angry about it. It's not a very easy way to go through life.
Another defining feature of our generation(s) is that we are stuff-oriented. We get a lot of joy out of having things. We all know that wanting things requires money, and a lot of stress gets created around earning the money to get the thing, or about getting the thing if it's in high demand. Not to mention all of the usual angst of being a young adult - feeling like we're not good enough, agonizing over relationships, not being sure of ourselves... Meditation helps us learn that fulfillment comes from within. It can help us achieve that fulfillment and recognition within ourselves. It helps us to become more balanced, even-keel people.
Ronnie has some good points. It helps you focus, control your thoughts, etc. And, of course, all of the good things I listed in my last post.
But aside from the obvious, all the usual benefits and reasons why everyone should meditate, there are some good reasons why our generation specifically should consider meditation:
Generations X and Y (I'm never sure which one I really identify with more) have been raised in an incredibly technological, fast-paced era. We're used to watching TV while texting our friends and surfing the internet. We're great multitaskers, and can be incredibly efficient when we want to be. But it also means a lot of us have trouble slowing down. With all of the thoughts whirring through our heads, we lie awake at night because we can't stop thinking. Meditation helps us to slow that down (when we want to) and have more control over what we think about, when, and how much.
For example, consider a time in your life when something happened and stuck with you all day - someone was rude at the grocery store, a friend got mad at you over a misunderstanding, etc. - and it's all you were able to think about all day. You ruminate over it. Whatever the emotion tied to that interaction was, such as anger, sadness, or anxiety, it stays with you all day. Maybe it ruined a night out because you were thinking about it. Maybe you jumped on someone else because you were still angry about it. It's not a very easy way to go through life.
When we meditate, we learn to control our thoughts so that we can leave those things behind and not be affected by them (at least, not as much) as we go through our day. So meditating can actually make you more efficient and increase your ability to deal with stress and other sorts of emotionally charged situations.
Another defining feature of our generation(s) is that we are stuff-oriented. We get a lot of joy out of having things. We all know that wanting things requires money, and a lot of stress gets created around earning the money to get the thing, or about getting the thing if it's in high demand. Not to mention all of the usual angst of being a young adult - feeling like we're not good enough, agonizing over relationships, not being sure of ourselves... Meditation helps us learn that fulfillment comes from within. It can help us achieve that fulfillment and recognition within ourselves. It helps us to become more balanced, even-keel people.
A lot of people our age don't sleep well. I don't have any facts to back that statement up, but anecdotal evidence from my peers supports it. I think it's because of the ruminating, the over-stimulation, and the fact that we have all the tech stuff to stay up and play with (think of the nights you've stayed up a little later than you should've chatting with a friend online, playing a game, or even just surfing facebook) that we don't sleep. Meditation helps with that, too - it slows the thoughts, helps calm us down and relax, and can easily guide us into a deep state of rest.
Meditation brings us into better alignment with our inner knowledge - our deepest self, intuition, and spirit. Many people in their twenties go through the "quarter life crisis" of not knowing what to do, where to live, or what will bring them joy. When we get quiet through meditation, we are more able to get in touch with the deepest part of ourselves that knows what will bring us the greatest fulfillment. Once we are able to connect with that inner knowingness, it becomes much easier to make decisions about our lives - to know what it is that we want to do, what kind of people we want to be with, and what will bring us the greatest joy.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Let me try to explain
...if I can. I often find myself trying to explain Ascension to my friends. I really find my practice useful, and I want to encourage people to learn about it, because I think it could help them. It helped me to stop being an insomniac and get off anxiety pills. So when I hear people talking about problems they're having, I want to tell them about it.
But describing the practice is difficult. I think Lyrea explained it best to me when she said we use techniques to get ourselves into a meditative state. So that's the basic part. But there's more to it than that. I just don't begin to know how to talk about it without it sounding New-Agey or esoteric.
So instead of describing it, here's a list of the things I like about it:
- it's easy
- it can be done anywhere, any time, sitting with eyes closed or with them open while you're having a conversation with someone or while you're running or whenever.
- You don't have to sit any particular way; you can lie down if that's easier.
- If you sometimes fall asleep doing it, that's totally allowed. In fact, that's how I get to sleep so quickly at night.
- It helps the body to heal physical issues as well as emotional or psychological ones.
- It greatly reduces stress.
- It's gentle, unlike some kinds of energetic/psychological healing.
- Everyone goes at their own speed, and goes through the whole process in their own way.
Yeah. I encourage people to read Lyrea's description of it. If you're interested in learning more, going to an introductory session is a great way to do that. She talks and answers questions. I'm hosting one on Sunday evening for friends; I'm sure I'll have some things to post about after that. (and probably before. :))
But describing the practice is difficult. I think Lyrea explained it best to me when she said we use techniques to get ourselves into a meditative state. So that's the basic part. But there's more to it than that. I just don't begin to know how to talk about it without it sounding New-Agey or esoteric.
So instead of describing it, here's a list of the things I like about it:
- it's easy
- it can be done anywhere, any time, sitting with eyes closed or with them open while you're having a conversation with someone or while you're running or whenever.
- You don't have to sit any particular way; you can lie down if that's easier.
- If you sometimes fall asleep doing it, that's totally allowed. In fact, that's how I get to sleep so quickly at night.
- It helps the body to heal physical issues as well as emotional or psychological ones.
- It greatly reduces stress.
- It's gentle, unlike some kinds of energetic/psychological healing.
- Everyone goes at their own speed, and goes through the whole process in their own way.
Yeah. I encourage people to read Lyrea's description of it. If you're interested in learning more, going to an introductory session is a great way to do that. She talks and answers questions. I'm hosting one on Sunday evening for friends; I'm sure I'll have some things to post about after that. (and probably before. :))
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