Types of Meditation

Sure, if someone starts a new thread for our gatherings, I'll make sure to share ideas there.

How is everyone today?

I want to share this here, because I think what Jill Satterfield has to offer can be very useful for lots of us. It is a 3 hour workshop and I think it starts at 15 dollars as suggested rate. You get a link with life-long access.

Saturday 06 June, 3-6 pm BST / 4-7 pm CEST

When pushing through stops working - more info here

When we don't feel connected to the body – whether from illness, aging, pain, or simply falling short of what we think it should be – the first reaction is often blame.

We push through. We tell ourselves we should be handling this better. We reach for forced acceptance or brittle optimism, but neither quite works.

But what the body actually needs in these moments isn't optimism – it's honesty and care. How we meet reality changes everything.

Jill Satterfield has spent over three decades working at the intersection of somatic practice and Buddhist teaching – and she knows from the inside what it means to navigate a body in difficulty.

Next weekend, Jill invites you to a live Day of Practice exploring this territory: the body that isn't cooperating, the self-criticism that follows, and the different quality of loving self-care that becomes possible when we stop pushing through.

Yeah, and I think about Chibs that his meditations are always so very very much about kindness to ourselves. In relation to what Jill says about not forcing, but embracing our bodies (and thoughts, emotions, so on). It is one thing to know it, but there are only a few who really bring that to us effortlessly, don't you think?

Just this morning I spoke to a friend who didn't understand people pushing themselves to run (half a) marathon with this warm weather. There were lots of people being unwell or fainting as mentioned in the news. I agree with her, but with our demanding society… people have been working towards this for months or even a year, sharing it on IG. Why would they not run that competition? They presumably think all they have to do is put their minds to it. About forcing things… not sure if I am explaining this correctly. What I am trying to say is that often being wise is not doing something, despite being disappointed. But I don't think there is a lot of room for decisions like these in our current world. Pushing through seems to be proof of strength?

Ha @StarryEyed funny you mention being resilient. I've been pondering this (again) for days and I am not sure what to make of that or how to define it. As is how to find the right words to describe kindness. Somehow I am leaning towards a different description when it comes to kindness to myself or when related to others… hmmmm, food for thought.

About what I wrote on Monday and the heat and people not wanting to miss out on their competitive sports… the word I was looking for was willpower. Which is something I am also troubled by: if I only try it differently, a bit harder… we're pushing ourselves without often even being aware of it.

Mentioning awareness I think both paragraphs above are related in that way. For me personally, acceptance often feels solid or hard to grasp. I try to solve this by renaming it as 'being at peace with what is,' or simply move with it. But again… the willpower tells me to fight my difficult things that arise, for instance nervousness is a sign of weakness. How can I allow or even accept something like this? While of course I would never say that to any other human being struggling with exactly that.

Yup, like Monday I am in a philosophical mood :)

Any ideas or suggestions on any of these subjects? Anyone else?

Edit: I don't like the word resilient in the way when used as a demand or as a responsibility for an individual. Which is far removed from kindness and compassion. Like being a chronic, the world doesn't want to try that hard to support us. But perhaps then we're getting into another discussion all together?