The Sights of OOMMMM!
Today as I lie on the beach I look around with a keen eye, trying to notice the things that may have become everyday occurrences to me but are still a bit on the absurd side of life. I take note as I watch a cow trying to stick its nose into the front gate of a restaurant on the beach behind me. A young girl runs from inside with a long stick and wacks the cow's rear, chasing him way down the beach away from her restaurant. She keeps hittting him and I think to myself, "OK, already." Well, as soon as he sees she is back in the restaurant, he turns around and starts walking back to the front gate. He pokes his head in again, she runs after him. This goes on for a while. Each time the cow begins his exit sooner and sooner, so as not to feel the whipping on his rear, until he finally gives up and continues down the beach in search of food. Cows can move pretty fast when they want to.
Later on I watch two birds floating way up high in the sky, almost undetectable if you weren't looking for them. I wonder what it would be like to do that, just to sail on the wind, not a care in the world. This is what we do when we practice Sivasana pose at the end of each yoga class. We try to leave behind the cares of the world and earthly things and ride the waves of our breath. Breathe in peace and light, breathe out stress and tension. Breathe in positive energy and creativity, breathe out heaviness and negativity. It works! Eventually you find yourself floating, just you and your breath. Nothing to do, no place to go, just being! Like a bird on the wind.
There are several cats that live at Nirvana, the guesthouse where I am staying on Om Beach. On two sides of the outdoor cafe there is a cement platform running the length of the cafe and the platform is covered with wicker mats and pillows. This is where the cats like to take their afternoon naps and people lie and read in the hottest part of the day. There are two kittens and three adult cats, mostly white with some dots of tan. I see two of the adults and one kitten in a corner, all tangled up, sleeping lazily against a pillow.
After I eat my lunch I sit on the other side, opposite the kitties, to read and relax. After a bit they are all awake and the mother cries out for her children, like ringing the lunch bell. The mother jumps up to where I am lying and plops down to feed. One kitten drinks while the other chases mom's tail from side to side. Soon they are both feasting, which is followed by cleaning, which is followed by playtime. It seems very scheduled, as if this is just the way it goes. I watch as the kittens pounce on each other, then on mom, then on my blanket. The kittens eventually disappear into the thick brush outside the cafe, mother calls out loud and sternly and they come running back.
Animals live out of pure instinct. Have you ever seen a regretful bird or a not so sure what I should do with my life dog? No! Because there is no question of it. They follow from within. We were like that once and through yoga we return to that essence, that knowingness. It's called intuition. Once we peel away the built-up tension, stress and conditioning, we begin to lighten. We begin to unfold again like a blossom opening to the sun. Our hearts are set free as we follow our inner guidance. Without concern for what others think, without having to look outside ourselves for the answers. Because everything we need is right inside if us and, through yoga, we unwrap it like a gift.
At the end of the beach here is a small area where people practice yoga and today there is a guy practicing with what looks like baton. I watch him for a while, throwing it up into the air, catching it behind his back, twirling it around his waist and under his leg and then throwing it into the air again. I meditated for a long time, then took a swim and when I looked back he was still there. He must have practiced for a good two hours. I thought about the concentration this must take. If his thoughts take him away for a even a second, he could get clobbered in the noggin! This takes a great amount of focus, which is basically what meditating is - merely focusing on something, usually the breath, and allowing the thoughts to float by without getting caught up in them. The thoughts will always be there because they are out of our control. But thinking about the thoughts is the mind spinning out of control. So you simply close your eyes, take a few long slow breaths in and out. And just watch your thoughts. That is meditating.
Now at first your thoughts may be difficult just to observe. You will feel like you are going to go crazy, like you have to move or do something. This is the ego trying to distract you from becoming peaceful, because that is the goal in meditation - peace of mind in mind. So we continue to keep bringing our attention back to our breath. To use the breath to keep the mind busy, to give it something to do, while we take in the benefits of meditation. The benefits come not during meditation, but in our everyday life. We become more relaxed, less reactive to things out of our control, more forgiving of ourselves and others.
By the way, the guy with the baton, it really wasn't really a baton - it was a fire stick. Both ends will be lit when he performs, and this is when focus and concentration are necessary. Those are the times in our lives when meditation helps us stay focused, when our lives are set on fire by something outside our control. We stay calm. We help others stay calm. We are able to put out the fires of our lives from a place of ease and focus.
Namaste!
Lynne
Later on I watch two birds floating way up high in the sky, almost undetectable if you weren't looking for them. I wonder what it would be like to do that, just to sail on the wind, not a care in the world. This is what we do when we practice Sivasana pose at the end of each yoga class. We try to leave behind the cares of the world and earthly things and ride the waves of our breath. Breathe in peace and light, breathe out stress and tension. Breathe in positive energy and creativity, breathe out heaviness and negativity. It works! Eventually you find yourself floating, just you and your breath. Nothing to do, no place to go, just being! Like a bird on the wind.
There are several cats that live at Nirvana, the guesthouse where I am staying on Om Beach. On two sides of the outdoor cafe there is a cement platform running the length of the cafe and the platform is covered with wicker mats and pillows. This is where the cats like to take their afternoon naps and people lie and read in the hottest part of the day. There are two kittens and three adult cats, mostly white with some dots of tan. I see two of the adults and one kitten in a corner, all tangled up, sleeping lazily against a pillow.
After I eat my lunch I sit on the other side, opposite the kitties, to read and relax. After a bit they are all awake and the mother cries out for her children, like ringing the lunch bell. The mother jumps up to where I am lying and plops down to feed. One kitten drinks while the other chases mom's tail from side to side. Soon they are both feasting, which is followed by cleaning, which is followed by playtime. It seems very scheduled, as if this is just the way it goes. I watch as the kittens pounce on each other, then on mom, then on my blanket. The kittens eventually disappear into the thick brush outside the cafe, mother calls out loud and sternly and they come running back.
Animals live out of pure instinct. Have you ever seen a regretful bird or a not so sure what I should do with my life dog? No! Because there is no question of it. They follow from within. We were like that once and through yoga we return to that essence, that knowingness. It's called intuition. Once we peel away the built-up tension, stress and conditioning, we begin to lighten. We begin to unfold again like a blossom opening to the sun. Our hearts are set free as we follow our inner guidance. Without concern for what others think, without having to look outside ourselves for the answers. Because everything we need is right inside if us and, through yoga, we unwrap it like a gift.
At the end of the beach here is a small area where people practice yoga and today there is a guy practicing with what looks like baton. I watch him for a while, throwing it up into the air, catching it behind his back, twirling it around his waist and under his leg and then throwing it into the air again. I meditated for a long time, then took a swim and when I looked back he was still there. He must have practiced for a good two hours. I thought about the concentration this must take. If his thoughts take him away for a even a second, he could get clobbered in the noggin! This takes a great amount of focus, which is basically what meditating is - merely focusing on something, usually the breath, and allowing the thoughts to float by without getting caught up in them. The thoughts will always be there because they are out of our control. But thinking about the thoughts is the mind spinning out of control. So you simply close your eyes, take a few long slow breaths in and out. And just watch your thoughts. That is meditating.
Now at first your thoughts may be difficult just to observe. You will feel like you are going to go crazy, like you have to move or do something. This is the ego trying to distract you from becoming peaceful, because that is the goal in meditation - peace of mind in mind. So we continue to keep bringing our attention back to our breath. To use the breath to keep the mind busy, to give it something to do, while we take in the benefits of meditation. The benefits come not during meditation, but in our everyday life. We become more relaxed, less reactive to things out of our control, more forgiving of ourselves and others.
By the way, the guy with the baton, it really wasn't really a baton - it was a fire stick. Both ends will be lit when he performs, and this is when focus and concentration are necessary. Those are the times in our lives when meditation helps us stay focused, when our lives are set on fire by something outside our control. We stay calm. We help others stay calm. We are able to put out the fires of our lives from a place of ease and focus.
Namaste!
Lynne
posted by Lynne | 12:26 AM
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