Mindfulness Meditation in a Nutshell

Mindfulness Meditation is actually quite simple. Mostly what it needs is just practice. The practice of mediation. A meditation practice. Sounds like a Gertrude Stein poem.

Its really useful to make up your mind to have a daily practice at the same time of day every day for a set time. Even better is to have a meditation room, or corner, or chair, and to meditate daily in the same location. That way every time you notice the chair it will beckon you, and more important you will develop a kind of meditation "energy" there, just like the feeling you get when you enter a sacred space like an old growth forest or a catherdral.

Deciding to pay attention to your breath sensations is a kind of Mindfulness. Deciding to be consciously aware of anything is mindfulness, but its best to start with the in and out breath.

First take a moment and be aware of your whole body in this moment in time and space. Feel the sensations on your skin: where you are in contact with your clothing, with the chair you are in, even the air on the exposed parts, like your face and hands. Take a moment in feel the pit of your stomach. Is it tight or relaxed? What does your chest feel like? Right in the center where we feel emotion, is it full or empty? heavy or light? Like a stone or like a cloud? Take note of your jaw. Tense or loose? This should all be about 5 minutes.

Next locate your breath sensations. Pay attention to where you feel your breath coming in and going out. Probably you feel it in your nose, throat, chest and stomach. The stomach expands and collapses on the in and out. The chest rises and falls. The air passes in through the nostrils and out through the nostrils and across the mustache area.

Be alert to the quality of the breath sensations. See if you can notice how the air is warm in your nose and across your mustache on the out breath, but cool on the out breath. Notice if your breath is relaxed or tense, hurried or slow, smooth or rough. Probably it will gradually become more relaxed, slow, and smooth, and over time you may very, very gently guide it in that direction.

Notice, that over time, and with practice, you become more and more absorbed in the breath, and that you feel nourished by it. This is very valuable, as we often nourish ourselves by things that are not productive, like the negative words of other people, for example. We exhaust ourselves with our constant mental chatter. What a relief not having to think is.
Stillness, calm, silence, equanimity.

Tension. As we concentrate we may have the habit of tensing up. This is not necessary or helpful. Be alert for this, and if you notice it happening, spread the breath energy out from its natural locations to unnatural ones. What I mean is, have a sense of your whole body in space while paying attention to the breath, rather than focusing just on the lungs and nostrils.

You can even be creative and pay attention to the sensations in you navel or solar plexus or chest or back of the neck while maintaining awareness of the breath.

Sleepiness. Our brain tends to associate relaxation with sleep. So if you notice your mental field lacking focus, or that you are getting drowsy, "sharpen" your awareness-- pay closer attention to the qualities of the breath and locating them exactly. Pay attention to the first second of the in breath and follow it closely to the end, then reestablish contact with the first moment of the out breath and follow it to the end and keep on going.

Creativity. In fact, it is very useful to be creative in your meditation practice. Meaning, as you progress you don't have to do the same thing ever time. Some days you may be strict in following the breath sensation exactly where they naturally occur. Other days it will feel as if your whole body is breathing in and out. That is actually quite great. You want to become really immersed in the breath.

Distractions. Distractions are natural and bound to occur. This moment you become aware that you are lost in a distraction, simply return to the breath. Neither hold on to nor push away the distraction, just move slowly and gently, without judgment, with kindheartedness, to the breath. Over and over and over again. Each time. Just get back on the bike.

What are distractions? Once you decide to sit and pay attention to a single thing your mind will wander. It will be distracted by thoughts, memories, ideas, feelings, sensation, sounds, smells, tastes, urges. You are on the breath and suddenly you realize you are listening to the leaf blower. Maybe you hate leaf blowers, so you start to feel tense in your shoulders and think, "gosh, i hate those things." Maybe you feel angry at the noise and air pollution from them. Maybe you had an argument with your deceased parent once about them and you feel sad, and your back aches. Maybe your knees hurt. These are all distractions. In the beginning, as soon as you notice you have lost the desired object of your awareness, the breath, just return to it, softly and gently.

If you feel the distraction exerting a power over you, you can very gently note or name the distraction. This has a kind of magical property--by acknowledging the distraction it weakens a bit and allows us to return. It weakens its hold because we have brought it out into the open space of the conscious mind.

For example: you heard the leaf blower and was tense and angry and had a thought about it, you could note: "hearing, thinking, tight, angry, " Or you have burning ache your knees, you would note: "burning" "aching". You had a visual day dream/memory that left you with a sad feeling, "seeing, sadness." Maybe with that one you notice a sinking sensation in the chest, you could note that. "Sinking" And then return to the breath. Don't get lost in the noting process, just use it as a tool if you need to, to loosen the hold of distractions and bring things out into the open.

With physical sensations, try to softly note their quality, just as we notice the qualities of the breath. If its pain, what kind? Burning, aching, sharp, dull.
Notice the aversion you may feel to the physical discomfort, and notice how aversion has both a nervous system aspect and an emotive one.

Over time you will learn how to work with the distractions themselves. You hear birds, its pleasant, you know that it is pleasant, you can absorb yourself in that pleasantry, while noticing the sensations of attraction to pleasant absorption with awareness. Use the awareness of your breath sensations as the ground for this alert experience.

You hear a leaf blower, it is unpleasant, pay attention to the aversion you feel, the tension it provokes, the mental chatter or stories it produces. You are softly, gently, kindly, alert to your tension and anger, to your stories and thoughts, and over time they soften and weaken and become less important, kind of like the doppler effect. Thinking, thinking, thinking, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, .......
gradually silence. What a relief to not have to think.

There are no taboos, per se. Meaning, if, while meditating you are lost in an awful daydream, there is no need to hate your self for it, to beat yourself up. Its just thinking, a process, not a fixed thing. Obviously you need to have a moral code and not be unaware of that. If you have a problem, do go to a therapist, or exam yourself. But every sinner has a future, and every saint has a past.

So, note the process, "thinking", and note any sensations and feelings associated with the thinking process, whether joy or hatred, anger or love, nausea or elation, disgust or admiration. By so doing the thing, the daydream, what's underneath the daydream, your angers and fears, your human issues, get weakened, the attachments don't hold so well. You were wronged. You did wrong. The gunk underneath begins to soften, especially as you are nourished over and over again by the absorption in the breath energy.

The starting point is turning on the lamp of awareness, making the decision to begin seeing things as they are. That is one of the processes of Vippassana practice, from Theravada Buddhism, of which Mindfulness is one practice.

May all beings find True Happiness.

----------------------------------------------------------------
With gratitude to my teachers:

Much of what is useful in this essay comes from my studies with a monk name Thanissarro Bhikku who lives in the Metta Monastery in Escondido, California.
He is in the tradition of the Thai Forest Monastics. They have a website.

I have also learned alot from my study with Joseph Goldstein of the Insight Meditation Centers. They also have websites.

Other stuff comes from Stephen Levine, who wrote "Who Dies?" I don't know who his teachers were.


This is not copyrighted. No permission is needed to reprint. Thank you.


Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Fibroids, Heavy Bleeding, PMS and Bloating

Chinese Medicine excels at the all-natural treatment of Woman's Health. Here is a verbatim email recently from a patient of mine, T., who suffers from fibroids, heavy bleeding, and PMS.

Hey E!

Amazing.... I awoke with my period this morning and had no idea it was coming! No swelling/bloating, no growth of the fibroids with the hormone flow, no irritability, no cramps or back ache! Just a slow, deep deep brick red flow right now! TCM and herbs.............wow! Im always so damn impressed!...

T's previous visit she was having such heavy bleeding on Day 2 of her period she had to stay home and change her pad every hour. I had her come in that afternoon and I did direct thread moxa (see Loraine Wilcox's Moxabustion page on FB for more details on what Moxa is http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/photo.php?pid=3432456&id=127985768455)on the famous point Yin Bai(Spleen 1), at the corner of the toe nail of the big toes, 3 x on each foot. This is a treatment for any kind of abnormal bleeding due to "Spleen Vacuity," which is a technical term in Chinese Medicine, used to describe a set group of biological patterns.

I learned the power of this therapy during my years as an apprentice when we did it on a women who was literally bleeding on the table, and by the end of the treatment had stooped.

By that evening T's bleeding had slowed down to normal, and by the next day was starting to end. The above email was the next thing i heard, and i thought i should it with you




Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Ten Day Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse

Here is a Ten Day Ayurvedic Detox Elimination Diet I first described for use in Spring, when it is desirable to melt some of the Ama (Toxins) and Kapha dosha that build up naturally in winter. But, this is safe enough to also use in Winter, especially after the holidays, when many folk have overdone alcohol, sugar, meat, and food in general.

This is a cleansing diet that makes radical purgative type cleanses unnecessary, in fact, it could really serve as the basis for anyone's long term healthy diet.

From Ayurveda's perspective the use of purgative cleanses involving herbs like cascarda sagarda, senna, and rhubarb are actually harmful, as they damage the Agni/Digestive Fire that is at the root of healthful digestion.

They are sort of like the old STP engine additive; if you need them don't use them, and if you don't need them don't use them. Meaning, if the engine is broken fix it. If its not broken, don't pour something in it it does not need.

On the other hand, strong fasting, with no food at all, is also considered weakening for about 2/3rds of people. Only Kapha Pitta's really can manage that. For the rest of us, partial fasting is much healthier; you get the benefit of restricted diet, without weakening yourself.

This cleanse is almost a partial fast. More exact partial fasting involves shorter periods of time, taking only liquids, or only rice and yogurt with spices, or taking only kitcharee. More on that in the article Ayurveda on Fasting

The starting point for this cleanse is "No Sugar No Wheat No Dairy No Meat"

Cleansing diets are usually part of mental cleanses. I recommend a diet like this be accompanied by a commitment to some kind of renewed meditative process, maybe observe silence for a day or two on the weekend, observe a fast from the computer, from t.v., from electronic media altogether.

Good Luck and write if you have questions,

Eyton Shalom

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A fast way to reduce Kapha and Ama and engender Agni is to do a ten day elimination diet when Spring wildflowers are in bloom. This will vary according to locale. This is a good guide for anyone to follow in a loose form throughout Spring, or anytime they need to detoxify, such as after the Winter Holidays. Please modify according to your dosha.

Note: This Should Be Modified to Suit Your Individual Dosha and Level of Wellness. Please contact me or another Ayurvedic practitioner for details, and do not do if you are ill or weak.

************************************************************************

--No sugar, no wheat, no dairy, no meat, except for diluted spiced unsweetened yogurt or kefir.
--No caffeine, alcohol, or tobacco.
--Only 1-2 serving of fruit a day, but no melons or bananas. No fruit juice.
--Limit sweetener to very small amount of honey per day.
--Lots of lightly cooked green leafy vegetables like kale, dandelion, etc.
--Lots of lightly cooked cruciferous vegetables like brocoli, cauliflower, etc.
--Small amounts of starchy veggies like yam, butternut squash, etc.
--Dark green salad greens, according to your digestive fire.
--Very little raw foods depending on dosha
--Small amounts of sea vegetables like kelp, nori, wakame, arame.
--Whole cooked rice, millet, barley, quinoa, amaranth, teff
--Small amounts of seeds and nuts.
--Legumes, beans, tofu, tempeh depending on your dosha
--Small amounts of fish if you need extra protein.
--Drink one cup of ginger tea each day.
--Plenty of fresh and dried ginger, in cooking
--Normal use of other culinary spices and churnas appropriate to your Dosha
like cumin, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, black and white pepper.
---Minimize salty and sour condiments,
except cultured foods, like miso, raw sauerkraut, kim-chee, and sea veggies
--Drink Dosha pacifying teas during the day like ProVata from Ayush
--Take Triphala, Neem, or Guggal depending on your Dosha or Condition

copyright eyton j. shalom san diego ca jan 2010 all rights reserved use with permission

Warming Baked Root and Squash Stew: Vegan or Not

One of the things we look at in Chinese Dietary Therapy is, what are the effects of particular cooking styles on the "energetic" quality of the food; here energy refers to the warming characteristics of the dish.

Whereas steaming and quick boiling are mild, and introduce the least amount of heat energy by cooking, and therefore are excellent for spring and summer vegetables and for folk with heat disorders like eczema, baking is a nice way to bring heat energy deep into the foodstuffs, and is excellent for people who are cold and weak, cold and damp, or for most of us in the cold seasons.

The "hottest" cooking method is deep frying, and winter is the time when I allow myself small amounts of deep fried food like falafel...in fact home-made falafel, with its wonderful mixture of spices and onions, has become a New Year's tradition somehow.)

Here's a nice dish that combines the grounding qualities of parsnip and hard squash, with the nourishing effects of beans and meat or tofu. It features prunes and raisins that help keep the intestines moving in the cold weather, and mild spices that balance the sweet taste of the squash, sweet potatoe, and dried fruits.

In Ayurvedic terms this dish strongly pacifies Vata, due to its overall sweet flavor and warm moistening qualities. It is not a bad dish for either Pitta or Kapha, since it is not extreme in any one direction, and the beans pacify Kapha, and Pitta is balanced by the sweet taste.

With unbalanced Pitta, just drop the pepper.
With unbalanced Kapha, use more beans and less meat.
With unbalanced Vatta, don't use tofu.



Baked Root and Squash Stew

Ingredients:

* Butternut Squash, 1 small
* Parsnip, 1
* Sweet Potato, 1
* Kidney beans, cooked, 4 ounces
* Ground beef or Lamb or cubed Tofu or Tempeh, 8 ounces
* Yellow raisins, 2 tablespoons
* Turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon
* Allspice, 2 tablespoons
* Bay leaves, 5
* White pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
* Salt, 1 tablespoon or to taste
* 1 medium to large brown onion, sliced
* Prune juice, 3 oz or 4 to 5 prunes
* Olive oil for sauteing onions 2-3 tbsp
* Water, 3/5 cup

Directions:

1. Peel and chop Squash, Parsnip, and Sweet Potato into large chunks and set aside.
2. Saute onions in oil until slightly brown.
3. Add crushed Tofu, Tempeh, or ground beef.
4. Saute until meat or tofu is browned.
5. Add powdered spices and salt and keep stirring for 3 minutes on very low heat to bring out the fragrance of the spices.
6. Add chopped vegetables, prunes or prune juice, raisins, and water, and stir for a few minutes.
7. Place in covered baking dish, and place in pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 35 minutes, or cook on stove top on simmer in heavy pan with lid for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Serve with a cooked grain such as rice, millet, barley, or quinoa.

Copyright eyton shalom, san diego, ca 2009 December, all rights reserved, use with permission.


Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Beet Root and Daikon Winter Rice Pullao

Winter makes me want to cook, and brings out my love of warming spices.
Today I wanted rice and vegetables, and all I had in the house was a large red beet-root, and a daikon radish. So I made Beetroot and Radish Pulao, a really simple and delicious dish.

Vegetables are both medicine and food. Each and every vegetable has some kind of medicinal property, from anti-oxidant to digestive to just the value of the fiber content.

Daikon is famous in Japan for its properties as a digestive, especially raw. Beets are high in anti-oxidants.

One of the things my Indian mothers and grandmothers have taught me about mixing vegetables with rice or lentils is not to overdo it. A dish should have a particular look, and part of the aesthetic here is to complement the rice, rather than overwhelm it.

Please keep that in mind when adding vegetables like beans, peas, carrots, daikon, etc to a rice dish. I don't use measuring cups, but I would estimate that in the end there are two to three parts rice for each part veggie.

The other thing is that Indians, especially South Indians, like to chop their veggies into small bits so that they blend well with the rice. I am a bit lazy, so I don't tend to go as small as they do, but I still cut the beet and daikon into roughly 1/2 inch chunks, some a bit larger some a bit smaller. Another issue is that if you don't cut them small enough in dish like this they won't cook through by the time the rice is done.

The other two ingredients are Cinnamon bark, and Cumin seed. I like to use the dark brown rough cinnamon stick/bark from the Indian market for a dish like this, though you could use cinnamon powder. I am pretty sure what I am using is actually Cassia, not actual Cinnamon. (please see note at bottom).This dark stuff has a more intense flavor/aroma that holds up better with spices and veggies. It is different from the lighter colored smooth cinnamon you see around, which has a more subtle light flavor and aroma, great in hot cocoa. Either way both are sweet, warming, and promotes digestion.

Cumin is of course a famous digestive spice and goes so well with rice. It's a bit "sharp" or rough, so it balances well the sweetness of the cinnamon and beet.

This dish ends up being a lovely Red colored rice from the beets. The smell of cinnamon will fill your kitchen and it was shocking just how good the cinnamon was with the beet. I guess it makes sense since beets are sweet and cinnamon goes well in sweets. Along with the cumin it keeps the beets from being cloying. And beets are a bit spicy too, not just sweet. (Just try drinking plain beet juice to see) It's wonderful with a side dish of beans or green veggies. I had mine with Fava beans and Fenugreek Leaf Subji. and some Plain Yogurt on the side, Indian style.

Ingredients

White Basmati Rice around a cup
Water 2 and 1/2 cups or more
Cinnamon Bark around 4 pieces, around an inch long
Cumin Seed 1-2 tsp
Beet root chunks around 1/2 cup, maybe more.
Daikon radish chunks around 1/2 cup.

Recipe

Wash the rice well. (Until the wash water runs clear) Boil water. Add all the ingredients at once. Bring to a boil, cover, and lower the flame to low-medium.
I find the larger the pot I use, relative to the rice, the more fluffy the result. Pretty simple, huh?

This is a real simple home dish. No fat. No salt. (There was salt in the side dish, but when I had the left-over by itself I added a little good sea salt).

If you want to make this for guests you could sauté the spices with some onion in ghee, to bring out the flavor of the spices more.
Namaskaram and Bon Appetit!

Ayurveda/Dosha

This is a pretty Tridoshic dish, meaning it will not aggravate any of the doshas.

Vata It is certainly a Vata pacifying dish with the warm sweet spice, sweetness of rice and sweet and warm vegetables.

Pitta It could also pacify pitta as there is nothing hot here and Pitta benefits from its sweet taste. A pitta in an aggravated state might want to avoid the daikon, however, and add some cooling Cilantro on top or cooked in.

Kapha: The only issue here for Kaphas is to not overeat. Too much rice and too much sweetness aggravates the already sweet earthy watery Kapha. Though the dish is slightly sweet it is also slightly spicy, balanced by the pungency of the beet and daikon, and daikon in particular pacifies Kapha, so Kapha can enjoy it in moderation, and might want to add some black pepper. A Kapha might also cook this dish with less rice and the addition of some kidney or green beans. Good weight loss strategy, too.

Warning: It seems Cassia is high in natural Coumarin, which is a blood thinner. While small amounts could be good for some of us, if you are on blood thinning drugs, like Coumarin, please use real cinnamon, which comes from Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

Obviously, no one should eat large amounts of Cassia, but who could?

copyright eyton shalom, december 2009 all rights reserved, reprint with permission.



















Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Synthetic Estrogens in Plastic Food Containers and Canned Foods

From a recent article in the NY Times, by Nicholas Kristoff, about the Synthethic Estrogens from plastic that are found in 92% of American Bodies (one wonders what the other 8% are doing to avoid them?), and about the probable effects they have on the Endocrince System---the all-important glands in the body that tell everything else what to do.

This is why I drink my filtered water out of Glass, Not Plastic.
This is why I store left-overs (for not more than 24 hours) in Glass or Stainless Steel; Not Plastic.
This is why I do not buy canned foodstuffs (they line the cans with this plastic).

Its more work to cook beans from scratch, but its obviously worth it. Crock pot.
As we know, modern convenience is not always cost or time efficient, if you count time spent on being ill from the effects of modern convenience, ya know, small trifles, like breast and prostate cancer.

Here is the article:

"Your body is probably home to a chemical called bisphenol A, or BPA. It’s a synthetic estrogen that United States factories now use in everything from plastics to epoxies — to the tune of six pounds per American per year. That’s a lot of estrogen.

More than 92 percent of Americans have BPA in their urine, and scientists have linked it — though not conclusively — to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike.
Now it turns out it’s in our food.

Consumer Reports magazine tested an array of brand-name canned foods for a report in its December issue and found BPA in almost all of them.

The magazine says that relatively high levels turned up, for example, in Progresso vegetable soup, Campbell’s condensed chicken noodle soup, and Del Monte Blue Lake cut green beans.

The magazine also says it found BPA in the canned liquid version of Similac Advance infant formula (but not in the powdered version) and in canned Nestlé Juicy Juice (but not in the juice boxes). The BPA in the food probably came from an interior coating used in many cans.
Should we be alarmed?

The chemical industry doesn’t think so. Steven Hentges of the American Chemistry Council dismissed the testing, noting that Americans absorb quantities of BPA at levels that government regulators have found to be safe. Mr. Hentges also pointed to a new study indicating that BPA exposure did not cause abnormalities in the reproductive health of rats.

But more than 200 other studies have shown links between low doses of BPA and adverse health effects, according to the Breast Cancer Fund, which is trying to ban the chemical from food and beverage containers.

“The vast majority of independent scientists — those not working for industry — are concerned about early-life low-dose exposures to BPA,”

said Janet Gray, a Vassar College professor who is science adviser to the Breast Cancer Fund.

Published journal articles have found that BPA given to pregnant rats or mice can cause malformed genitals in their offspring, as well as reduced sperm count among males.

For example, a European journal found that male mice exposed to BPA were less likely to make females pregnant, and the Journal of Occupational Health found that male rats administered BPA had less sperm production and lower testicular weight.
This year, the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that pregnant mice exposed to BPA had babies with abnormalities in the cervix, uterus and vagina. Reproductive Toxicology found that even low-level exposure to BPA led to the mouse equivalent of early puberty for females. And an array of animal studies link prenatal BPA exposure to breast cancer and prostate cancer.

While most of the studies are on animals, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported last year that humans with higher levels of BPA in their blood have “an increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities.” Another published study found that women with higher levels of BPA in their blood had more miscarriages.

Scholars have noted some increasing reports of boys born with malformed genitals, girls who begin puberty at age 6 or 8 or even earlier, breast cancer in women and men alike, and declining sperm counts among men. The Endocrine Society, an association of endocrinologists, warned this year that these kinds of abnormalities may be a consequence of the rise of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and it specifically called on regulators to re-evaluate BPA.

Last year, Canada became the first country to conclude that BPA can be hazardous to humans, and Massachusetts issued a public health advisory in August warning against any exposure to BPA by pregnant or breast-feeding women or by children under the age of 2.

The Food and Drug Administration, which in the past has relied largely on industry studies — and has generally been asleep at the wheel — is studying the issue again. Bills are also pending in Congress to ban BPA from food and beverage containers.
“When you have 92 percent of the American population exposed to a chemical, this is not one where you want to be wrong,” said Dr. Ted Schettler of the Science and Environmental Health Network. “Are we going to quibble over individual rodent studies, or are we going to act?”

While the evidence isn’t conclusive, it justifies precautions. In my family, we’re cutting down on the use of those plastic containers that contain BPA to store or microwave food, and I’m drinking water out of a metal bottle now. In my reporting around the world, I’ve come to terms with the threats from warlords, bandits and tarantulas. But endocrine disrupting chemicals — they give me the willies.



Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

November Mindfulness Seminar @Radiance Yoga Center

Mindfulness Meditation Seminar
at
Radiance Yoga Studio


• Experience Profound Inner Peace
• Lighten Your Reactions to Stress
• Reduce Pain and Prevent Disease
• Become Present With Yourself and Others

When: November 14, 21, December 5, 12 from 2:30 to 4:00 P.M.
Where: Radiance Yoga and Exercise Studio 1618 West Lewis St. San Diego, 92103
Fee: $75 if paid by Nov 10; $90 afterwards. By Check to Radiance Yoga Above Address; MC/Visa Call 619/299-1443

More Info: 619/296-7591 or info@bodymindwellnesscenter.com Limited Seating, Please Register Early

www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com, www.radyoga.com

About the Instructor: Eyton Shalom, M.S., L.Ac. was initiated into Kriya Kundalini Yoga at the age of 17 by Yogi Ramaiah of Tamil Nadu, India. He went on to lead Kriya Yoga centers in India, Sri Lanka, and the U.S. during the 1970's and 80's. In 1988 he graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of California and went on to study Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, graduating with an M.S. from Pacific College in 1992. He began his practice of Mindfulness Meditation and Vipassanna in 1992, studying with Thich Nhat Hanh, Joseph Goldstein, S.N. Goenka, and Thanissaro Bhikku.

Vipassana means, "seeing things as they really are." Its core is Mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is the main tool for developing Insight and Awareness in Vipassana, which has been popularized in the West by such books as "The Power of Now."

This class is completely non-sectarian, and also fun. It is perfect for the person who wants to learn to meditate minus the dogma of some religious centers that teach meditation. This is an excellent intro for anyone whose aim is to do an extended retreat. Eyton is a lively and colorful teacher who can break it down to the small steps needed to ride the bike of the mind. Welcome!















Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta Practice)

Metta Meditation: Meditation on Loving Kindness

It is hard for most of us to be in a continuous state of loving kindness towards other living things. It is not easy. We get disappointed, we disappoint; others are angry at us, we are angry at them; people don't understand us, we don't understand them; they hurt us, we hurt them.

In a book called the Dhamma Pada, Gauthama Buddha has this to say

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts:
If a person speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. If a person speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.

Loving Kindness meditation is one of the foundations of Vipassana (Seeing Things As They Are) or Insight Practice in Buddhism. It is a companion to the sitting, walking, and doing mindfulness practices, and like them, has as its foundation, the mindfulness of the in and out breath.

It is not easy to have loving kindness always, even to the ones we love, let alone to people we have aversion to, those we dislike mildly, or those we really dislike strongly, especially to those we feel have wronged us. It certainly may seem paradoxical or nonsensical to wish loving kindness to people who appear evil: criminals, murderers, mass murderers. In Buddhism we say those people are ignorant. They lack true happiness. The kind of happiness that takes nothing away from anyone else's happiness. If they had that--true happiness, and wisdom, they would not commit crimes against the living. So we lose nothing by wishing that for them. What we gain is a softening of our own bitter hardness, a lightening of our own hot burning, of the weights the pull down our hearts and minds, a relief from the kind of feelings that make us ill, feelings that are not useful or necessary.

Let's keep it simple. At my and your level it's simply true that we just make ourselves sick with our feelings of aversion, our resentments, grudges, balance sheets, dislikes, hatreds, meanness, spite.
(We can make ourselves sick with our likes, too, of course, too much delicious food, etc.)

Our feelings of aversion, our holding of hatred and grudges is a huge weight that pulls us down, that preoccupies us, that even leads us to shoot ourselves in the foot by being unable to interact wisely with difficult people in our lives, from our own siblings or parents to the boss we dislike, to coworkers, etc.

In our sitting practice, whether practicing noting, or choice less awareness, whether working with mindfulness of sensations, emotions, or thoughts, our foundation, ground, stability comes from awareness of the breath, the "mindfulness of the in and out breath."

It is the stability and comfort we gain from this practice that enables us to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, whether that be unpleasant physical sensations; unpleasant emotional states; or any of the other infinite things we are capable of being averse to, of struggling against. That includes thoughts and memories revolving around people we have unpleasant pasts, unpleasant presents, and potentially unpleasant futures with. It could be your older sister, or it could just be the guy who cut you off on the road while giving you a vulgur gesture.

Let's pose a question. The last example. The guy who cut you off and gave you the finger. Does anyone think he is not suffering? If he were happy and without fear would he have done that? One of our Rabbis said, "let he who is innocent, cast the first stone." Cannot other people be different or wrong, when we ourselves are different and so often wrong?

So we lose nothing by intending him good will and loving kindness, and at the same time our heart is lightened, and our capacity for letting go of these feelings of aversion is expanded.

A man in a truck yelled at me when he saw that I rolled through a stop sign on my bicycle. It was a tiny street. There were no cars. I did not feel like braking fully. But he saw me, and it affected him enough to yell at me. Who knows why? Maybe he wanted to protect me from myself. Maybe it upset his sense of order. Maybe that created fear for him. Maybe he is a control freak. Why is anyone a control freak? Attempts to control the others is usually a result of fear, some attempt to prevent the thing the controller is averse to. An attempt to avoid suffering. An unwise attempt, usually, that just creates more suffering, for oneself and now others.

So when the controller learns to be present with the discomfort that lack of control gives, then he does not need to shout things at strangers. When the stranger can stop and think, sincerely or not, "may you be happy, may you be safe, may you be healthy..." then he sets the wheel turning that stops the hatred and fighting.

I was able to do that that day, because I had meditated, was feeling peaceful, and so was able to see beyond the pinched muscles of anger on that guy's face, and consider other possibilities. That's what this is about, opening up what is closed. Practicing love is very practical in that creates space for other possibilities, for a thousand shades of grey, rather than just black and white.

Here is how the practice works.

Sitting Loving Kindness Meditation

Its this simple:

1) Begin your mindfulness of the in and out breath. Gently close your eyes. Get comfortable. Feel your whole body breathing in and out. In your nostrils, your lungs, your belly, your skin. What your breathing feels like.

2) After a while, thinking of yourself, repeat--softly, gently, lightly, with real meaning, "May I Be Happy, May I Be Healthy, May I Be Safe, May I Be Peaceful."

3) Try that on for size, being mindful of your reactions as you repeat these words. Are there any physical sensations, resistance? Do you feel embarassed? selfish? See what it feels like to cultivate good will and love to yourself.
See what it feels like to let go of self hatred and criticism. So much holding. Have mercy on you. It may be healing for some of us. May it be healing for some of us.

4) After doing this for a while, one day, one week, try thinking of someone you love, your child, spouse, dog, friend,
someone without much complications, and repeat the same process: the wish, the intention, the observance of your reactions, softly, gently, without trying to change anything, without judgment, a scientist, not a judge, an observer/feeler in real time.

5) Now repeat the process with someone you have challenges with, someone you dislike. This may be difficult at first. Watch what happens, note if it is difficult; using you mindfulness of the breath as a comfortable ground locate the sensations associated with aversion and track them, follow them, note how the aversion softens, notice if things change over time as you hold the space of loving kindness. You may not be able to summon a genuine feeling of love or good will. That is o.k. What you are doing is summoning an intention. Just as when you take a step with your foot, before you move the foot, there is the intention to move the foot. Here we are building on the foundation of intention. It builds over time through practice. And good will is limitless, the opposite of the tightening we experience with aversion, judgment, and dislike.

These are not affirmations. This is finding even a hint, a trace, inside your self, of the desire to be happy, and watering that hint, that trace, with these simple phrases, "May you be happy, may you be safe, may you be healthy."
There is a similarity here to elements of prayer, except we are not praying to a higher being, rather we are treating our own hearts like good gardens that deserve water of mind, cultivating good will and all the stability that good will gives us.

Even if this feels artificial at first, over time you will get to experience how your feelings of aversion cannot hold on in the face of conscious good will combined with mindfulness of your present experience. Everything is impermanent, even our feelings of aversion. They change, they grow stronger and harder, they grow softer and weaker. This is a method to hasten the softening of aversion and liberate us from the tyranny of grudges and ill will. As with mindfulness of the in and out breath, there is a great stability that comes over time with loving kindness practice.
And stability is a foundation for the rest of our practice.

People always say to let go. But how can you let go? This is a way. As things we thought were so fixed loosen in our meditation, we find less identification with our thoughts and feelings, more spacious experience, even forgiveness, a softening of the heart.

One objection some might have is on the political sphere, the sphere in which there is fighting for injustice. How can we fight injustice without feeling anger?

There is a difference between feeling anger and being angry.This meditation is not about rolling over to be taken advantage of. Just look at how much was accomplished in the civil rights struggle through non-violence and love by Dr. King and his disciples

Buddhist monks in Tibet fight for justice. But it is a fight in which the means and end are the same. Some of the most grounded firm people I have seen are Buddhist monks. And they speak up. But they are firm without hatred, they stand for a belief without making themselves and others sick from their beliefs. Without doing harm.



















Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Mindfulness Meditation to Release Anxiety, Depression, and Pain

Mindfulness Meditation Seminar October, 2009
with Eyton Shalom, M.S., L.Ac.


Mindfulness Meditation comes out of Theravada Buddhism (the Buddhism of Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia) In Buddhism it is an aid to experiencing ultimate truth: "seeing things as they are."

For us mere mortals a regular meditation practice (note the two words, regular and practice) brings peace of mind, deep relaxation, pain reduction, healing of illness, teaches how to be in the moment with self and others, and is a valuable tool for stress management.

Mindfulness is also called Awareness (sati). It is cultivated in a sitting posture, with eyes closed or open, but can also be practiced while walking, driving, washing the dishes, standing, talking, at any time of day, even lying down.

Over time mindfulness leads to Vipassana, or Insight into the Nature of Things. Insight into the Nature of Things is Seeing Things As they Are, not as "we wish they were." This has enormous implications.

Vipassana practice is not cut off from life. It embraces the "whole catastrophe." It is not about transcendence, but about deepening, sharpening, and making clearer our deepest levels of experience. by doing so life becomes more comfortable and we achieve greater levels of acceptance. so that we can act with intelligent discrimination, gently, kindly, without causing harm

A fundamental truth of living is that all experience rises and falls, no experience lasts for ever, things are always changing, in flux, as time passes and space changes.

The practice of Mindfulness gives us practical experience of this truth as sensations, feelings, memories, thoughts, and ideas pass through us, while we pay gentle attention.

As we pay attention we may notice that of the objects that arise in our field of consciousness, there are those we find attractive, those we have aversion to, and some, less common, that are neutral. As we gain equanimity, we find that attractive things have less power over us, and adverse things are less disruptive.


Goodwill and generosity are one of the bases of practice. Goodwill puts the mind in an unlimited state. Greed, anger, fear, and delusion create limits.

Identifying with our feelings, thoughts, and sensations creates self imposed limits. Recognizing that feelings and thoughts come and go, have their own life cycle--that its what we add to the initial feelings, fears, angers, etc--the "value added" thinking and holding and tightening and closing, that creates a lot of the discomfort and stress we experience.

The more we practice, the less we identify our thoughts as "ours", and the more we recognize them as the epiphenomena they are, not so important, just thinking. Then our mind is free for the kind of intentional thinking we would prefer to do. Thinking is not a bad thing. It is what distinguishes us as humans. The issue is one of identification, lack of control, not being present, and much else.

We can counter with limitless goodwill and conscious loving-kindness. While the mind is dwelling on limitless goodwill the mind opens. Keeping the breath in mind we are sensitive.

Sensitivity requires being fully present, fully open to all nervous system information, to what you sense along with the breath. The nervous system opens up, the process of breathing feels circular, and our loads of grievances are unburdened. Now we can ask, is an action or way of being useful or necessary?

Cultivating gentleness with your self and others. As you meditate, the gentler is your breath the more solid the mind gets. Thoughts, feelings, hearings, sensations appear and disappear. The whole body is breathing in. The whole body is breathing out. The more immersed in the breath you become, the more immersed you get in the present.

This is the both the starting and ending point, immersed in the breath, in the present.







www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com
619/296-7591 eyto
Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

October Mindfulness Meditation Class Starting

Mindfulness Meditation Class Series in October

• Experience Deep Relaxation and Profound Inner Peace
• Lighten Your Reactions to Stress
• Apply the Lessons of Mindfulness to Your Daily Life
• Use Mindfulness to Reduce Pain and Heal Disease
• Be in the Moment With Yourself and Others

When: Saturdays October 10 thru 31, from 2:00-3:30 P.M.

Where: 3577 Louisiana St, San Diego, CA 92104 Rear Bldg

Class Fee: $50 if paid by Oct 1; $65 afterwards. MC/Visa, Check

To Register: 619/296-7591 or info@bodymindwellnesscenter.com
Seating is Very Limited, Please Register Early
www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

About the Instructor: Eyton Shalom, M.S., L.Ac. began his study of meditation, yoga, and natural medicine in 1971, gaining initiation into Kriya Kundalini Yoga. Over the next twelve years he practiced Kriya Yoga sadhana in a monastic setting for 8 hours per day.

During his stay in India and Sri Lanka he was introduced to Vipassana practice. Vipassana is "seeing things as they really are." Its core is Insight and Awareness gained by Mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is the main tool for developing Insight and Awareness in Vipassana, which has been popularized in the West by such books as "The Power of Now."

This class is a comprehensive introduction to the practice of Mindfulness meditation and Vipassana philosophy, which are considered to be the actual teachings of the Buddha.

This class is completely non-sectarian, and also fun. It is perfect for the person who wants to learn to meditate minus religious and other dogma. This is an excellent intro for anyone whose aim is to do an extended retreat.

Eyton is a lively and colorful teacher who breaks it down to the small steps needed for rideing the bike of the mind.

WELCOME!
Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com