Collage Take Two

Earlier in the semester, I posted a collage of pictures that brought me peace and joy. I found that experience so relaxing that I intend to do the same in this post. However, this time I will post pictures of the new things, places, and adventures that I would like to experience. This is a post about my future self, and what I hope to achieve in the many realms of my life. My inspiration for this particular idea came from the sudden, panic-ridden thought that I am going to be a senior in less than one year. Soon I will have to face the world, with what little resources I have. Not only does this thought paralyze me, but it strikes fear into my heart. I am afraid of the future, afraid possible failures, and afraid of possible heartbreaks. Hopefully this post will tame some of this fear, and make my future seem less forbidding.

Intention #12

Tonight, I intend to practice some relaxation techniques that we have been talking about in class. I will take just a few minutes every hour to loosen my body, relax my mind, and let go of my worries. Hopefully, this will help me to achieve a more productive and relaxed evening.

Music and Meditation

I found this playlist online while I was practicing some yoga over the Thanksgiving break. Feel free to enjoy.

Music is an integral part of my every day life and of my yoga practice. As a long time guitar, piano, and flute player, I know the power of music and how it can affect almost any part of the human experience, from our mood, to our posture, to our social interactions. There is something so innate and sensitive about music that every new song I experience is a new sensory and cognitive adventure. This is especially true when I complete some simply yoga exercises. I will continue my search for meditative music and for new experiences in the musical realm.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL84E63806B487F948

Freaky Yoga

A friend of mine shared this video with me over the weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLBOsOt3qtc&feature=related

I was both surprised and awestruck to witness the abilities of such a practiced member of the yoga community. What amazed me most, however, was the performer's flexibility and relaxation. Throughout each exercise, I could see his ribs visibly rise and fall with a calm and deep breath. There seemed to be no strain or discomfort as his movements became progressively more demanding and complex. I, as a beginner yoga student, find it hard to maintain this composure - sometimes I fight to reconnect with my breath, and more often than not I find myself wincing with the struggle of bending into certain positions. Seeing this young man perform with such a relaxed air, and with such strong breath, was enlightening. Although I may not be able to fold myself into such complicated positions as he did, I can still see how breath and calm are integrated into every part of the yoga practice from beginning to end. My intention is to focus on this sense of calm and to reconnect with my breath every time I do my yoga practice. Maybe once I stop focusing on the pain, or the disappointment that perhaps my body cannot do a certain pose today, I can truly tap into the wonderful experience of self-rejuvenation that yoga has to offer.

Uptight Shoulders

This entire week I have been experiencing sharp pain in my right shoulder. In class on Monday we talked about the fact that women store a lot of stress and tension in their shoulders - I can definitely say I am among the masses that experience this. So I did some research about the topic: how muscle knots form, what types of treatments are recommended, why the pain is so persistent, and how knots can be prevented. While doing my research I came upon a handy little article about ways to relieve shoulder pain through yoga. The author's suggestions included eagle pose, shoulder rolls, dolphin pose, and side bending neck stretches. I carefully read the "how-to" of each pose and decided to give them a try. In eagle pose I experienced overwhelming relief in my upper shoulders. It was a bit difficult to increase the angle at which my arms were bent, but with careful monitoring of my body's signals I could find a comfortable angle at which I was still receiving a stretch. The shoulder rolls are a well known strategy - we have even done them in class - and they were also quite helpful. Dolphin pose is basically a downward facing dog pose that has been modified to increase shoulder strength and to provide the shoulders with a better stretch. This pose was more difficult than I had supposed, but once I got the hang of it my shoulders began to relax down my back and the stretch became deeper. The side bending neck stretches were actually quite painful in my situation, although I have had experiences where they felt very relaxing. The source of the pain wasn't targeted as well and that "crick" in my neck prevented much sideways movement. Overall, I felt that my shoulder stretching experience was successful, and I can't wait for the chance to practice some of these poses in class.

Managing My Stress

As dedicated students at the Colorado School of Mines, I would say stress is a part of every day life. The average amount of sleep me and my peers normally get is usually less than 6 hours, and the amount of work our professors assign is overwhelming. Sometimes, I feel like I just can't win. If I relax, then my grades suffer. If I excel in school, my mental and physical health suffers. Here at Mines, balance is not important to most students, professors, or administrators. However, balance is important to me, and I struggle with the fact that it seems so out of reach most of the time. So I decided to do a little research on my own about how to manage stress as a Mines student.
Not surprisingly, I found very little information about stress management that I didn't already know. Breathing exercises, journaling, meditation, exercise, and good organization are all stress relievers, and I feel that most students are aware of these stress reducing activities. Nevertheless, I feel that these habits are harder to maintain than most people realize, and in an environment that almost encourages stress, it is near impossible to find the time and the energy to simply stop and take a breather. Instead, most students (including myself) deal with stress by going through bouts of under eating and overeating, by drinking too much, by procrastinating, and by lashing out at others. So how do we integrate healthy ways of coping into our overwhelmingly full lives? My answer at this point is I have no idea. I myself struggle on a daily basis to manage my stress, my schoolwork, my body, and my mental health. In some ways, I believe the school is to blame - why create an environment for students that cultivates stress, anxiety, and imbalance in their lives? In others, we as students are to blame for these emotions when we make bad decisions about coping.
Because of my nearly fruitless research about and experience with coping mechanisms for stress, I have made it my intention to try different and new ways of coping. Armed with an arsenal of experience about how to deal with stress, then I can decide what fits my busy lifestyle and what mechanisms remain as lasting habits.
(http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm)

Meditation Flash Mobs Promote Peace

I have heard of flash mobs before, and seen the videos that flood the internet overnight, but I have yet to hear of a meditation flash mob. These artful gatherings of meditators are organized by an organization known as MedMob, or the Global Flash Mob Meditation Movement, which was founded in 2011. The group got its start "in a seemingly auspicious way." In the year 2012, Patrick Kronfli had a vision during his meditation practice: "hundreds of people gathered in silent, leaderless meditation outside the state capitol" of Texas, Kronfli's home state. After he arrived home from a trip to India, Kronfli shared his experience with two friends who, inexplicably, told him they had both experienced the same vision during meditation. Kronfli recalls, "it was so powerful to think of connecting in the public as a group, to pause for a moment and just allow a new stream of conciousness to go through." From that point forward, the friend's vision was to become a reality. They publicized the idea through a facebook page and held their first meditation flash mob with a total of 60 particpants shortly afterward. With each successive flash mob the number of meditators grew, and eventually the movement spread to other cities. On September 21st of this year, the organization joined several ofthers for Be the Peace, which is a larger scale meditation movement "to celebrate the International Day of Peace" with 248 cities participating total. Kronfli's words about the event were that is was "a chance to invite the masses to join in a prayer and meditation for world peace."
This article struck me when I read it for several reasons. The idea of a flash mob, translated into a meditation movement, seems amazing to me. In essence, its purpose is the same as the purpose of a traditional flash mob: to gather together strangers in an event which celebrates life. And yet, the meditation mob is different and unique in its own way, for it promotes a much deeper and more profound sense of a connection between every individual. Sitting in silence in class, with both friends and strangers around me, I experience only a small part of this larger purpose. The next event is on November 11th, and I plan to join in on the meditation.