Every Monday we feature an editorial from Steemians who are interested in, and practicing, meditation. This week's post is by Ecotrain founder @eco-alex - we do hope you'll enjoy it!.
I was speaking to a young English girl called Francesca for the first time on the phone yesterday. I was speaking with her as a potential house-sitter whilst I go on a special journey... She sounded very happy and was telling me how much she is enjoying meditation with a group she is with in India. She said that she no longer wants to spend time in cities and with the normal type of people.. and that meditation was bringing her so many gifts and bliss that all she wanted to do was to meditate. I listened, inspired, and very comfortable to invite her to come and look after my Earthship and cats. She sounded perfect!
So where am I off to then and why!? This being mindful Monday, i thought it would be a nice idea to share with you my plans to resurrect myself and find a bit more inner peace. It has been a hard year for me in many ways, but being honest.. most of the troubles I have been working through have all been in my head! I mean, everything is fine really... I have everything I need to live, and live in a beautiful location and in a beautiful home.. but still for a long time now something has not felt right! So many things have changed this past year, and also some of them have not. What has been a constant in my life this year has been a very over-active mind, and a lot of mental stress.. lots of worry, and lots of smoking too!
On the positive side, I have made great progress with my daily meditation challenge since January, and have been meditating for about 45 minutes each morning at 5:30am. It has been good for me, and was a challenge to keep pushing myself to do it even when I was not really into it or had a very busy mind. It took me many years of procrastination to get there, and i can surely feel the many ways it has helped. The thing is, this past few weeks I have not been able to do the full 45 minutes and now feel like I have lost my traction with it. With that, I have also been feeling very unmotivated, and not really done much physical activity or work either. Its not good as its easy to spiral back into old patterns that no longer serve us, and so I have decided to take action and get myself back on track!
It's a brave step in way, to do what I'm about to do.. but I am ready! I will be headed to Rishikesh Ashram, a remote and very small Ashram in the mountains of Rishikesh, overlooking the Holy Ganga River. Whilst im there I will be with Yogi Amitram and a few others who will be there with us. I will leave behind the smoke and Netflix the bad Bitcoin trades and ensuing daily panic.. i will forgo my morning coffee, and everything that I have clung onto for so long to help me get by. I don’t want to just get by anymore, I want to thrive and shine again! So yes, I am a bit scared.. because i will give up all my comforts, my cats, my home, and my privacy and space.. and join a group of beautiful souls who are ready to support me to delve far deeper, like Francesca, and re-discover some inner peace and a very simple and sacred life. My mind is FULL, but I want to be mindful again.. an irony of words and meaning.. because of course what i want is not a full mind, but an empty one.. emptiness. That word is something that i never resonated with before.. it doesn’t sound very nice does it.. but there is a kind of emptiness that many people strive very hard to discover, because when we can move through that void, we can discover our bliss, and once tasted Bliss is never forgotten.
I have no idea how long this will take, Yogi Amitram wants me to come for a year.. That is a LONG time, but I can see what a good use of time that would be.. To do nothing, accomplish nothing, create nothing, to simply be, mindful.. with an empty mind. .. That is the greatest gift I can give to myself on my 46th year here on this earth. From there only can i know.. what i want, where to go, when to go and who am I. How can I make any meaningful life decision whilst my mind is lost in thought and like a crazy monkey. One minute it says this, the next second it says that. .. but when my mind is quiet.. then one simple answer comes. and we know it to be right.. right away! There is no choice, as @artemislives said just the other day.. We can only really realise our true path and then will have only one simple decision to make.. to follow it!
So, I will still be online.. but not so much.. I will no doubt keep the QOTW going, and with your help we can keep the ecoTrain moving on and helping us to all make our world and ourselves a better place! @artemislives is our lead curator, and so a huge thanks to her for keeping the upvotes going and encouraging you to keep writing great posts.
Have a beautiful day everyone,
<3 xx
Thankyou @eco-alex for this heartfelt post. We sure wish you all the best in this part of your life and walking this path. You are truly blessed to be led this way.
Mindful writers worth celebrating this week (Curation by @riverflows)
@julianhorack has blessed us every week with his informed and in depth posts. This week he wrote about the beauty of Vedic texts and the knowledge they contain, inspiring me to listen again to the audio I have of the Bhagavad Gita.
It is from texts like this that speak to us from past millennia, that we can get a deeper understanding of our original identity. This is not taught to us in the west at all, and the west appears to be lacking in proper education regarding consciousness. Fortunately, for the sincere seeker, the information still exits for now, so I write about it to at least show you what exists as far as information on consciousness. There is no need to speculate or concoct some mental imaginary construct on the nature of reality when it is all there already in the Vedas. Timeless wisdom and information exists, that was pertinent thousands of years ago, and is pertinent today. It is not dependent on modern invention or scientific discovery regarding the brain, the nervous system or any medical discoveries. This is above and beyond the need for modern research. And so I recommend that if at some point you do ultimately want to lift your consciousness to a level of self-awareness beyond the superficial, then the Vedic texts mentioned here will be a good place to go. Be sure to read valid translations from authors who live the philosophy, not just academic language scholars. Some of the concepts are so esoteric of metaphysical that it requires some interpretation and realization to be able to find the words, the concepts and then the grammar to describe what is being referred to. It is more than just an academic transliteration word for word.
@porters wrote about living mindfully in her post, reminding us of those times where you find yourself in a room thinking: What am I doing here? Sometimes we live our lives on autopilot, without ever truly being present. Thanks @porters for reminding us to be mindful of all these precious moments we have in this precious, precious life.
And if you missed it, I just have to share it again - a truly beautiful track to listen to to ease you into a meditation. I've been listening to it all week and it has been a very powerful meditation for me indeed. Resting in loving awareness is what our soul calls for.
And in other news...
This week we're offering up to 10 Steem in SBI for those posting under the #mindfullife tag. Let's connect in this virtual sangha, learning and growing through each other's meditative journeys. To qualify, simply use the #mindfullife tag and resteem this post.
Don't forget we have group meditations on Wednesday and Saturdays, starting again from August 5th. If you're interested, go check out @bewithbreath's blog or register your interest below. He usually sends a call out to remind us which is super appreciated.
Mindful Life is a space within Natural Medicine whose aims are:
• To unite meditators across the Steem blockchain so that we can share and strengthen our own practices
• To provide a space to discuss the philosophy, science and practical application of such practices in our lives
• To inspire and motivate each other
• To provide support if we might be struggling, connecting with like minded people who might offer solutions
Entry is minimum 20 SP for those under 500SP, and 50SP + for those with a bit more. This makes you a full member of @naturalmedicine and all it's benefits. It's free for those under 100 SP.
