Tag Archives: Chopra Center

Day 51: a love letter to meditation

20 Feb

Tonight continues my commitment to more love and less fear this year.  For February, I am writing a love letter each day.  Tonight is dedicated to …meditation.

Dear Meditation: 

I find it funny that I am reflecting on you, Meditation.  Not funny ha, ha, rather more like, funny ironic.

Just a year ago I could barely breathe during a meditation without drifting off to the land of “what’s for dinner,” and “what will I wear tonight,” or “what bill needs to be paid.”

But, now, with a lot of practice, the pressure has lifted.  And, while I still drift away into the all too familiar land of worry, I, actually consider myself an official pro-meditator. (If there is such a word.)

Not because I have the zen of a Buddah (far from it!).  More like, I know I can do it.  I know it’s a place I can choose to go to, whenever I want!  All I need is a quiet space and an open heart.

I have even found a way to incorporate it into my daily life. Every night I meditate before I go to sleep.  It’s a nice routine that finds me with hand on my heart and a welcome break from my all-too-common brainiac attacks.

And, here’s the thing: it gives me a good feeling.  As Flo Rida sings, I get a good feeling.

What amazes me more than anything, dear Meditation, is your pure power.  The more I stick to your routine, the more I feel free, calm, clear and creative.

The more one meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be one’s world and the world at large. ~Confucius

Well said, Confucius.

Gotta love ya, Meditation!
Jamie  

P.S. I also love the 21-Day Meditation Challenge from The Chopra Center that started today. You can still sign up here.

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Day 31: the fear of dying and a reason to live

31 Jan

I understood the fear of dying for the first time in 7th grade.
In the middle of quiet reading time.

For some reason, I picked the book A Summer To Die by Lois Lowry as my quiet time reading choice.  As I read and wept in the uncomfortably silent reading room, trying to hide the tears streaming down my face, I realized for the first time that anybody could die — not just old people.

The fear of dying is still inside me, even on the other side of cancer and many major life scares.  Although the more I learn about my soul, the more open I am to reality of what death means and what a life well lived means.

And, today, I read this beautiful tribute to an unquestionably well lived life — David Simon.  You can watch the video from The Chopra Center below.

What touched me most, was this beautiful poem that David loved:

The Sun Never Says

Even
after
all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look
what happens
with a love like that —
It lights the whole world.

Indeed…

Here’s to a life that lit the world.

Remembering David Simon from Chopra Center on Vimeo.

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Day 15: what bugs you?

15 Jan

Last night as I snuggled with Pup I felt a bump on his ear. 
It was a tick trying to bury himself in the way only a dog tick can do.

My first reaction was “GROSS!”
My second was asking Justin to fix it.

Which he did.
As the disgusting little creature navigated the palm of Justin’s hand like it was taking a walk in the park, my fear set in.

Justin suggested I try to hold the tick in my hand.

“You mean HOLD it?”  I asked, baffled, wondering who on earth would hold a bug in their hand.

He thought it would be a good way for me to get over my fear (my goal this year).

I reacted with complete and utter grace.
By profusely refusing and shaking to the point of tears forming in my eyes.  I may have even screamed.

My first close encounter with fear this year.

I just can’t hold a bug in my hand.
I can’t stand it, I can’t even stand the IDEA of it.

Here’s the ironic part: I know this is ridiculous.

In fact, just this past Christmas, I watched in awe as Justin’s little five-year-old niece jumped for joy when opening her most prized gift — a bug collector.

At five years she can do what I cannot. At five years she can do with JOY what I cannot fathom.  How humbling.

Tonight, this message serendipitously popped into my inbox, from the Chopra Center:

What small step can you take today to release what’s no longer serving you, opening the space for more light, energy, and joy?

I know my fear of creepy, crawly things does not serve me.
And, I know it’s time to let it go. So I’m working on a small step forward. I suppose I have a five-year-old in my life to show me how.

What fears are you ready to give up?
What else no longer serves you?

(If you want some inspiration for the next 21-days, you can sign up for the Chopra Center 21 Days of Inspiration email here.)

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Day 229: you are who you are in the dark

17 Aug

Tonight was a Vineyard tradition, Illumination Night in Oak Bluffs, one that I have never experienced before.

It was such an adventure, wandering through the circles and sidewalks of Cottage City to see all the little gingerbreads readied for festivity.  They were decked out and just waiting to light up as soon as the sun went down.

It made me think of basketball camp in high school.  In the daylight, we teenagers played intense rounds of basketball. In the night time, we gathered together to learn a life lesson from our coaches and camp staff.

This one stuck with me: you are who you are in the dark.
I like it.  It says a lot with just a little.

It’s one thing to be all colorful and brilliant during the day, while everyone is looking and the light is shining bright right on you.

It’s another to be that same bright light at home, when you are alone, in your bed, all by yourself with no one else around to dress for or impress.

Today, also marked the 3rd day of Meditation Nation (the Chopra Center 21 Day Meditation Challenge).  We focused on creativity.  Which made me think of brilliance.  As I listened to Tiffany guide us through the path to creative abundance, it occurred to me:  we can’t be brilliant without forgiveness.  It’s easier to fly without all that weight.

And, then, some little voice inside me said:
To illuminate your soul, you first have to forgive yourself.

For the big and little things too.

So, I’m afraid of spiders and I suck them up in vacuums — Forgiven!
So, I consistently forget my friend’s birthdays — Forgiven.
So, I’m a terrible listener and should be more present — Forgiven!
And, I can guarantee more more mistakes before this is all over — Future Forgiveness!

Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?

I think it is just as simple as that saying I have carried with me all these years from the nightly gatherings at basketball camp so long ago — you are who you are in the dark — except now, I understand that, I am who I am in the light, too. 

And why not be brilliant in both?

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Day 228: who are you?

16 Aug

After a nice dinner out tonight, and a lazy walk home down lamp lit Main Street in Vineyard Haven, I settled in for Day 2 of the 21 Day Meditation Challenge.

And, it’s a good thing I meditated today  — because I spent half the afternoon vexing Verizon about my bill.  The one they sent me because I canceled my service.  “Early Termination Charge” they call it.  I would call it an F*ing something, but it’s not Friday yet.  Just WHO ARE YOU, Verizon?  I would like to know.

So would davidji.
Today’s meditation centered around the question: “who am I?”

As my spirit rose and my meditation mind succumbed to the question “Who am I?” — I found many  answers, tons of answers coming to me:  creator, worker, builder, writer, blogger, sister, daughter, girlfriend, divorcee, cousin, friend, smashing success, total disaster, picture of health, arachnophobe, cancer survivor, marathon runner, couch potato, yogi, sun worshiper, scaredy-cat, brave-heart, prompt, late, over-thinker, spontaneous.

In that moment, where my list of answers ran out before me like a scroll on long winding paper, I realized exactly what I am: everything in between.

I was once an athlete.  I was once very, very ill.
I had a fairy-tale engagement in the streets of Paris.  I had the world’s worst divorce in the courts of Boston.
I led the team.  I rode the bench.
I won all the awards.  I lost everything.
I created a company out of a dream.  I watched my company fizzle in the dust.
I experienced the love of the most amazing mother.  I lost my mother too young, too soon.
I was given a second chance to live.  I have a second chance at love.

I have been in the ups, downs, ins and outs and EVERYTHING in between.

It makes me sensitive and understanding.  Sometimes short tempered and opinionated.  Occasionally frenetic, but most generally patient.

I have many layers.  And, they don’t all look the same, or even match like polka dots and plaid.  According to davidji, this is normal.

In the ninth century, the Vedic sage Adi Shankara was also asking this question, and he came up with an elegant description of the three primary layers of life that mask our essential spiritual nature: 1.) the physical realm, encompassing our environment, our energetic body, and our physical body; 2.) the subtle realm containing our mind, intellect, and ego; and 3.) the causal realm, which includes our personal soul, our collective soul, and our spirit.

Sounds like head, heart, body and soul to me.

It’s a good question:
Who am I?
Here’s one even more interesting:
Who are you?

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Day 227: it’s never too late

15 Aug

It is Day 227 over here, which means it is Day 1 of the Chopra Center 21 Day Meditation Challenge.

As I listened to the fist part of the meditation, where davidji asked us to consider the questions: “Who am I?  — “What do I want?” — “What is my purpose?” I didn’t have a clear answer.  I had a lot of jumbled up thoughts roaming and bubbling up through my meditating mind. But not one clear answer.

Then, in a moment of clarity, I had something. Maybe not an answer but a pretty clear thought: I don’t know yet, but it’s not too late.

And, it’s not.
It’s not too late for me to figure it out. In fact, it’s never too late really for anything is it?

A 21 Day Challenge is not hard core around here anymore, especially after 227 consecutive days of keeping my promise.  Even still, I know that doesn’t mean it will be easy.  It will be a day-by-day process.  One foot in front of the other.  One step.  One action.

Then one day turns into two.
Two becomes four.
Four turns into eight.
Eight multiplies to sixteen.

Before you know it, hundreds of days are behind you.

After finishing my meditation, I ended my reading and research for the day with the poem “What Will Matter,” by Michael Josephson.

This line sums it up for me, in this year of The Promise 365:

What will matter is not what you bought
but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.

And that makes me realize:  it’s never too late.
Never too late to build something, to give something, to be something, to try something, to experience something new.

All it takes is that first day.
Just one day.

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Day 214: going back-to-school oprah style

2 Aug

At the beginning of this year I promised to take care of myself.
Specifically, my head, heart, body and soul, and, write about it everyday … which I am.

I promised to avoid shopping and frivolous purchases. To truly care for my body, and not only what I put ON my body … which I am.

But, I didn’t plan on living a chocolate-free existence.
Which, painfully at times, I am.

I did expect to find good, healthy things to invest my time and energy into.  At the beginning of this year, I could have guessed I would take yoga classes, but, I didn’t expect to take a class from Oprah.

Today, I found out the consummate teacher herself will be back in the classroom.  School may be out for summer, but come October, Oprah will teach her OWN students some of the best lessons she has learned over the years.  The class is called OWN Your Life (the Oprah class) and is being billed as the ultimate life class.

Now, how can I resist that?
Especially during this promise of 365 days where I am taking care of my own life and all the crazy, weird, and wonderful adventures it entails.

So, I signed up.

Back-to-school must be in the air.
Because, I also signed up for The Chopra Center’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge in August.  This is the same challenge I completed in the spring, and the closest I came to soul food so far on this journey.

So, I figure, why not try it again?
Maybe I’ll learn more this time around.
Maybe I’ll learn something different.
Or, maybe, I’ll just learn.

And, in the end, I guess that’s all that counts.

So, here I find myself, entering the month of August and already signed up and ready for fall classes; one from the life guru herself, the other from Deepak Chopra’s “sweet spot of the universe”.

There just seems to be one thing missing…
Back-to-school shopping, new shoes and a fall wardrobe.

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Day 111: where did the easter bunny go?

21 Apr

I read something, somewhere today.
The article proclaimed shipments of Easter Bunnies are on the decline.

Hum…
Not sure what that’s all about.
I’m surprised the media hasn’t turned it into an all out Easter Bunny Crisis.

I actually forgot Easter was this Sunday until Justin’s mom reminded me (thank you!).

After Easter there are only a handful of major holidays to buy for, dress for, and celebrate. Which means I am one step closer to getting through this year without purchases and avoiding all the temptations that may arise.

Where has the time gone?
It’s already Day 111.

Taking care of my head, heart, body & soul has sent into some fun and new adventures. With each one I realize there are more I want to try.

So, I signed up for the 21-Day Meditation Challenge.
It’s free, and hails from the Chopra Center, a.k.a. “the sweet spot of the universe” (that’s kind of a bold statement if you ask me).

The program promises:
“Daily support and guidance that will enable you to move beyond any past obstacles and experience the many gifts and benefits of meditation.”

Today Marks Day 8.
I have meditated right along, through the wonders of my computer and internet connection, with something like 100,000 other people for the past eight days.

I have yet to experience the many gifts and wonders it promises, but honestly, it is growing on me.

Today’s meditation used the “age old” neutral words SO and HUM, with the intent that you don’t associate either word with any meaning, therefore you are free to veg out and meditate fully.

Me, being a newbie, and clearly a mind racer, had a hard time not assigning meaning to each word.

With every breathe I had another thought:

SO …Doe, A Deer, A Female Deer
HUM …I wonder what Justin will make for dinner tonight?
SO …did I remember to turn the stove off?
HUM … I have to remember to take the sheets out of the washer!
SO … is this what it feels like to meditate?
HUM … I’m not sure this is working.

And SO on…

Hum …All I know is, it may not be fully working on me …yet.
So, I suppose I have 13 more days to refine my technique. 

HUM …that’s more time than the Easter Bunny has!
SO …Happy Easter Weekend.

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