Meditation Yoga: April 2011

For fellow yogis who are interested (or for any reader who is simply curious), here is the yoga sequence I wrote for the 45-minute session I taught at the Bhante G meditation retreat in April 2011. Seated small body circles Seated large body circles Overhead arm lift-and-side-lean (one arm at a time) Overhead arm-lift-and-twist (both [...]

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Discourse on Loving-Friendliness

(as shared by Bhante G) May all beings be happy and secure. May all beings have happy minds. Whatever living beings there may be, Without exception: weak or strong, Large or long, Medium, short, subtle or gross, Visible or invisible, Living near or far, Born or coming to birth – May all beings have happy [...]

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Afterward (April 2011)

Aka, “What I learned”: Loving-friendliness is the key to happiness.  When I am friendly, when my heart is open and caring, loving and compassionate, I am happy – regardless of any other person’s response. The present moment is the key to true freedom, to liberation.  When I project into the future or ruminate about the [...]

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Bhante G Retreat: Day 3 (4/24/11)

4 am: I woke up – and the very first thought that entered my consciousness was ‘mindful’. I blinked my eyes open, and the next thought that I had was ‘breath’. Then ‘lungs’, then ‘present moment’, then ‘mindful’.  Holy crap, my attempt to establish mindfulness last night actually worked!  I woke this morning with mindfulness! [...]

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Bhante G Retreat: Day 2 (4/23/11)

4 am: I woke up, and got out of bed – stiff.  But not sore.  Looks like my 11 months of yoga training have served me well.  Yay! 4:15 am: I enjoyed a screamin’ hot shower.  Nice. 4:30 am: Thirst kicked in big-time.  I knew I didn’t drink enough water yesterday, but now I’m realizing [...]

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Bhante G Retreat: Day 1 (4/22/11)

(Disclaimer: This blog post contains some swearing.  If you are offended by coarse language, you may want to close this web page.  I don’t use cursing flagrantly, nor as an “attention-grabber”, but rather to honestly share what I was thinking/feeling/experiencing at various points in this retreat experience. Okay, all that being said – if you [...]

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Bhante G Retreat: April 2011

I have attended two structured retreats thus far in my meditation career: one 10-day intensive personal retreat, and one 5-day blended work/personal retreat. I just came home from a 3-day personal retreat; and this experience was quite different from the previous two.  If you are interested in reading the details, here they are: Day 1: [...]

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