Mindfulness trouble

Hi @Former-Member , I haven't had any bad experiences with mindfulness or meditation myself, but I have heard that if you dive in when you have a background of trauma, that trauma can rise to the surface suddenly.

Hi @Former-Member

I'm sorry this happened to you during what was meant to be an experience meant to be good for your wellbeing. As @NatureLover said trauma can rise to the surface during meditation/mindfulness. There is some good info about it around the internet. Can you relate to that possibility at all?

hanami 💮

Well the first thing I'm thinking is staying "grounded", as an old classic. A fundamental, really. A lot of people recommend having a snack and a bit of stretch/dance after practice sessions to put your self back in your body.

Cleansing and detoxing can also be good. For that I'm thinking herbal baths/teas. Maybe some sandlewood or some smudge sticking. If you can find a first nation elder doing smoke ceremonies I say jump at the chance.

Debriefing either with journals or other practitioners is a pretty solid way to go as well.

I'm personally a fan of saint, guides, totem systems as a way to dynamically regulate. For me, it also works to have a diverse team of archetypes. Sometimes I need healer archetypes, sometimes warrior archetypes and often a bit of both. Worth saying the same goes for people networks in the corporeal world.

I still reckon self-compassion is generally the answer but takes a lot of forms. Every new layer we discover eventually reveals a new way to love. The heart is the other third eye. (Maybe the first third eye, even. Fourth eye?) It's a sensory organ it's own little way, is what I'm saying.

I have done a few meditation weekends, in the early 1980s which went deep, but I managed to hang in there.

Mostly continued the practise in various ways since. Shifted and turned and read more and more and gained insight into it. I never attached to a community though. Too many other pressures, but in a way that was good as I just stuck with the basics and did not caught up with other beliefs or social issues.

About 10 years ago was thinking of doing a vipassana retreat, but it was not going to work with family, then shifted mode to doing actual music retreats from time to time. That has been great ... still a lot of mindfulness in it ... but maybe drumming ... or folk or stuff like that.

Sometimes I found people's insistence on impressing me with different unusual beliefs a problem. I think it is fine if people, stick to 'I statements' as in ... this happened to me ... or ask in a tentative manner ... but I got told about my previous lives and that put me off ... did not convince me ... sometimes I would read into things, but over the years I do not meditate in a mechanical time bound way ... somehow I have made it work for me ... I mix Christian and Buddhist and secular approaches ... and generally have a very meditative approach to daily life....

@Former-Member

I had a few scary experienced with meditation. I don't like the idea of 'emptying the mind' and some of spiritual practices they do.

@hanami ,

I have only come across benefits of mindfulness around the net except for an organisation called cheetah house. If there are more resources on this please let me know…

The new SANE home pages freaked me out. But it looks nice 😊

What is everyone up to tonight? I hope you are well.

I met a new person today who was very kind and sweet to me. She was a lovely lady.

I've just started reading Persuasion by Jane Austen, I finished Pride and Prejudice a few nights ago.

I think I'm going to light some candles and have a cosy night reading and drinking tea.

💖🫂 Hugs