~ Deep Rest & Jin Shin Jyutsu ®
Meditation is not a competitive sport. Our beings are asking for
another way of living.
What we know so far is to over activate body and mind and then
to shut off completely.
What we can learn is to rest & relax, and then we are more
likely to have a visit from deep meditation.
~ Jin Shin Jyutsu
~ Effort & Relaxation
~Jin Shin Jyutsu
®
An approach to being human
in a heartful and grounded way.
Jin means human; Shin means god or heart or
spirit; and Jyutsu means tricks or games, or as I like
to call it, improvisation. This healing art from Japan is not
just about technique. The hands and deep heart know or remember
harmony, and help align the whole human being, not just physically,
but on all levels.
By allowing the hands to find their place on the body—perhaps
just holding one of the fingers—harmony resonates through
the being.
Jin Shin has helped me drop into deep meditation countless times.
With connections to the whole family of Ayurveda and Traditional
Chinese medicine, Jin Shin is accessible and safe for anyone to
practice. By offering our hands and attending the official Jin
Shin courses, our learning can be unending.
For information about official Jin Shin Jyutsu courses:
www.jinshinjyutsu.com
~Effort & Relaxation
Most of us know how to make effort based on tension.
On retreat, each person can experiment with making “reversed
effort,” or effort based on relaxation.
At the beginning with meditation practice, and periodically later
on, an intense struggle with strong habits of mind is unavoidable.
But don't assume that this same quality of exhausting effort must
continue forever.
At first, attention has to rely on the intellect. The intellect,
or conscious thinking mind, cannot function continuously, and
therefore, effort is necessarily uneven and choppy.
But the kind of effort most often needed is like the effort required
to hold a rose petal in the palm of your hand: not much strength
is needed, but rather a continuity of remembrance like a river.
This continuity comes naturally as we access the gentle power
of the heart.
If you want to let the heart direct and empower your practice,
then it is worthwhile to nurture self-motivation and restfulness.
Self-motivation
Try to recall a time when you did something just because you
wanted to --not because you thought you had to, and not because
you wanted to get money, prestige, or acceptance. If you can remember
such a time, then you will remember how good it felt.
On the open retreats, four afternoons and one full day a week
are unscheduled, so that we all have a chance to find self-motivation
and to experience its joy. You don’t need to find an exciting,
newsworthy pastime, with which you can “fill up” this
“empty” time.
Try to find out what you most love to do and immerse yourself
in that, rather than letting the unscheduled time slip by in dullness
or busy-ness.
Restfulness
Resting is an art. We continually try to relax, but don't really
know how to do it. We also very often feel that we should do “more
important” things first, so that we can later enjoy a well-deserved
rest. But somehow the time for rest never comes.
Bringing freshness, energy, kindness, and even cheerfulness, rest
benefits formal meditation and spiritual growth tremendously.
You can begin to discover restfulness through practicing the art
of resting:
1) Lying down for at least half an hour every day and doing absolutely
nothing--not making a to-do list, not reading, not listening to
music.
2) Once your formal meditation is focused on body sensations
or other aspects of the "inner world," you can recline
during formal practice. To avoid sleep, you can keep one arm raised;
if you start to get sleepy, the arm's falling will wake you up.
Even if you fall asleep, that refreshing rest may be more beneficial
than holding yourself in a rigid sitting posture, as if you are
working at an office (and practicing aversion). In fact, the meditation
that happens after you awaken is likely to be fresh and bright.
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