July 2011 Self Care Retreat: Meditation & Inward Reflection & On Losing My Voice

by Valerie on July 16, 2011 · 3 comments

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Welcome to Week 2 of the July 2011 Self-Care Retreat, which I am hosting with the delightful Cheryl of Gluten-Free Goodness and our guest hosts, Shirley of Gluten-Free Easily, Wendy of Celiacs in the House and Iris of Daily Dietribe. Cheryl has written two fabulous posts on self-care through reflection and on resources for meditation.

I, on the other hand, have had complete writer’s block in addressing this topic.  When I get writer’s block on the blog, it always feels like a particularly acute bout of laryngitis, something which I was all too familiar with before discovering gluten and I were not meant to be.  I would have these horrendous sinus infections which invariably would take over everything, including my throat, and then I would not be able to talk.  But anyways, that is how kind of how writing about meditation has felt this week. Like I have no voice.

I am not sure why – some of it is that this has been a week of highs and lows in a lot of ways, which is when you would think meditation and reflection would be most necessary, but I find it is much easier to meditate during a more normal, or perhaps I should say temperate, week.  And some of it is that meditation and reflection is hard. It just is.

When I wrote my 11 for 2011 post, I stated that going to a meditation class on Thursday nights at Tranquilspace  was one of my goals.  Scheduling-wise, that did not work so well, but since then (in fact the class no longer is offered during the time slow) but since then I discovered a newly offered Monday night Yoga and Meditation class which, as it turns out is a significantly more comfortable experience for me than a Meditation-only class.  Attempting to meditate after a yoga class is far more calming for me.  That said, I do also try to attend a Sunday morning meditation class at Tranquilspace.  That class, while helpful in making meditation and reflection a regular practice, is such a struggle for me.  Sundays is also when I go to the farmers’ market, so all I want to do on Sunday mornings is get my week in order, and look at recipes and get vegetables put away.  I often find my mind wandering during that meditation class, though I noticed after 4 months of semi-regular attendance (2 to 3 Sundays a month) that as sitting still got easier, the act of doing so actually quieted the mind.

The upshot of it all – I feel like I am progressing towards my meditation and reflection goal incredibly slowly, but writing about it is making me realize that the microsteps are getting me somewhere, so that is encouraging. I firmly believe that being able to quiet the mind is a form of self-care, and one I am determined to incorporate into my life, taking microsteps to get there. I am planning to check out the resources for meditation that Cheryl posted as well. 

In the meantime, our month of self-care continues tomorrow with a post by Wendy on self-care through food. 

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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Katie (quick cook rice) July 16, 2011 at 2:37 pm

I admire your commitment to meditation. I always say I'm going to try, get a ton of books, research, and say today's the day, and then….nothing. HA. That's probably not the best approach.

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2 gfe--gluten free easily July 16, 2011 at 10:37 pm

I agree with Katie, Valerie. The fact that you continue to work towards mastering meditation is very admirable. Microsteps are still steps. Even the true masters of meditations usually will admit that it took a lot of conscious effort and practice to learn how to meditate properly. You are inspiring, dear.

Shirley

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3 Cheryl Harris July 18, 2011 at 7:37 pm

Valerie,
I think it's fantastic that you've found a way to honor the spirit of your intention and to find a slightly different path to take. And I love the analogy to laryngitis!

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