Have you noticed: It’s all about M.E.

I thought I might mention a few elements of my daily meditation and exercise routine.

Meditation, Exercise: my mother’s name was Margaret Estelle: my wife’s name was Martha Ellen; my oldest granddaughter’s name is Molly Elisabeth. Coincidence or ... coincidence!

I meditate each morning with my feet on the floor and my arms on the sides of the chair. The chair is the one I watch TV from, comfortable but fairly upright. This is in the family room by my French doors to the side yard. I begin by closing my eyes and counting back from ten, an old self-hypnosis trick, on the exhale. I breathe through my nose and exhale through my mouth. I count back several times.

Next, I concentrate on just the number one on each exhale. I tell myself that my toes are relaxed, my feet are relaxed, my ankles are relaxed and so forth until I get to my noggin.

As I relax, I pause in my breathing after each exhale. I concentrate on something, a circle, a dot, just in front of my nose. Remember, my eyes are closed so this has to be on the inside of my eyelids or in my imagination.

All this time I am thinking about other things. This is useful, I am not trying to banish all thought, just trying to relax and focus. This is much like when I pray. Some mornings I realize at this time just what it is I should be doing that day.

I continue to breathe in, focus on the number one on the exhale and pause. Sometimes I seem to lose track of just how long the pauses in my breathing last. Slowly, if I’m lucky or particularly focused on whatever appears in front of my eyes, I will continue like this for ten or fifteen minutes. I hear the birds outside my door, I recognize that the heat just went on but otherwise I am completely relaxed and “in another place”.

Slowly, I will become aware and upon counting from one to ten I will open my eyes. At this point I am aware of my breathing again and the day outside. I feel relaxed and ready for whatever comes next.

In this case, my next post will be about my exercise routine.