It seems like I've been writing all week without really publishing anything. I have weeks like that sometimes. It seems like every time I sit down and try to put a post together, I have to get up and run off to do something and don't make it back to the computer.
There were a few things that happened to me this week that I wanted to write about, like my experience at a
UU church last Sunday, and my ride with my Dad Monday that turned out to be a family history lesson. Some of the things Mini-Me is going through...
Now I find myself staring at the end of my week. Draco comes home today and I can tell it's going to be a crazy weekend. I don't know when or if I'll have another chance to write before the beginning of next week.
I hope to be able to finish the posts I started on those other topics and maybe get them up over the weekend.
Today, I have other things in mind, though.
Even though I decided to make this a Pagan blog when I opened it, I find that I don't actually write much about Pagan stuff. This has been on my mind a good bit lately and I had to ask myself why.
There have been a few Pagan Meme's I've run across, but I just skipped over them instead of writing anything. For a while, I couldn't put my finger on why, but after giving it some thought, I think I figured it out.
I know that although I have been Pagan for going on 20 years, I haven't always been what you'd call a "practicing Pagan". I lived by the
Rede and
Rule of Three and have always had an altar set up, but that altar has largely sat and gathered dust. I fell out of practice years ago and have only recently taken up my wand again.
I think I have feared sounding stupid, or saying something wrong. I tend to forget that religion is a largely personal thing. You can share the general idea with others, but what you get from it is intensely personal. I can't say that my experiences are right or wrong, or that someone else's are either. What I get from it, may not be what you get from it. That's one of the reasons I left main-stream religion. I wasn't getting the same thing from it others were, but there, you're expected to. In Paganism, it's our differences that makes us unique and we are supposed to embrace those differences.
I admit that after so many years of being out of practice, I feel like a beginner all over again most days, so I'm going to share my journey here on my blog.
So, with that said, I'd like to discuss something new I'm learning.
The church we attend offers activities throughout the week and one of those is Meditation classes. It caught my eye on the calendar recently and I've thought about going, but I hesitated. I don't know if it's something they're teaching, or something they expect you to have experience with before you go, and I don't like to look silly, so when I saw a book on meditation (
Living Healthy Through Meditation it's still free today, by the way) for free through the Facebook page
Pagan eBooks for Free, I decided I had to download it.
I began reading it last night and even tried one of the basic techniques.
I've tried mediation in the past, and ended up disappointed. I don't know if I was doing it wrong or maybe if it was my ADD getting in the way, but I couldn't seem to muster the ability to focus my attention, without focusing on anything. I have a vivid imagination and a busy thought process and the whole "empty mind" thing was hard for me.
The techniques offered in this book are much better than some of the others I tried in the past and I was actually able to achieve a meditative state for a short time. This may not sound like much, but for someone that's been trying for almost 20 years without much in the way of results, it's huge!
I woke up this morning feeling more grounded as well. Grounding and centering have been my go-to's for managing stress ever since I learned the techniques, but I felt grounded without the need to ground (if that makes sense).
I also found that I feel more in tune with nature this morning as well. My stress level seems to have dropped noticeably, and my ability to focus this morning is better than normal.
If I can experience benefits like these from just a few minutes of meditation, I can't wait to see how much I can achieve by being able to hold it longer!
I will try to remember to post occasional updates on my journey with mediation, but I really wanted to share this book with you.
Don't worry about religious tones if you're not Pagan. This book is not religious that I've seen so far, it's just good techniques for meditation that anyone can try!
Blessings!
