Off, into the water, I dove, for my daily swim. As usual, taking advantage of the opportunity to practice mindfulness, paying attention to each stroke, or at least trying to . . . Today, something happened, that caused me to wonder. For the first time, I heard the sounds as I moved through water. And what a cacophony it was, and so loud! That I had never noticed those sounds until this day, made me realize how narrow my awareness can be. What I had taken for mindfulness before, was instead my idea of what mindfulness should me, mainly of the body sensations associated with the repetitive motions of my arms hitting the water.
I think too much . . .
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first time saw article on swiming meditation thanks..
ReplyDeleteThere cannot be just one method sufficient for all human beings. To flush out repressions and pressures of the mind such methods are required which bring cathsarsis.Learn lots of Intresting Meditation techniques
At this point in practice (9 years) it seems to me that mindfulness is much misunderstood in the Buddhist world by teachers & students alike. Much of the time it tends to degrade perception into a kind of robotic deadness, slavishly locked on to some small sliver of experience. Your skillful noticing in the swimming meditation is exactly the kind of opening up to fuller awareness of whatever is that I also try to practice, after having been taught the opposite way for years. Kudos ! How wonderful ! Thanks for your blog ! ;-)
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Thanks D, for sharing. In my case, narrowing of awareness I experienced may have resulted from earlier efforts at using swimming time for concentration practice. Just like walking meditation instruction often involves focusing on steps. Which is fine, unless obviously more compelling object presents itself . . .
ReplyDeleteMarguerite, I have just begun reading your blog and find that all of your posts are so lovely and thoughtful. I am not a swimmer, but I love how this is a metaphor for all things in life that we find ourselves engaged in. It reminds me of something I read over last summer by an author whose name I don't have at hand. Our mindfulness can work in different directions. That is, one day we might meditate and focus on the breath, whereas the next day we might meditate and focus on the birds' music outside the window. I think this is a beautiful thing, that we can adapt to the world so easily so as to notice something new every time we follow routines.
ReplyDeleteThanks Juliana! Mindfulness is one of greatest treasures, as far as I am concerned, with concentration as its close cousin. :) Do you have meditation practice?
ReplyDeleteHi, Marguerite! Thank you for stopping by at my blog ... as you can see, I am still a novice at blogging. I do meditate, though I meditated much more while I was pregnant. I absolutely love it. Lately, meditation accompanies my yoga practice. When I am done with school in about a month, I plan to do more yoga, meditate more, as well as learn more about Buddhism (which has been put on hold since I gave birth), so your blog has been a source of inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI just read your other blog and enjoyed it very much! Thank you for the link...
ReplyDeleteHi Marguerite! I was googling info on swimming meditation, having recently done laps--and look what came up close to the top--YOU! Great blog, enjoy your facebook posts as well. Namaste.
ReplyDeleteOh! thank you Cass! Long time no read you :)
ReplyDeleteI wish you well, always.