Thursday 22 January 2015

meditation challenge...

I'm very happy to say that I am still more or less on a plateau with my health. I'm still managing to stick to the dietary changes fairly well. I have been a bit slack on the dietary supplements since my gallstones started playing up, though I'm trying to get back into the habit, especially with the vitamin D (as we are deep in the throws of winter at the moment).
I spend a few weeks each year invigilating in the exams at my local university. As I have individual requirements of my own (pacing up and down an exam hall kills me!), I tend to be put in the Individual Exam Requirements (IER) room. There are usually only a handful of students there, so you don't need to pace the room, and it's ok to read some of the time. Well, for my reading material I decided  to revisit Jelinek's book ("Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis"), to refresh on some of the science behind it. After reading the section about meditation, I thought it was about time I took the next step in my self treatment challenge and address the thorny topic of meditation.  I am not a natural mystic, and have resisted the notion of meditation, but now I have decided to look into it with as open a mind as I can. I have bought some of the books referred to by Jelinek in his book, so I can at least see where he is coming from, and maybe I will see something there for myself...an ongoing investigation!

By way of interest, the books I have recently bought, and that are sitting next to me largely waiting to be read are:
Quantum Healing, by Deepak Chopra: I've read most of this one now, and despite him referring to human cell membranes as cell walls (a cardinal sin...he is an endocrinologist and ought to know better!), he has some very inspiring ideas, and refers a lot to Ayervedic  teachings, of which, as an uncultured and uncosmic oik, I knew nothing about before!
It has some very beautiful and deeply appealing notions of who we are and how we can change our reality, but I think he makes rather too many "cancer cure" claims for me to entirely hang on his every word.
Journey Into Healing, also by Deepak Chopra: a condensed book of notable bits of his other books - plus a beginners meditation guide, which is what I will initially follow (I tried it today, but instead of getting up after 15 mins of meditation, I slept through the gentle alarm and slept for 3 hours solid! oops!)
Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom: this is a short little book which Jelinek said he found very inspiring. It is a true tale of an old don with a terminal neurological disease, and his parting words of wisdom to his young student,..I am a little apprehensive about reading this one. Jelinek said it was difficult to read when he was first diagnosed but found it inspiring when he re-read it. I'm over the first flush of fear that diagnosis brings, but I'm a soft old git and I know it's going to make me blub!
Anatomy of the Spirit, by Caroline Myss: I think Jelinek might have recommended to start by reading this one..but I didn't..

I will post an update on my spiritual sojourns...if I can get my bodymind to stay awake long enough to actually master a 15 minute meditation!

x