Thisandthat

Yoga meditations

harvee — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:49:52 +0000

Hi! I’m back after a very long absence. There was a death in the family mid-July last year and my posts stopped a month or so before that.

I picked up Yoga Journal to read in a waiting room and found three meditations in an article there that I want to tell you about.

The Concentration Meditation for 5-20 minutes involves deep breathing while you are comfortably seated in a chair or on the floor, knees angled below your pelvis. Inhale deeply with a slight pause at the end and then make an extended exhale while you slowly say Om. Follow up by silent meditation as you repeat Om on each exhalation.

The Mindfulness Meditation makes you aware of your breathing, your sensations and thoughts in the present, while you imagine yourself as a mountain, inhaling mountain and exhaling stable, all the while remaining aware of your surroundings and your present feelings.

The Loving Kindness Meditation invites you to imagine the horizon and the sun expanding in your inner center and radiating outward to your senses and to those around you. This while you breathe in the glow and exhale to let the light recede.

From How to Meditate, I picked up a tip of inhaling whiteness and exhaling dark clouds to clear the mind, sitting with your right hand nestled in your left, palms up, thumbs gently touching, eyes half closed, head slightly bent downward.

We’ll see if this allows me to breathe better even when I’m not meditating or thinking about it!

Magpie Tales: Blue Willow

harvee — Sun, 16 May 2010 01:50:30 +0000

Magpie Tales is hosted weekly by Willow. Visit her for more poetry, prose that have been created by using her photo as a prompt.

Blue Willow Nonsense Rhyme

Willow, willow

On the wall

Who is fairest of them all?

Willow, willow,

Count to three.

Fly free, away

With me.

Magpie Tales 11: Cane

harvee — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:51:12 +0000

Elegant walking stick, cane

Magpie Tales is hosted weekly by Willow. Visit her for more poetry, prose that have been created by using her photo as a prompt.

Cane

Can the cane!
I’ll walk by myself,
And don’t think I can’t

Just because I’m ninety-three

And can barely see your face.
I imagine your frown,

A blight on your forehead,
Those features I loved
So well, and so long ago.

- Harvee

Magpie Tales: Time Will Tell

harvee — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:11:26 +0000

Willow at Magpie Tales invites you to post a vignette or poem inspired by the photo of the week. This week’s photo prompt is a “bright watch.”

Time Will Tell

Time will tell
If you loved me

As you said you would,
Even though

Miles away
And worlds apart.

Your thoughts
Brush against my ear,
Like faint whispers,
Mists, of eternity.

Meme 2

harvee — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:46:43 +0000

I was tagged for this meme by Mark at Hawaiian Eye: Mark Troy on Crime Fiction. I don’t hope to match his hilarious answers. You must read them; I guarantee laughs. His post will also lead you to others who have done this meme.

Here’s what it’s about:

I Cannot Tell A Lie meme:
“Sometimes you can learn more about a person by what they don’t tell you. Sometimes you can learn a lot from the things they just make up. If you are tagged with this Meme, lie to me. Then tag 7 other folks (one for each deadly sin) and hope they can lie.”

Pride: What is your biggest contribution to the world?
I helped to ghost write an international best selling novel about old world pirates, called Shillings on Your Chest. To research, I had to go to the island of Jamaica. I visited the old town of Port Royal, a real pirate’s haven, in those days anyway. The great earthquake of 1692 destroyed the town and the pirates both. I had a grand time drinking Captain Morgan rum and coke and chatting with the locals.

Envy: What do your co-workers wish they had that is yours?
My vast knowledge about pirates, piracy, and my huge cache of Jamaican rum.

Gluttony: What did you eat last night?
I had two large milkshakes, three hamburgers, and a huge pile of fries at Johnny Rockets while listening to 60′s music by The Four Seasons. My better half sat and shook his head. Well, I was hungry!

Lust: What really lights your fire?
A roomful of books and genuine fake antiques at cheap prices.

Anger: What is the last thing that really pissed you off?
A bunch of workmen came in to fix the the leaky roof and the squeaky floor last month. They left with my $1300 pair of binoculars and my set of exercise tapes when my husband wouldn’t pay them.

Greed: Name something you keep from others?
I don’t share my sakura tea or my bottle of Osaka saki with anyone. In fact, the bottle has never been opened. Also, I secretly count ducks in a row when I go to sleep.

Sloth! I forgot Sloth! How slothful of me!
What’s the laziest thing you’ve ever done?

It’s not filling out memes and passing them on and notifying people – that is Not Slothful. The laziest thing I’ve ever done is affect a limp and wear a pair of crutches so that my neighbors would snow plow my driveway and sidewalks after a long hard snowfall.

Want to lie? Leave a comment, and you are automatically tagged. Or just go ahead and do it on your own!

Tagged:

Meme 1

harvee — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:43:01 +0000

Free association meme, just for fun!

Banter :: chat
Amazing :: wow!
Towel :: hanging
Cinema :: movie
Newspaper :: grrr!
Not good :: yuck
My type :: tall, dark, and handsome
Twinkle :: star
Actress :: Liv Ullman
Daft :: woozy

To do this meme, click here

Tweeting your book

harvee — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:44:36 +0000

Omigosh! R.N. Morris, a writer from London, is twitterising his novel, A Gentle Axe, printing a sentence at a time.

I read a few sentences but of course need to read more to figure out what the whole book is about.

Spring fever

harvee — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:08:55 +0000

So, spring if finally here and it’s warmer outside, but I’m still cocooning indoors! What’s the problem?

I get woozy outdoors! Allergies! The new buds, pollen in the air, and I start sneezing and actually feel sleepy!

So, can’t wait for summer.

Tai chi and curried goat

harvee — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:47:05 +0000

Drove to Canada in fog and rain for 6 hours on Friday and returned in fog and sleet on Monday.

At the border they told me no lamb or goat meat was allowed in the U.S., even if cooked. (This scared me as I had just eaten curried goat in Toronto earlier that day!!)

Started tai chi classes today. They tell me that in three months I will know how to mime the 8 movements! And in the second three months, I will start to get the hang of it. Guy there told me that after a year, he still doesn’t “know anything.” (He may be right; his movements could be smoother).

For me it will be trying to coordinate hand movements with my feet positioning. I have to figure out how to visualize the whole thing. I know my fingers have to be spread out slightly, like a tiger’s claw.

Tiger’s claw! Isn’t this supposed to be gentle exercise?

To retire or not

harvee — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:01:37 +0000

What does retirement mean? Retirement from a 9-5 schedule usually, but from anything else?

Well, I’ve retired into blogging, reading, cooking, and avoiding the cluttered basement.

Some people write and paint. I am getting up the gumption to do one or both.