Image by Daniel John Buchanan
Snuggled up warm with a good book, no TV, no Internet, just a stove to boil tea and a fire to keep me warm. Complete darkness and silence when I want to sleep, and fresh air and bright light to help wake me up in the morning. I could really do with retreating to this cabin at the moment…
I’ve been away from this blog for a while, because I have been too embarrassed to post and admit that I haven’t been doing anything to achieve a calmer life. I haven’t been meditating, I’ve neglected my yoga practice and my anxiety has come back full force. Starting a new job, transitioning to life post-university and dealing with other personal issues has lead to stress and panic. So, very simply I haven’t wanted to sit with or meditate on my feelings recently, let alone write about it!
Today however, out of the blue, I felt compelled to come back here. Back to my little neglected blog. I have decided to take a different approach. This will still, slowly but surely, document my path to greater awareness and mindfulness, but it will also be my little online refuge where I can post beautiful pictures and inspirational articles/quotes that I find.
This is the first of these posts, my little cabin in the snow…
My personal feeling Emily is that you would do well to return to metta meditation, the one you called meditation on loving kindness. It is compassion that you need to emphasize right now, and that compassion needs to start with yourself.
All these people in that meditation – friends, neutrals, enemies – are kind, precious and wonderful. As are you. Everything that we enjoy comes from the kindness of others. Each of them is a precious lesson and opportunity for us to learn and love. And all are wonderful as potentially enlightened beings. As are you too!
I would really get into compassion for a while. Perhaps the rest can wait.
Thank you Storm. I think you are right. I definitely do have a tendency to be very hard on myself.
I think I have to try and remember that this blog, and my attempts at meditation are not about achieving perfection. It’s the journey that counts after all