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Interactive…What do you want to know? August 3, 2010

Posted by Sisou in meditation, mindfulness.
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I am looking for ways to reinvent  this blog , in order I keep it more active.

Therefore, if you have  questions or topics you would like to be addressed, please leave them in the comments.

You can ask questions or suggest  topics that deal with Meditation, Buddhism, Paganism,  Yoga and other related spiritual topics.

I will not always have the answers ( especially since these subjects rarely have answers ) but I will do my best.

Benefits of Everyman Sleep Cycle January 5, 2012

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As I go through the growing pains of transitioning into Everyman sleep cycle, I find myself constantly asking, ” is it worth it?” So I decided to do research and compile of list of benefits in order to keep motivated during the painful adaptation stage. Here are a few benefits experienced by bloggers in the past who have tried Everyman:

Benefits:
More vivid dreams
More time to do whatever
More alone time
Ability to work with less disruption
Time seems longer
Avoiding back/neck, etc cause by sleeping the wrong way
euphoria
better quality of sleep
Improved dream recall
More energy during the day
Benefits/side effects I have noticed so far in my transition:
I now have an easy time falling asleep. Though my change from light sleeper is also making it easy to doze off unintentionally.
Time seems much longer, I can sleep for ten mins and it feels like an hour.
Feeling more productive and energetic during certain awake period . But this so far is countered by the period of horrible exhaustion and zombieness
* hopefully I will make it past the adaptation period and then the pros with outweight any cons.

New Year’s Blessing January 1, 2012

Posted by Sisou in paganism, prayer, spirituality, wiccan, witch.
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As we reflect on our mistakes and regrets from the past year.
We honor them as lessons learned.
Now it is time to let them burn away.
Relinquish the past to make room for the new.
May the new year be blessed with fresh discoveries, with dreams fulfilled and obstacles overcome.
May the Spirit continue to be our guide Now and Always.

Sleep is for the Weak December 31, 2011

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ImageCrosspost with NaturallySisou Tumblr blog

For the last few weeks I have toying with polyphasic sleep. Specifically the Uberman and Everyman cycle.

Uberman :It is basically a cycle where a person takes six thirty minute naps each day instead doing eight hours in one set.

Everyman: involves one core sleep of 1.5- 3 hours and three naps.

I experimented when both Uberman sleep and Everyman but have now decided to commit to Everyman( with three hour core) for the reminder of my winter break and longer if I can pull it off.

The benefit is of course having more waking time. However, I am more interested side effects such as more lucid dreams and the ability to fall asleep quickly. Polyphasic sleep works because it trains the brain to go into Rem sleep faster. Since I have always had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep I’m hoping this experiment will help me gain some control over my patterns. Time will tell if the experiment will be successful, useful or a waste of time. I am still skeptic about whatever changing one’s sleep cycle so dramatically is possible or healthy but it is worth a try.

To be continued…

More information on Polyphasic sleep: 

http://www.highexistence.com/alternate-sleep-cycles/

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/

 

My Yule 2011 December 25, 2011

Posted by Sisou in pagan, Sabbats.
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My partner and I keep our  holiday celebrations pretty simple and fun.

20111224-214527.jpg

We created a Yule -Christmas altar.

20111224-214727.jpg Then went outside to perform a snow ritual. It consisted of creating a circle in the snow, invoking elements, spirits and God/ddess with snow angels and snow drawings. We also raised the energy and celebrated the beginning of winter with a snow fight.

20111224-215043.jpg Ending the day sitting by the fire and singing pagan themed carols.

It is nice being able  create  your own traditions :)

Simple meditation Instruction December 14, 2011

Posted by Sisou in buddhism, meditation, mindfulness.
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This semester, I was thrilled to be able to take Mindfulness instructor training. Basically, this class prepares students to teach the basic steps of meditation and also become a kinda meditation guide (Someone who can check in with  you about your practice).

The first session we went over the basic procedure of mindfulness meditation.*
I figured this might be  usual  information for  people starting out in meditation or people wanting  a refresher. There is always some wisdom in coming back to the basics when you are feeling ungrounded in practice…

Basic meditation Instruction in three steps:

1. Working with the posture:

We began meditation by taking our seat and grounding into the body. Beginning with bringing attention to one’s seat, making sure we are seated in the middle of cushion. Then, moving to the legs, place them in a comfortable relaxed position. Legs do not need to be in lotus pose but one leg can be place in front of the over, slightly crossed in front of the groin area. Knees also should be lower than the hips.  If in a chair make sure you are seated with feet firmly placed on the ground. If necessary place a pillow under your feet.                                                                                                                      Now, move one’s attention to the arms, they should be loose, relaxed with hands placed slightly above the knees (or a comfort distance depending on the length of one’s arms.)                                                                                                                Next, imagine the torso raising up, like a string with a balloon at the end is moving toward the spine and out the crown of the head. The back should be upright but not stiff. The shoulders should be relaxed with chest and heart open. The head floating up, relaxed with a slight tuck to the chin.                           Relax the jaw with mouth slightly open and tongue placed behind upper teeth.                                                                                                                                          Finally, the eye gaze, about six inches ahead or a comfortable distance, lids can be partially open, with a gentle soft focus. If one becomes sleepy, opening the eyes more and raise the gaze.

2. Working with the breath:
In order to practice mindfulness of the present moment we bring our attention again and again to  a particular object. In this way, we are learning to keep coming back, returning to our direct experience. Usually in mindfulness practice we use the breath as our anchor. In order to practice with the breath we simply breath normally and notice where in our bodies we feel the breath. We do not hold on to the breath. We experience and let it go as it fades away. Then we return to the newly arising breath and continue that process.

3. Working with thoughts:

When we lose awareness of our breath it is because we are thinking. We label the thought “thinking” and there is no need to have judgment about the thinking.  Thoughts are not a problem and are a part of the meditation process. Just label them and come back to the breath again.

Finally, if you like writing, you can journal afterwards by asking yourself what you observed or experienced during the meditation.

*meditation is taught in a Shambala Buddhist fashion though can be used by non-Buddhists, of course.

formspring.me December 14, 2011

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Ask me questions about meditation http://www.formspring.me/Sisouland

Quote of the Day: A Path with a Heart December 12, 2011

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When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and the end of spiritual practice. Only in this moment can we discover that which is timeless. Only here can we find the love that we seek. Love in the past is simply memory, and love in the future is fantasy. Only in the reality of the present can we love, can we awaken, and can we find peace and understanding and connection with ourselves and the world.
Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart

Book Review: Praying with Body and Soul* December 10, 2011

Posted by Sisou in prayer.
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My prayer now includes silence and stillness, movement and imagination, sensuality and sexuality, laughter and play, work, service, and the struggle for justice. Prayer has become for me the practice of bringing all of who I have been, all of who I am, and all of who I am becoming into relationship with God. When I bring all of myself to God, I am praying with body and soul. ~Jane Vennard~

I have been trying to think up something to say about Praying with Body and Soul by Jane Vennard other than, ” This Book is awesome.”

I knew from chapter one that I was going to fall in love with this book because the author and I seem to have the same philosophy around spirituality. Strange since I am a Wiccan in a Buddhist Chaplain degree program while she is an ordained Christian minister. Our views should be on opposing  sides of reality, right?

I believe that faith and spiritual practice is not about being nice and holy. It is about emerging oneself into one’s spiritual journey in order to be fully present to what is divine. It is about wholeness and not about putting on a false face to please some distant deity. Vennard’s way of approaching spirituality is very much in line with these beliefs.

Jane Vennard speaks about prayer, faith and practice in terms of coming into complete relationship with God. Her book teaches readers to let go of barriers that separate them from the full expression of God. It other words, stop being polite and afraid and start really praying. Chapter after Chapter she challenges the reader to show God all our different faces. The Book teaches how to pray in every situation and let go of assumptions that there is a right way or a right moment for pray. The Book reassures that the divine wants to hear our true reality and wants to be in relationship with us. Of course like most relationships this means embracing honesty , fearless and the willingness to be vulnerable.

So, I wound recommend this book to anyone looking to bring prayer into their everyday lives. If you are not Christian you may have to substitute some of the terms used. But it is worth it, if you want your prayers to become more alive and real. If you want an honest relationship with whatever you hold sacred.

*This is a honest review, Book was purchased with my own money.

Prayer to Higher Self May 13, 2011

Posted by Sisou in prayer, spirituality.
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I pray to my higher self,

Let me be true
Let me take off all the masks others want me to wear
and Name myself
What I want to be, what I am
I answer to fire and water, to silent and noise, rage and love.
Dark and light are both my friends
I am free to be, proud to be
all this and more
may I only look for approval in my heart and with the Divine spirt.
Pleasing no one but my higher self and the eternal cosmos.
May I be exactly what I am meant to be.

Blessed be

Happy May Day May 1, 2011

Posted by Sisou in paganism.
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Happy May Day to all you Pagan/Witchy types,

Since, I am writing finals like “what is buddha nature,” I do not have time to write a post on May Day.

But here are some good articles to get your May Day read on…

  • Although it’s not recognized in the U.S. or Canada, May Day is one of the biggest bank holidays elsewhere in the world.(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/01/may-day-facts_n_855684.html#s271660
  • Jonathan Coulton, an American singer-songwriter, has written a song that celebrates the first day of May, and expresses the way some Pagans might indeed feel about this day. After doing a bit of searching around on Youtube, I have found a video of this song that has been translated into sign language, that my Deaf readers might thus be able to watch and understand it along with everyone else.http://deafpagancrossroads.com/2011/05/01/its-the-first-day-of-may/
  • A Collection of May Day Musings
  • May Day from an activist and feminist perspective http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2011/05/01/happy-may-day/
Peace out and Blessed be.
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