Meditating to Murder

I know that title is freakish. Scary. Ugly. I don't like it. I'm sorry if it's disturbing. But I use such dramatic juxtaposition to capture your attention and demo the reality of the images/messaging/media we consume.

Today I was meditating at my parents' home in the morning while they were watching an action movie on HBO. As I tried to produce my OM, I had a hard time centering with the background noise of primal screams and gunshot permeating from downstairs.

In many studies, scientists intentional use movie clips to manipulate the moods of participants...because that's what movies do. Just because we know it's not real, doesn't mean our bodies and emotions know it. When you're experiencing negative emotion - you go into fight or flight, your blood pressure is increased, etc.

I now choose to watch movies that give me some positive emotional value - movies that uplift, enlighten, humor, inspire, or teach me. I avoid things that are depressing or scary unless they're super good in some artistic way that's worth it.

Consider your choices in what you watch and read as much as the food you ingest. We all go to the gym and watch what we eat to take care of our bodies. But what are you doing to pro-actively take care of your emotional/psychological well-being?


Much love and peace.
S

Practicing Breathing, a Transferrable Skill

William James, THE man in psychology, says that do and your emotions will follow. Exercise is a great way to practice self determination and discipline. Talk about transferable skills. My downward dog and breathing spill over from mat to work to friends. For example, having practiced focused breathing for the day, it's now easier for me stay centered on writing my capstone instead of e-mailing, or to stay fully engaged in conversation with someone, instead of letting my mind wander to build my grocery list.

Check out the video I embedded and Yoga Yak for free yoga online.

Namaste.
s

Are you chewing yourself a new one?

It's now 1:19am. At about 1:10am I was chewing myself a new one. Here's a glimpse of the conversation I noticed in my head:

"Stella. (Okay, I don't talk to myself in the 2nd person, but will for effect here). It's 1am again! Haven't you made a commitment to yourself like a million times that you were going to go to bed earlier? I mean really, did you need to stay up watching Sex in the City, again?"

PAUSE.

"Stella. What is the big deal here? Are you really having this thought? Are you seriously beating yourself up right now for not getting to bed earlier on a holiday weekend?!?"

Perhaps it was yoga on Friday, or maybe my turning a year older last week, or maybe my practing self acceptance recently, or even the $50,000 I paid to learn about positive psychology - but whatever it was or is - the capacity to PAUSE, NOTICE, and re-direct my thoughts is the key to IT. Whatever it means.

We have about 60,000 thoughts a day. Most thoughts for most people are fast. We're so used to the noise of thoughts that it's easy to not pay attention to them. But tonight I did. I isolated a self defeating whisper that was not so much about going to bed early as it was on the gravy train toward undermining my self efficacy.

So I pulled the breaks as soon as I noticed and thought something like this instead: "So what? Maybe, you actually like going to bed late. Maybe you should F routine. You're not a routine, regular type of gal. You don't fold your shirts the same way, you enjoy wearing mismatching socks for the fun of it, so stop trying to act like an anal A job."

Standing up for myself and my behavior instead of judging it made me feel lighter. Why hadn't I thought to do that before?

This whole mental experience happened in a matter of seconds. But it's the capacity to tune into the chatter and transform the non-supporting thoughts that can change your life. Or at least, help you sleep a little better.


With much love,
S