FPIAFW Week 2: Keeping The Body In Mind

[Vixine]

To paraphrase Jack Lemmon, I was the only man in the world with clenched hair.

Ha - I am this way too. I am still working on awareness of my neck and shoulders every single day because I've been walking around with my shoulders around my ears for so long it's taking a while to ease that up.

[JonW]

"I've been walking around with my shoulders around my ears for so long..."

I have an image of Harry Hill in my head for some reason...

[Hambostein]

Hi There !! ... it's me again, I've been busy trying to catch you all up with the FPIAFW course, and I'm nearly there, I've read through the First Week, now starting Week 2, so by the end of this week I feel I will be ready to start the Week 3 with everyone.

I've been incorporating the Meditation 1 (Body & Breath) into my morning meditation for the past couple of days, and included the Meditation 2 (Body Scan) this morning.

As I've said I've been on a 1 hr per week Meditation/Mindfulness course for the past 5 weeks, and we have been doing similar practices to these so I felt quite comfortable with these Meditations, they were different but similar if you get my drift.
One thing I have been noticing doing the Body Scan is how bad my posture is, and how knotted and tense my poor back feels, even when meditating sitting on my comfy sofa with my back supported, so any tips on back exercises, improving posture would be appreciated, I do think I have to do something about this.

And I have now devoured a Raisin for the cause !! .... took some doing, believe me .... couldn't find any in our kitchen, but being a resourceful chap, I rescued one from a packet of Museli, then fondled it slowly and chewed it for as long as I could, then spent quite a few minutes trying to get the seed out of my teeth, I can still remember vividly the feel/taste of the experience, which is good for me.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a Chocolate Covered Raisin next, just hope I can manage to fondle it without getting the Chocolate all over my fingers, can see problems there.......

Hambo

[JonW]

"One thing I have been noticing doing the Body Scan is how bad my posture is, and how knotted and tense my poor back feels, even when meditating sitting on my comfy sofa with my back supported, so any tips on back exercises, improving posture would be appreciated, I do think I have to do something about this."

Great to hear it's all going well, Hambostein.
Regards posture, I wonder if meditating on a sofa, however comfortable, might be conducive to slight slouching which may be bad for your back. Have you considered a meditation stool?
I bought this one and it's served me very well.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CalmingBreath-C ... B005UMN41U
It's designed with a slight slope so very easy to adjust your posture when you start feeling pain. I'd recommend buying the cushion for it too for extra comfort.
I used to suffer from periodic pain in my lower back but haven't had any pain since I started meditating on the stool. It's easily transportable too.

[piedwagtail91]

i'll second a meditation stool, it makes things a lot more comfortable.
this http://bluebanyan.co.uk/meditation-cushions/zafu-cushions-buckwheat.html
runs a meditation stool a close second.
we've just had a day of mindfulness and i spent the day alternating between the two.
i find a settee or armchair to be too soft for meditaion.

[FeeHutch]

I lay down for the body scan and find that the most neutral position because I am not creating any extra pressure or pain points in my body as that is something I have to be mindful of.
I love my meditation stool for short sittings and am trying to build up the amount of time I can spend sat comfortably on it.

This weeks has been interesting for me. I had some unexpected rests from a medical exam and am waiting to be sent to hospital for further testing. I have had to be extra mindful this week not to get myself into a complete panic, race ahead mentally to the worst possible outcome and cause myself mental distress which would manifest itself as further physical discomfort. I have found doing the body scan a reassuring and calming meditation, it has helped me remain connected to what I feel and helped me nurture self compassion.

A close friend of mine is also dealing with a lot of fear and uncertainty right now. His brother is in hospital very unwell but it is not something he feels able to talk about. I am worried for him, his partner and of course his brother and want to help in anyway I can. I have tried to be very mindful not to inadvertently make either of them feel crowded or obliged to tell me anything they don't want to while still letting them know that I will do anything I can to help if they need me. This has definitely felt like one of those times when mindfulness has been a very very prominent and concious guide for me.

[calm_one]

Sleeeep is my biggest problem with the body scan. I have never really enjoyed the body scan when I've tried meditation in the past. However I do like how its different, breathing into the parts of the body and so on.

The main issue I have with this meditation is I have to fight to stay awake. I don't know what it is about it but its instant sleep for me (annoyingly if I do it at bed time it doesn't have this effect)

I might try doing in a seated position rather than laying down.

I'm doing yoga tonight, so I'll make sure to be scanning my body while I do that too.

[Gareth]

Don't fight it. If you fall asleep then you were obviously tired and needed the sleep. Just meditate another time; no pressure.

[FeeHutch]

Gareth is right. For me, a big part of being mindful means really paying attention to what my body is trying to tell me. It sounds like your body may be trying to tell you when it is actually tired as opposed to when you think you should be tired if that makes sense?

When I first started trying to manage my extreme fatigue with my OT she explained to me that if I didn't act on the warning signs my body gave that I was getting increasingly exhausted and tend to myself, as well as falling over a lot my body would start to give me the warning signs earlier and earlier because it would stop trusting me to listen.

As Gareth also says, no pressure

[Steve]

I've also done the body scan whilst walking and found this good. It's different in that you don't experience the stillness of the body (obviously!) but instead you become one with your body as you move. If you fall asleep whilst walking then you know for sure that you're short on sleep!

Steve