Comments on: Doing Nothing: Lissa’s Thoughts on Meditation, Martha Beck, Jack Kornfield, and Britney Spears

By: Lissa Rankin

Lissa Rankin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:00:04 +0000

Ah, yes, Jo. Many thanks (from all of us) for the reminder that perfection (and Nothingness) is not the goal. Peace is. And presence. Yes….

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:54:36 +0000

What’s this about being impeccable at doing Nothing? What is your intent? What part of you feels the necessity to perfect the practice of doing Nothing?

This is my take on meditation/mindfulness/doing Nothing. Go for the snippets. It happens on a moment by moment basis. If you become aware of the ping pong of thoughts happening, just simply follow your breath. Maybe that lasts for a few breath cycles before the next onslaught of random thoughts come back and then you return to sensation and breath. So what if it becomes a million snippets of meditation per day. Doesn’t that mean something and isn’t it just as valuable as 1 solid hour of meditation. Maybe we should all get meters that measure our snippets of presence during the day. Sort of like a pedometer, but for counting our meditative moments.

By: Lissa Rankin

Lissa Rankin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:24:50 +0000

Namaste, Pink sisters…(practicing doing Nothing…failing miserably-but am trying to love myself in spite of my eternal Something). And OMG, Kittie, Lisa Faulkner is a yoga instructor. My, how we’ve grown… Send a big Ommmm her way for me…

By: Kittie Johnson

Kittie Johnson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:18:54 +0000

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I might not be as bad as you about doing Nothing, or not doing Nothing, but I’m certainly not winning the serenity awards. Trying to find the time to still my mind & not let the monkeys run off with me can be challenging. Mainly cause if my mind is really racing, then it’s probably something I haven’t wanted to deal with on some level that’s setting my brain to spinning. Taking the time to stop & let my mind rest is something I’ll definitely have to work on.

It’s interesting the way yoga keeps popping up in my world between your laughter yoga posts & another friend, (formerly Lisa Faulkner) who just got licensed as a yoga instructor, it’s been on my mind a lot. I think that must just be a sign to put that one into action so that I can learn to let go & be in the moment while hopefully getting some of that good yoga mojo. This will also benefit me on so many other levels that I’m sure that it must be the right idea:-)

Meanwhile, I have to say that I started thinking about how you were growing up & I don’t think doing Nothing was ever a skill much practiced. You didn’t have Big Ed as a role model for doing absolutely Nothing…but then again he was the dad that read a book & watched TV at the same time so maybe not as Nothing as it seemed:-) Good luck with your Nothing pursuits…hmmm not really the right word, huh?

By: Christa

Christa — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:55:18 +0000

I LOVED your recap of the hike and the iPod. I can SOOOOOO relate! It’s hysterical how the universe works to send us messages.

As much as I love yoga, the Hatha variety and of late, Laughter Yoga (ha ha ha for the ta-tas!) I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to meditate in the traditional fashion. If you can’t sit in lotus and Om your brains out. Don’t.

However, I think hiking in silence is a way to bring your mind into a clear meditative state. It allows us to be in the “now”. I do think it’s important to clear the clutter from our minds and just be.

My advice (not that you asked for it mind you), is to leave your iPod at home a few days a week when you hike. Climb to the top of that lovely hill over Muir and just sit in silence and watch the ocean. Breathe the glorious west coast air and allow God (Jaba) to speak to you.

We often pray for things and ask questions but how often do we sit and listen for the answers?

In the silence, we often receive those answers.

Just my two cents. I could be wrong. *laughing*

By: Joy

Joy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:37:55 +0000

After a solid year of a fairly regular meditation practice, I am coming to understand that our bodies and minds – by their very nature – aren’t down with doing nothing. Not at all. The beauty of meditation is that we have the opportunity not only to (gently!) train ourselves to be present, but also sort of observe our bodies and minds in their constant endeavors to DOOO something. Doing nothing affords us the opportunity to step back and look at the Something we’re trying to do. Once we’re outside of it enough to observe it, it can actually be kind of entertaining, and reveals so much about who we are. And when we’re too busy to do that, even for a second, sometimes the Universe intervenes by shutting off your iPod. Love it.