Day 6 Making progress

I just completed the Day 6 session. This was about the third or fourth time I've listened to Alan Gordon's sessions on repressed sadness and anger, and I've learned more every time. My journaling today helped me feel the difference between those two emotions, especially as they relate to the particular past event (from 55 years ago!) that I was writing about. The meditation was helpful. I've been practicing Transcendental Meditation for about a year -- 20 minutes every morning and evening -- and this shorter, less structured meditation was refreshingly different.

No noticeable change in my back pain so far, but I feel like I'm making good progress on learning about my emotions.

 

Hi, Mike. I'm glad Alan Gordon's sessions are helping you.

I'm interested in knowing more about how TM is working for you. Did you need to get personal instruction from a TM guru or read about it on your own? Are you going to join the Mindfulness meditation sessions starting October 1?

I am signed up for it, and wonder if they cover how it differs from TM. TM is supposed to be easier but requires instruction from a guru.

My German teacher in college years ago talked about TM like it was the secret to living happily. I didn't understand what TM was all about back then, but would like to know your thinking on it.

 

Hi Walt,

Thanks for your questions. Sorry it's taken me a while to reply, but your questions caused me to think about some things, and I wanted to organize my thoughts before answering.

I'd been aware of TM for decades, and in the last year or two I began to read more about it. I've been advised to meditate from every quarter, it seems -- all the self-help stuff I read, my church-related programs, etc. But when I tried it, I felt like I was just sitting there wasting time, trying to no avail to "let go of my thoughts." So, although I tried several different techniques of meditation, I didn't last very long on any of them. Finally, late last fall, I decided to try TM, thinking that, if nothing else, the serious financial commitment ($700+) might motivate me to continue it. What I'd been reading spoke glowingly of the cumulative effects, insisting that even though there are benefits from one individual 20-minute session, the cumulative effects of doing it consistently are exponentially greater.

I contacted a local instructor and attended an introductory lecture. It sounded good, so I signed up, paid the fee, and made an appointment for my individual instruction in the next few days. The instructor gave me my personal mantra and guided me through the first session, with instructions to return for a couple of follow-up sessions, which I did. During that first session, I did feel a profound peacefulness and felt I was very deeply immersed in that state of "nothingness."

After rearranging my daily schedule to accommodate 20-minute sessions in the morning and late afternoon, I fell into the habit of doing it. It's been about ten months now, and I'm beginning to question the value of that 40 minutes a day. I can't name any specific benefits I've realized, although I suppose I'm a little calmer. My wife says she doesn't notice any difference. There's an inherent problem in assessing this kind of thing -- you can't know what might have occurred if you hadn't done it.

Anyway, your comments have reinforced my recent questioning whether I want to continue TM. I'll probably keep it up for at least the next couple of months, just to make it an even year, but after that I'll reevaluate things.

I haven't signed up for the mindfulness sessions. Since I just started this sprocess and I'm still doing lots of reading and inner work while working through the Structured Education Program, I don't want to spread myself too thin. I have ordered a copy of The Presence Process, and it should be delivered today.

Thanks for your interest.

 

Mike
You are making great progress. Be patient. .ha....not a TMS trait. I have no patience especially with myself. Realize it just takes time.

 

Hi, Mike. Thanks very much for the report on your TM adventures. I would go to a TM guru but don't the money.
I also cannot seem to get into a good routine of Mindfulness Meditation. For you, I think it best to stick with the SEP before adding the Mindfulness sessions. As for those, I signed up but so far have gotten nothing in my email about it. Maybe Forest will tell me how to get it.

I found some good mindfulness meditation videos in Yolutube. One I like is from Michael Sealey called "Guided Meditation for Deteachment from Over Thinking." Another is "Quick 15 minute stress relief," a talk by a woman about Jon-Kabat Zinn's mindfulness techniques.

I also find it helpful not to think about anything but what makes me feel relaxed or good, such a visualizing a sunny beach on vacation. '

Stella says "patience." I think of that and what my Mom always said, "This too will pass."