What is your practice/sadhana?

[BlueElephant]

The amount of divisive input in this forum is quite alot. I have not noticed how much until now. I am glad for the patience many have here though ! Due to daily spiritual practice or Sadhana no doubt, haha.

Yes, the signifiers of a healthy spirituality include tolerance and broadmindedness. Given the shortcomings of words this seems important. The very nature of spirituality suggests that voicings here or in any other context really are opinions.
.

[Starman]

I do quiet meditation upon awakening from sleep everyday, and go through most of my waking hours in inner silence. I also occasionally read spiritually inspirational material which I acquired many decades ago. Often I will also do quiet meditation before going to sleep, depending on how tired I may be.

I have a lot of spiritually oriented stuff from past decades, and try to engage in a focused spiritual retreat once a month, but there are months where I don’t do a retreat. I design these retreats to either take place in my home or I go on a camping trip into the great outdoors for a week or so.

My retreats usually last at least 3-days, and they involve some fasting, i.e. a juice fast or other type of fast. Lots of quiet meditation, relaxing Epsom salt baths, listening to spiritual discourse and inspirational music, which I have on hand, etc. The retreats are all designed differently every month, depending on whether I do them at home or in the great outdoors, although meditation and fasting are usually always involved.

I do not watch any television, turn off my cell-phone, and spend no time on the computer, during these self imposed retreats. I have been doing these retreats for decades and they recharge, refresh, and rejuvenate me. I feel energized after doing one of my monthly retreats, and actually doing quiet meditation everyday makes the retreats effortless, and I look forward to them.

I do not look for what anyone can do or what others are doing; I draw on what has worked for me in the past. What has spiritually rejuvenated me over the past decades of my own personal spiritual journey. My past journey involved me living in and ashram, following a guru, and having a very disciplined spiritual life.

Having previously served in the U.S. Army I try to approach my spiritual practice with military like disciple, although I have more fun and joy doing it than I had with military life. The thing is after doing my practice for a long time it snow balls, and carries me. If I don’t do my practice I feel out of balance. But it does me much more than I do it.

Starman:

Thank you deeply for your contribution, as per others.

May I ask you some advice re: meditation?

[Starman]

Yes! But I may not have and answer.

In meditation the coarser thoughts and feelings, once resolved. Meditation mostly quiet. But there are underlying beliefs and thoughts that are much more subtle, or perhaps even unspoken. They come out in daily life, perhaps attitudes held, verbalized but not during meditation (as sitting is stronger than these). How do you resolve those, Starman? How do you investigate those?

Thanking,
JL

[Starman]

Janielee, I got carried away here with this lengthily post……..

There are definitely layers, and in meditation the deeper you go, the more you will encounter things that have been consciously, or consciously, stuffed down inside. Some of these things may be from a very young age, childhood, or even past life stuff.

There are many ways to do inner work, or another way to say it is “working with your own energy.” Because regardless what it feels like, it is energy configured in such a way that is unbalanced. The key is to bring it to the surface.

We are trying to bring our inner light out to the surface and allow it to shine, but often there is stuff that prevents that; stuff that first has to come to the surface and be exposed, and in so doing we shine light on that stuff.

Journaling is one of the most popular ways that people discover their inner workings, but drawing pictures of what it feel like, is it sharpe, dull, what colors would you assign to it, etc. You used the word “courser” in your post which infers something that is hard. Basically I am talking about art therapy.

I don’t know of and instant fix, healing the inner child is a journey. It is all journeys within journey’s. Often it has something to do with a script that we imprinted on ourselves with our internal dialogue, or self talk. We are manipulating energy when we speak, think, and act.

I used to help mental health patients make up therapeutic audio recordings for themselves. Often I would have them write out a healing script and then have them record that script and listen to it over and over during their day. Your subconscious will respond to your own voice more readily than it will someone else’s.

It is sort of like affirmations or guided imagery. Below I have posted such a script for healing the wounded child. Not saying you have a “wounded child,” but just offering this as a suggestion. It helps to imagine this stuff as you read the script. Keep in mind that you are always manipulating energy. So here is and example of a healing script; it might be said to be our inner parent nurturing our inner child.

HEALING MESSAGES:
Right now allow yourself to be very little, a new born child, and listen with the ears of a new born child. (Your inner parent speaking to your inner child)

I am glad you were born. You were courageous and you wanted to live. I want you to live. You’re beautiful in every way. We’ve looked forward to your birth. I love you. You are able to fully be your self and I support you. I enjoy the love you have to give. I enjoy holding you, rocking you, and feeding you. You are fun to play with and it is a special time we have together. You’re growing everyday. You have all the time you need to be a child. I love you.

Now allow yourself to listen with the ears of a two-year old to four-year old. (Your inner parent speaking to your inner child)

I like you just the way you are. I will never leave you. You can say “No!” It’s okay to get dirty. You’re more important than a clean house. I support your freedom and I will always be here for you. I will not abuse you or hurt you in any way. I will always treat you with true love and affection. Its okay to cry and its okay to be angry. You don’t have to be nice unless you feel like being nice. The problems in the family are not your fault. You don’t need to fix our problems. You can just be a little kid. I will support you in being who you are.

Now listen with the ears of a school age child 5 to 10 years old. (Your inner parent speaking to your inner child)

You can be who you are at school and stand up for your self. I will support you. I will listen to you. I love you just the way you are. Tell me if you’re afraid and we can talk about it. I encourage your growth and you’re maturing. It’s okay to make mistakes. I am proud of you. I am willing to nurture that which is truly you. You can be different than me and I will support you in that process. I appreciate your increasing ability to show your love. I am here for you and will help you with your fears. I love the way you look as you grow up.

Now listen with the ears of a teenager. (Your inner parent speaking to your inner child)

You are becoming your own person in every way. I will help you in any way that I can. You may have different interests than mine and I value your uniqueness. It’s alright to be afraid. I support you in your exploration of self. You will create what is important to you, but know that you belong. Even as you continue to explore who you are, you belong. I support you in taking care of yourself and taking responsibility for your actions. I acknowledge our differences as well as our common threads. I apologize if I’ve hurt you. I know I’ve made mistakes. I trust you and I value you. I am willing to be with you no matter what you are feeling. You don’t have to do things perfectly. I hear your fears. I love you.

Now listen with the ears of a young adult. (Your inner parent, or present self, speaking to your inner child)

You’re becoming your own person in every way. I will help you in every way that I can. I support you. You can talk to me and receive support around sexual issues. I am willing to have you discover your own truth in this area as well as in other areas. I see that you express yourself and your ideas very well. You are a thinking and feeling person and I value what you have become. I know it is difficult sometimes. You don’t need to have all of the answers. I trust you.

Now listen with the ears of and adult. (Your inner parent, or present self, speaking to your inner child)

I trust your judgment. You can trust your feelings and know what is right for you. I love and approve of you just the way that you are. I love to see you expressing yourself creatively. I know that you are growing emotionally. You can make your own decisions about where you want to work, where you want to live, and who you want to be with. Your sexuality is a natural part of life. I applaud you for who you have become. I enjoy talking with you and hearing about your experiences. I love you as you learn to express your love more fully. I will always be your friend. I honor our friendship. You can always come home.

SUMMARY:
This is the short version and it is just and example. It goes on like this through the various stages of life right up to old age, and the script that each adult writes pertains to their own journey with healing messages germane to them that they may not have received along the way. Just thought I’d share this little technique. But keep in mind when you speak, think, or act, you are manipulating energy. Thoughts and self talk mold and shape what is going on within us. It molds and shapes our attitude, etc.

Peace and Good Journey

This is truly extraordinary. I have tears in my eyes just reading it; some of it too close. As I sat there before, and by myself, often I will hear the silence. It's all encompassing. I wish I could stay there in times like this Thank you for the kind advice.

Gratefully yours.
JL