This article consists of 6 parts. This is part 6. Written by Sophie Nusselder
Should everybody do yoga and/or meditate?
I don’t think so. Every human being is unique in his or her own existence. Meditation means different things to different people. There are dozens of types, styles and schools of thought offering it; including Zen, Vipassana and moving meditations like Ashtanga Yoga. But also outside the meditation school you can train your attention. Some people find it in music, others in walking in the forest and other people in dancing all night long on techno music. Although music, walking in nature or dancing on techno music may not explicitly teach mindfulness, it’s a by-product that can help bring awareness to other aspects in your life.
I play various percussion instruments. When I play the African drum this can be a form of mindfullness meditation in itself. When I play, I can feel the sensation of my fingers when I play a tone, bass or slap on the drum. I can become actively aware of my own emotional reaction to the sounds the drum is producing. I can consciously connect with the other players feeling their emotions and I can also connect with the audience feeling their reactions.
Learning new things is not solely about ‘getting the information’. When you make music, paint in public, play theatre or do any other type of creative expression; you’re transmitting an emotional expression to others as well as to yourself. Performing offers an awareness of the present moment that you would never have know existed until you tried it.
How do you train your attention?
On which moments or in what situations do you train yourself to be fully aware of the present moment? What kind of feelings do you experience in these moments or situations? How would you describe those feelings? Feel free to post them here on the website of Parimukti.
***Congratulations: you just read part 6 of this article. Missed some? ***
Here’s part 1, part 2, part 3 , part 4, part 5,
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Website: http://parimukti.com/
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