DAY 3

"The past should not be followed and the future not desired:
For what's past is dead and gone,
and the future is yet to come."
                  -Majjhima Nikaya III:131

Emily continued her readings and learning to meditate. She learned that she can not change others.

She took notes on "HOW TO PERFORM MINDFULNESS MEDITATION."
Step 1: Get in a comfortable position. Sitting down
or lying down with eyes slightly open.

Step 2: Focus your eyes on one spot like the
"third eye" (middle of forehead)

Step 3: Pay attention to your breathing,
when inhaling think "in," or "rising,"
or "comfort," or "surrender.
When exhaling think "out,"
or " falling away," or "letting go," or "release."

Step 4: Place your hands in a relaxing and
energizing mudra position.

Step 5: Be Aware

Step 6: Slowly come back into ordinary consciousness
-Take three long, slow, deep breaths.
-Rub the palms of your hands together
to generate heat
-Place palms over your eyes and face
-Open eyes and slowly lift your hands
away from face. Inhale deeply stretch arms
up over your head, with your hands interlocked
bend slowly to the right and then to the left.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Prison, Jail, and Holding Cells in Bates Motel

(2/29/20 Change enumerating the differences to just writing as one piece. It's been over a month now since Emily started writing this) After binge-watching Bates Motel, a 2013 TV series starring Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga, features of being locked up came to focus. Fiction is very different from reality. Perhaps the main difference is that Emily has no propensity for animalistic or reptilian self. The closest Emily got to with regards to something pathologic in her experience is what’s called Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder that stemmed from growing up in a cult. Most of the time when TV shows or movies are portraying jail or prison visitations, the prisoner and visitor is taken to a room, and they are able to talk face-to-face. Emily’s experience was vastly different. She wasn't ever able to see her visitors in person or sit across from them. The visitation was through an in-house/secure video system. Her husband and son are in the visitors' area and
Read more

DAY 2

CHUGUG, CHUGGUG, CHUGGUG...Emily was awakened by the opening of the cell doors. Samantha told her that it is breakfast time. "At 5am," she thought? But she got down from her top bunk, bruising her shins as she moves down the steps. She looked at the steel above the sink that is supposed to serve as a mirror, brushed her teeth and stepped out the cell with Samantha and the rest of the pod mates. Everyone formed a line. The officer came in and checked to make sure the cell doors are closed. As soon as she stepped out the food trays were distributed. As the line depleted, it came for Emily's turn to get her tray. After which she looked around at the tables and chairs to choose a place for her to sit in. She chose a table that had no one else sitting on it. She sat down and started to eat, but as soon as the food touched her tongue her brain registered its blandness. She thought, "it's like putting cardboard in your mouth." She tried another bite, but couldn
Read more

Day 8

Emily had lots of dreams the night before. She journaled about it and thought about things she can do to earn money when she gets out but is still on probation. She thought that she would like to apply for a grant. Another thought was writing a book like Ronald Alexander's, "Wise Mind, Open Mind." She thought of using inmates as a target audience. Dr. Alexander is about James' age. Dr. Alexander gave a speech in Washington, D.C. during the Vietnam war. She thought that perhaps she could start a practice similar to Dr. Alexander's in Atlanta with probationers as clients. She wouldn't move there but she wanted to incorporate her writing time with working with the inmates. She thought of working as a trustee there and finish her novel (or her memoir that is fictionalized). She thought of how her stories could be blogs or short stories.
Read more