Meditation

In order to deal with the stress in my life, I have started meditation. After much research, watching programs on meditation, reading books, talking to others, and searching the internet, I decided on what was right for me. My meditation consists of a quiet environment, and a burning candle. For 10 minutes I concentrate about seeing nothing but the flame of the burning candle, staring calmly at the yellow tip of the fire, allowing my eyes to relax and the images around that flame to fade to darkness. When it feels right, I close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing, when I feel my mind start to wander, I open my eyes just enough to see that flame again and re-concentrate on that flame to quiet my thoughts.

The goal of my meditation is to relieve the everyday stresses I've been letting get to me, and calm my thoughts. My hope is that relieving these issues I will be able to sleep better, won't feel like I need to play games to relax, will be able to get a good night's sleep, and will have the centering of body that will allow me to naturally and safely drop some excess weight I've been carrying. I also hope to see an improvement in my immune system, my energy level, my drive to complete things I've started, my memory, and concentration. I think my family would be happy to see an improvement in my mood swings too.

Sounds like a lot for such a simple thing as meditating for 10 minutes a day, and who knows I may be hoping for too much here. But my research has shown me that stress can cause immune problems, moodiness, difficulty sleeping, and weight gain, so why wouldn't relief of that stress cause a reversal of those problems? We'll see how it goes.

Until next time,

The Blogoholic

Funny Sleepers

My husband (whom I will be calling GB in order to protect him from utter embarrassment, and I won't tell you what it stands for because if he found out I did he'd wring my neck!) has a habit of saying and doing the funniest things in his sleep - besides the horribly loud snoring. So I've decided to keep a log of some of these things. (So be sure to come back and check out any more stuff I add to this post.)

One of the things I vividly remember is one night several years ago we were in bed, and he was snoring so loud I couldn't sleep (I bet many of you have been there). Well, I nudged him and whispered "Roll over, you're snoring." Well, he yelled back (and I mean yelled, in a very angry voice), "I'm not even asleep, I can't be snoring. It's the dog." To which I nearly burst out laughing, since I had been watching him snore, could tell where it was coming from, and the dog was in our son's bedroom at the time. When I told him the story in the morning, he didn't remember any of it. Which is always the case.

Here's some of the other things he has said:
* DB! Come take off my shoes. (He wasn't wearing shoes at the time) - DB is what I call my son, it's short for Destructo Boy, which I'll explain in detail eventually.

* GB: "Who took the pictures?"
Me: "What pictures?"
GB: "The pictures on the computer?"
Me: "What computer?"
GB: "Your computer?"
Me: "There aren't any pictures on my computer..."
GB: "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

* GB: "DB!" (who had been in bed for an hour)
Me: "He's in bed, what do you need?"
GB: "Tell him to bring me the words"
Me: "What words?"
GB: "He needs to bring me the words so I can explain them."
Me: "What words are you talking about?"
GB: "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Until next time,

The Blogoholic

The Spooky Sounds of the Night

I lay here in bed staring at the shapes in the ceiling. I can hear the whirling and faint ticking of the ceiling fan ticking. *rattle, rattle* What was that! I freeze for a moment and try and place the sound. Oh wait, that was just one of the dogs rolling around in her sleep, her tags clinking together. Then comes the creaking. Was that a footstep? Is there someone in my house? Oh no. What's going to happen now? I hold perfectly still, hold my breath, and listen harder. No more sounds. Well, perhaps I should feel comforted by the fact that we have an alarm system in place. Did I remember to set it? Shoot, get out of bed, go check the alarm. Yep, it's set. What am I so worried about?

I go back to bed, curl up with my blanket and close my eyes. What was that?! I don't recognize that sound. So many thoughts run through my head of all the things this person I'm sure has snuck into my house is planing to do. Do I wake up my husband? He still gives me a hard time about the last time I woke him up for nothing. Breath! The dogs aren't barking, so it's probably nothing, right? What if he's so quiet they haven't heard him yet? Stop it! Stop thinking all these things. There is no one in the house. It's just the creaking of the house settling. The normal typical noises of the night. I knew there was a reason I stay up so late that I'm exhausted by the time I go to bed. It's so I fall asleep before I can hear the creapy noises. Why is my house trying to scare me at night?

The house! It's not someone sneaking in, it's the house. It's haunted, or has a mind of it's own. What is it house? What did I do to you? What didn't I do? Would you like a new paint job? Maybe it didn't like the color from the last time. Maybe it's the flooring, what if the house liked the carpeting because it was warmer? . . . . .

OK, now I know I'm suffering from sleep deprivation. The house is trying to scare me because it liked the carpeting better? What is wrong with me? Have I completely lost it? No, just tired. Need to sleep. But the noises, the sounds, the spooky shadows in the night. How can I sleep? Must sleep, can't stay up anymore. Pull the blanket over my head, because every child knows that pulling the blanket over your head protects you from the evil in the night. So now I'm safe. Sleep must come now, it just has to . . .

Until next time,

The Blogoholic