On Meditating- sort of

Most of you are probably, like me, in the throes of breaking New Year Resolutions.
I didn't make many and I started late.
Drink more water,eat more veggies, fruit etc
Decrease sugar, caffeine, alcohol consumption....the usual type of thing.
This year I added YET again,,,,  Practise Meditation.
I have been trying to do this for a very long time and I still fail miserably
but I think the most user friendly inspiration on this subject comes from Pema Chodron.
See links.
How to Meditate

And here's a short poem on the subject.

On Meditating

I squat in half - lotus
sort of
count the out- breaths
up to ten
and then again
eye gaze-lowish
upright torso
hands relaxed
watching the thoughts
cloud by cloud
wave by wave
what's for dinner?
remember to ring Helen
back to the out- breath
one to five
fuschia boxing the wind outside
a poem in that
three stanzas in
back to the breath
label thoughts "thinking"
think about shopping and parking
and spending and saving
until
the gong...

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2017

Broken Limbs

Who wants to break a leg?
Broken limbs stop us literally in our tracks
But much as we don't want them
They insist on a kind of forced meditation....
and bestow, hopefully, insights

These two poems came out of a broken elbow a good while back...

Breached

1

A broken arm's length
holds you fast
celibate

while its iron fist
cups a soft breast
and holds me to ransom.

Is there no way Diomedes
that you can breach this rampart of mine?

11

From this new vantage point of mine
This fixed wall of pain that cannot bend
or yield to the touch

I see, at last, you, bereft
And wonder if I can
with cozening glances

and careful fingerings
restore you to yourself?

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2016