{"id":57,"date":"2020-04-08T13:25:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T13:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/?p=57"},"modified":"2020-04-08T14:34:05","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T14:34:05","slug":"my-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/?p=57","title":{"rendered":"My journal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_2997-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-58\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_2997-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_2997-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_2997-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_2997-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I used to write in my journal when I had a problem that I needed to pick apart&#8230; now I write in it every day. I find it soothing just writing with no aim. Very occasionally I write wonderful things but mostly my journal is full of my random musings and thoughts. I realise now that this is my meditation. When I write, I meditate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ask most people what meditation is and they will say it is sitting cross legged on the floor, hands in a mudra (Chin Mudra is the most famous), chanting, with a serene look on one&#8217;s face. Why do people think this? Let me illustrate with an exercise: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>_Open Google and type in &#8216;Meditation&#8217;. Click on the &#8216;Images&#8217; tab and tell me what you see&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I rest my case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How reductionist is this view? I don&#8217;t know about you but in order to sit still, properly sit still without fidgeting, without the temptation of opening my eyes or readjusting my legs, I need to do at least an hour&#8217;s worth of working out and stretching. I also have short hamstrings so the temptation to slump is high&#8230; and if I sit cross legged without warming up, my legs go numb after 5 minutes&#8230; and then all I&#8217;m thinking about is how tingly my legs are&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But how about this as a different view &#8211; Acceptance. Accept that fidgeting is ok. Accept that if your eyes flutter open because you heard a noise that&#8217;s ok. Accept that your meditation might be with your eyes open, accept that it might be while you&#8217;re doing something repetitive&#8230; like ironing, or cutting up vegetables, or chopping wood, or crocheting&#8230; knitting, running, sitting in the garden with a cup of tea and just thinking&#8230; journalling&#8230; can we not call these things meditation if they work for you? Isn&#8217;t Yoga described as Moving Meditation? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It takes great strength to sit still for 10 mins on your own surrounded by your own thoughts&#8230; like little clouds floating in front of your mind&#8217;s sky&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you meditate? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>xXx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I used to write in my journal when I had a problem that I needed to pick apart&#8230; now I write in it every day. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meditation","latest_post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59,"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/59"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rebeccawitt.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}