My meditation journal

[Thittato]

3 rounds of Wim Hof breathing today, then sauna and cold-bath. When I came home from that I chanted Gayatri Mantra for 45 min while I was playing guitar, and then I sat in silence for 15 min. That was a pretty interesting and nice experience. I'll probably experiment more with longer sessions of chanting and playing since I've been on the music vibe so much lately. I usually go to a bhajan every sunday, but the woman leading it is sick today, so I did a solo-session at home instead.

[Thittato]

30 min meditation now in the evening as well. First 10 min of singing one mantra, then 5 min in silence, then 10 min of singing another mantra, and then 5 min in silence. Wow. It was so nice. I've been so determined to get a break-through in my guitar-playing this year, and it is strange I have never made any attempt to incorporate mantra-singing accompanied with guitar-playing more seriously into my practice. Mantra-playing is what got me into playing guitar in the first place, and it is what has kept it alive for all these years, but I never actually sat down and decided I was going to sing and play for a certain amount of time. It was more like just whatever I felt like in a very random way - sometimes for long periods only a little bit here and there - just the bare minimum so that my guitar-playing wouldn't die out. But now that I'm dead set on getting better on guitar I should of course start to use mantra-singing more seriously as a part of my meditation-practice. I mean. Gosh. I love to sing! It was so nice today. Both Gayatri-mantra earlier in the day, and the session I just had. Haha.... I can already see what my practice is probably going to become devoted to for this spring. Seems like I have some practice-cycles related to the seasons sometimes. It was a Ganja yoga fall, then a Wim Hof winter, and now it is probably turning into a mantra-singing spring.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Thittato

[Thittato]

Chanting Gayatri mantra for 45 min this morning, then 15 min sitting in silence, and then 3 rounds of Wim Hof breathing. Pretty sweet :-)

[Thittato]

50 min of chanting Gayatri mantra, and then 10 min sitting in silence, today. Last winter-month is getting close to its end, and I'm thinking about wrapping up my Wim Hof practice for this time. But I will do two more ice-baths so that I'll reach the number 25 before I'm done. Seems like my practice is floating into a more mantra-based practice, and nothing is better than being able to meditate and play guitar at the same time for me right now, so this will be an interesting new chapter to explore. In all my various spiritual pursuit, and being part of so many different communities, chanting has always been a part of that, sometimes in the foreground, other times more in the background or as a supplement, but always there, so it will be interesting to study it much more in depth this time.

[Thittato]

45 min of chanting Gayatri mantra today as well. Wow. So nice. It is getting nicer and nicer. The sense of flow between my singing, guitar-playing, and my posture sitting on my meditation cushion is getting better and better. The feeling of rythm and being in the groove is also getting much better. When chanting I'm having it as my intention to use the chanting and the vibrations of the chant to calm myself down, burn away imbalances, and to become clear and present and I'm doing it with a sense of devotion to life and existence. My intention is also to just let go of myself and just surrender into the chant. To become one with the chant. And also to have fun, and just enjoy myself with the joyful activity of combining meditation, singing and guitar-playing into one thing.

[Thittato]

24th winter-bath this season

Wow. So nice! :-) Only one more to go and then I'm finished with this winter-project.

[Thittato]

45 min of chanting the Gayatri mantra today as well. I'm deeply disturbed by the situation in the world right now, but I'm just trying to embrace that the human condition is like this. Life is like this, Ajahn Sumedho, as western buddhist teacher, used to say. Not in a cynical way, but in a sobering way to just recognize it for what it is.

[Thittato]

45 min of chanting Gayatri mantra today as well. Using it as support to process everything going on in the world right now, and to keep my heart open and strong. I read this beautiful translation of Gayatri mantra yesterday, by Deva Premal and Miten:

"Meditating upon the adorable, enchanting and radiant source of all things, we awaken to the divine light of pure consciousness."

Pretty awesome to chant this prayer in front of my altar where I have my Buddha and my other "altar effects" that are also symbols and reminders for awakening to the divine light of pure consciousness. I like this combination of visual and auditory effects as support for meditation.

 

om bhur bhuvah svaha

tat savitur varenyam

bhargo devasya dhimahi

dhiyo yonah prachodayat

[Thittato]

25th winter-bath this season

Hurra! So good. And now I'm done with my Wim Hof winter-project and I can fully concentrate on my new mantra-singing project :-) But I'll probably do some more winter-baths because both this one and the one before it was so damn good. But my main practice now is mantra singing. Much more about that later.

[Thittato]

45 min of chanting the Gayatri mantra today as well. It was really nice. My voice felt very open and clear. I’m looking deeper into the physical vibrations the chanting it causing, and how that interacts with my breathing. When it comes to sitting meditation I’ve been doing a lot of vipassana and breath meditation before, and building a bridge between those two, and now it feels like I’m merging chanting mantras into that as well. It is all about tuning into the sense of flow and vibrations and letting reality become less solid and more flowing. Looking at things one normally consider more solid, like pain or identity, and seeing how at closer look there is much more movement within perceived solidity. I can make my whole feeling of the body tingle and vibrate by tuning into this flow, and now the chanting also helps to massage and stimulate this flow. It is all about continously releasing stuck material and letting experience sync up with itself.

[Thittato]

26th winter-bath this season

Monday: A really good winter-bath before going to the sauna and doing more cold-baths there.

Yesterday: Chanting Gayatri mantra for 30 min.

Today: Chanting Gayatri mantra for 45 min.

[Thittato]

45 min of chanting Gayatri mantra today as well. Pretty nice. This is the first time I've gotten restless and impatient while the meditation was lasting, but I was very tired today before I started, and when I was done I felt energized and clear.

[Thittato]

Chanting Gayatri mantra for 45 min this morning, and then I took a cold shower. So nice. Yesterday I also went to the spa and did 4 cold baths with a warm bath in between them. So relaxing.

[Thittato]

Sunday: Chanting Gayatri mantra for 45 min.

Yesterday: Chanting Gayatri mantra for 45 min, and then a cold shower.

Today: Only a cold shower so far, but it was really good.

[Thittato]

Also yesterday; 30 min of chanting Gayatri mantra and 15 min of sitting in silence.

Today: No practice, except for realizing the fact that I have chanted Gayatri mantra enough for a while, and now is just time to return back to my guitar-learning process, and having a lot of fun with that.

Approximately 2 weeks of chanting Gayatri mantra for 45 min almost daily is enough for now. It was very intense and good, and I think it has given me some really awesome things - both to my spiritual practice and to my guitar-playing, and also helping me realize they are both one.

[Thittato]

Thursday: Cold shower

Friday: Cold shower

Saturday (today): Chanting Gayatri mantra for 20 min.

[Thittato]

Yesterday: Singing mantras for 1,5 hour participating in a mantra-circle. So nice.

Today: Cold shower.

[Thittato]

Cold shower yesterday and today. My practice has gone minimalistic for a little while it seems like.

[Thittato]

Also yesterday: Going to the spa and doing cold baths, and then 30 min yoga at home later in the evening.

Today: Going to the spa again and doing 3 cold baths along with saunas and warm-baths.

I signed up for one month at this spa which is just right around the corner from where I live, so that will be a really nice way to inspire and prolong my practice of cold-exposure (supported by the other really nice spa things like saunas and warm-baths).

Seems like there is still nervousness and anxiety left in my system that any good tools that can help me relax deeper are very much appriciated.

Relaxing in the warm water after doing cold-exposure in the cold-bath is just wow, so damn nice. The atmosphere there is also so nice and relaxing. Like a temple. I feel like I'm still addicted to cold water. I need a frequent hit of it.

[Thittato]

Cold shower today. So nice :-)