I got annoyed today when Abilene (pictured above) waddled into my lap just as I was starting meditation… and then I thought, wait! Maybe she can help! Abilene is a very cool character (and the pic above doesn’t come close to doing her justice… I took the pics with my phone). She doesn’t get ruffled easily and loves to sit quietly in a lap. So, I slowly and rythmically petted her while focusing on my own breathing… and it was the best meditation I have ever been able to practice while still in my own home! It is way easy for me to be distracted at home, but with Abilene there purring and breathing with me I felt as if I was at a meditation center and was far better able to quiet my mind. Has anyone else every tried pet-assisted meditation? I think I’m going to be trying this regularly now… it is way too awesome if you have a pet that is willing to just BE with you and won’t cause distractions.
Twenty minutes into meditation, my mind started getting wily, so I took a short break… and Abilene changed position… then we meditated some more. She’s so beautiful:
My therapist told me some things yesterday that inspired more motivation for me to meditate. I told her that when I’m emotionally overwhelmed, my reaction is usually to sleep… then I wake up grounded. When things are emotionally really tough, it becomes hard for me to stay awake. Recently circumstances triggered me enough so that my fear of men has been super-active for the last few days. It has not been fun and it has been causing an annoying amount of sleep. My therapist suggested that meditation is rejuvenating and that if I could ground myself via meditation BEFORE I got to the “I’m so overwhelmed that I’m going to pass-out for three hours” stage that I might be able to sleep less and live more. She also told me that sleep is rejuvenating, but meditation is too and in some ways meditation is even more effective than sleep. Well… that sold me. I have been meditating on and off for years and I think I’ve gotten fairly good at it… but a regular practice has been hard for me to keep, because I have this craving to know WHY stuff works. If I don’t know WHY, keeping a regular practice is very hard. I like to know the mechanism… the nuts and bolts… otherwise I have a very hard time getting myself to do some things … like meditating. 😉
Do ya’all meditate? Have you tried animal assisted meditation? Do you have any info nuggets about meditation you can share to inspire more motivation in all of us to meditate more?
There is another cat in my lap now. He seems pretty grounded himself, so I’m going to try for another 10 minutes of sitting with him and then I’m getting onto some laundry. In the meantime – folks, don’t be shy to share your meditation stories! At the very least, you will have my gratitude, because the more I know (good or bad doesn’t matter… I just want facts) the more I get bring this into my life. That is just how I work. 😉
–AngryGrayRainbows
Angry Gray Rainbows 
I can only seem to meditate in a group. There’s something about having that energy from other people that grounds me in the space. When it’s just me, trying to meditate, my mind bounces all over the place.
Sarah,
I hear ya. I think we gotta honor whatever works for us. I’m really glad we live in the day and age that we do live in where there are lots of meditation groups all over the place!
My 2 cats often help me with my yoga & meditation practice. They always come in the same order to. My cat Percy will perch at the edge of my mat while I do yoga – and inevitably my other kitty Cat3 will take over as soon as I settle into meditation. Cat3 is a wonderfully soft, calm and supportive meditation partner. I know I’ve seen studies that the frequency of a cats purr is proven to help mend broken bones and stimulate bone growth – perhaps there are other affects that science has yet to discover?
I am a sexual abuse survivor myself and often experience the need to sleep if I feel overwhelmed. My brain feels like blank and bloated and I feel like my head is full of sand and the only way to fix it is to sleep. After speaking to my therapist about it she indicated that I may be triggered to the point that my body is experiencing symptoms of shock (as happened during the abuse). One way I have learned to deal with this that has been very affective and has a meditative quality:
I hold my left index finger with my right and and I find something outside of myself to focus on – for example my cat. And I say outloud “That is my cat.” and I start naming things about her. “She is black. She is soft. She smells like blankets.” etc etc. Anything I can see / taste / hear / smell about her I say out loud. Then I find atleast 2 or 3 other things in the room and proceed thru the same process.
What this does is helps bring my body out of the shock memory and into the present by identifying that I am safe and there are tangible things in the environment around me that keep me grounded.
I don’t know if that helps – but good for you for doing your meditation practice – and I think cats are excellent helpers!
Aren’t cats the best? One day in exercise I was doing crunches and next thing I knew I had a cat sitting on my abs and enjoying the ride. Whenever I bend over to touch my toes, there is usually someone there batting at my pony tail… and whenever I pull out my old kickboxing routine, you can be sure there is some cat on a table batting at my feet and fists to the music. LOL
I also use that grounding technique of noticing what is around me when my PTSD gets too loud. It’s amazing how helpful it can be to just remember where I am… especially when I didn’t even realize I didn’t know where I was… where else would I think I am than here and now…? PTSD is so confusing sometimes.
Have you ever tried EMDR? It has done wonders for me, though I hear it doesn’t work that way for everyone.
Man… I wish Abilene smelled like blankets! She has sinus problems and she has smells associated with her… but we love her anyway.
Animal assisted meditation, the best!
Abilene is soooo cute.
My Pendo has similar markings, and he loves to crawl in bed with me and curl up next to my face and tuck his back feet into my hand and purr and purr. Nothing like purring to put you into alpha state!
Awww… the feet tucked into the hand thing is just precious!!! Your Pendo sounds like an adorable muffin. 😀
I wish that my pets would sit still long enough for me to benefit from meditating with them. I’ve tried a few times, but none of them will stay still and it ends up being more of a distraction than anything.
Before I ever knew what meditation was or even fathomed that it would become part of my daily life, I had a wonderful cat who would lay on my chest and I would sync my breathing up with his. I could do this for hours. In a way, I was meditating and didn’t even realize. it.
Sometimes I think the most effective methods of doing something are the ways we learn when we don’t even know we’re learning it… like when we’re just intuitively figuring things out. Maybe someday you will have a quieter pet again who can meditate with you!
Have you ever tried meditating with a lit candle in front of you? I find flames so facinating (dont’ we all?) and I wonder if that would also be an aid like the breathing of my fat kitty is for me…?
As with anything else in my life lately, I struggle with meditating “right”. I’ve never been formally told or read how to meditate but I can say that some of the best times I have are at bedtime.
I go to bed and usually my big yellow lab is in bed waiting on me. He lays at the end of the bed looking for me like, “what is taking you so long?” I sit in the bed and he comes up right next to me. He’ll lay his big head on my leg and he has certain spots he likes petted. I could sit there and pet him all night long. We both sit there with our eyes closed. I think through the day and then I just kind of drift out of any particular thought and by that time he’s sound asleep.
I think knowing he’s there and having his body warmth on mine gives me an extra sense of comfort and companionship and it’s some of the greatest times I can remember. I look forward to bedtime simply because of him.
I read that the only thing important in meditation is to sit down with the intent of meditation… not to do it all perfect. Recently (in some book I’m reading… I read several at once, so I can’t remember which one right now…) I read that meditation teaches humbleness, because at first most people have that feeling of failure cuz their minds are used to that kinda quietness or focus.
In my POV – with meditation – the most important thing is just that one tries. Period. Just trying is a victory in and of itself.
Actually… I just found this amazing band call the Flobots and there is this song where this woman talks here and there in the song and here are some lyrics I pulled off their website… almost every time I hear this I feel teary, because it is just so hopeful and positive:
there is a war going on for your mind
if you are thinking you are winning
resistance is victory
defeat is impossible
your weapons are already in hand
reach within you and find the means by which to gain your freedom
Wow… what an idea, eh?! Defeat is impossible… resistance (just trying even) is victory. Period. How about taking that perspective into meditation?
What I loved best about this was how you noticed you were annoyed and turned it around. To me, that is the definition of grace — of being able to break through one’s usual way of reacting to something and transforming it into something beneficial. Sometimes, it’s there, and sometimes not, but by writing about it, you make it easier to identify. So, thanks!
LOL… ya know, I didn’t see it that way before you pointed out the transcendence from annoyance to acceptance… Thank you so much for pointing that out! WRT2, you often seem to be able to point out the most interesting things that my mind just skims over. Thank you so much for sharing what you see. I find it very helpful in understanding more fully the “big picture” in whatever I’m posting about.