Inner Joy

This morning I had the most amazing session of Vishoka meditation.  For some reason, I love it.  And I have been through lots of meditation training courses, meditation sessions, led by a range of meditation teachers.  I have even meditated with a Buddhist at a center which looked exactly like a giant bra. There were two huge domed structures connected by a passageway.  But this meditation, structured in a way to move my mind through my body with breath, feels like home.  It's an ancient practice that just works for me.  Simply sitting even on this morning when the much-needed, magical rain is dancing on my back deck and I can hear it through the open window, which could be amazing, makes my mind wild.  It's like my mind dances too!  This picture of my beloved lone white trillium which blooms in early spring reminds me that there is this time of growing and learning and then, yep, all things end.  We have come to the end of our 10-week online Vishoka meditation course.  But I hope to begin a new practice of Vishoka meditation every morning for the rest of my life.  Well, maybe until a new type of meditation captures my attention. But it reminds me that like anything else, I had to find the meditation that worked for me.  And, Vishoka is it.  For now.  Vi  means to transcend or overcome. Shoka means pain or sorrow. You can see what attracted me to it as I worry my sister who is cancer-free but otherwise a hot-mess.  Vishoka is a process where you detach from the exterior world and move through your own body, thoughtfully.  I was skeptical when we started.  Having a mantra works for some.  I used to meditate with Chopra on his website until I just could not for the ever loving life of me remember the constantly changing Sanskrit mantras that were twelve hundred letters lone and so hard to pronounce.  So I stopped that.  But I did like his little peppy wisdom talks.  Having a vision works for others but not for me.  While learning from a Buddhist I focused on the opening of a lotus flower.  Not relaxing but pretty.  Vishoka works to focus my mind with my breath and turn inward in a structured way.  My mind is busy in a relaxing way.  I will still deal with my family member run amok who we are tough loving right now and the tenant who is in drug rehab for an overdose while his alcoholic partner is served a notice to vacate and some weird unexplained eyelid bruise that makes me look like I am sporting a new type of eyeshadow.  All when meditation is over.  These things are all easier to manage after my Vishoka meditation.  Perhaps on some days I'll need to practice Vishoka over and over throughout the day.