Here are my reflections on the two spirit practices I have been most engaged in past years. Let me know if you have questions or want something different.
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My son says, “Mom, I would rather climb a mountain than do silent meditation.” I think that is likely right for him. I am in agreement with Mary that there are multiple roads to “liberate one’s soul daily”. The following two methods have changed my life in a healthy way in the past almost three decades – but they are not necessarily for everyone.
In 1986 LiDona Wagner and I attended a one week journal writing process led by Ira Progoff and have been using his methods since. I took Progoff’s two books and summarized them into a journal process manual, which I am willing to email to anyone who is interested in being introduced to his approach. In the past year Mary Warren Moffett, Aimee Hillard, Mary Laura Jones, and I have met monthly to do journal writing together. I find journal writing and then reflecting on the experience with a group is very revealing about what is going on in my life. Last winter I compiled all my journal writings into one file; as a result I realized there are a number of stories that I want to write about more extensively in the days to come.
In February 1994 I took my first 10-day Vipassana meditation course and have done a 10-day course annually since then. In Chicago I am manager of a one-day-sit six days annually. My personal practice is to meditate an hour daily. Meditation ‘taught’ me how not to react (so much) which has been a profound learning and practice in my marriage and other personal relationships. As a facilitator, I found that meditating, for an hour after I had done my personal prep in creating procedures, helped me lead a group more effectively, as I listened to group responses better and was freer to adapt or totally change my plan of action based on the responses. Daily meditation is helpful relative to ‘letting go’ of the day/issues/stress and helps me get a different perspective.