rachel johnston

Friday, 17 February 2012

There is no right way to Meditate.

Whatever you may have heard, there isn't just one perfect, pure, correct way to meditate. You just need to experiment and find what is comfortable for you.
Each Friday i am going to share one of the many techniques I've tried and hopefully you might come across something that works for you!

1. If One Can Breathe, One Can Meditate

This is a very simple breathing meditation, taught in many Buddhism classes.

Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor.

Close the eyes, if its comfortable for you. If you prefer to keep your eyes open then simply keep your gaze soft and not fixed on anything in particular.

Breathe through your nose. See if you can keep your awareness on the feeling of the warm and cold air on the top of the upper lip during inhalation and exhalation.

Once you becomes aware of the feeling of the cold and warm air on the top lip, then do nothing else but concentrate on that specific sensation.

Try not to think of anything else but that sensation for nine breaths in and nine breaths out.

image from Yumi Sakugawa

Mamma Andersson

"To make a concentrated feeling for something, you have to reduce it to the few small things that can tell a story. Then you can make your own history. "

Mamma Andersson

images from here and here

Thursday, 16 February 2012

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

I made these quick, healthy and delicious muffins for breakfast last week. If you like coconut, these are the muffins for you. I found the recipe adaptation here.

BLUEBERRRY COCONUT MUFFINS
yield: 5-6 muffins

1/2 cup coconut oil (can also use melted butter)
2/3 cup (65 g) desiccated coconut (or coconut flour if you can find it)
1/4 cup (30 g) ground flaxseed
3/4 cup egg whites (can also use 4 eggs)
1 Tbsp greek yogurt
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 tsp jam (I used apricot)
handful of frozen blueberries

Grind the coconut in a food processor until fine.

Combine coconut, egg whites, ground flaxseed, yogurt, baking powder, salt, and jam in a bowl until well mixed. Pour in the coconut oil (or butter).

Let batter thicken for about 10 minutes.

Grease muffin tin (or use liners) and pour in mixture. Top each muffin with a few frozen blueberries (or fresh, if it's summer).

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until golden

image from simplybreakfast

without a shadow of a doubt. From F.Sokoll at chasing skinny rabbits

I’ll never find out now
What A. thought of me.
If B. ever forgave me in the end.
Why C. pretended everything was fine.
What part D. played in E.’s silence.
What F. had been expecting, if anything.
Why G. forgot when she knew perfectly well.
What H. had to hide.
What I. wanted to add.
If my being around
meant anything
to J. and K. and the rest of the alphabet.

Wislawa Szymborska, 1923-2012.