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Please ALL Read This Lovely Piece of Mindfulness - And Tell Us What You Think!


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Now those of you that have been following my posts know I absolutely adore creative writing.

So I'd like you to read this mindfulness meditation specially written personally by me. I shall ask you a couple of questions at the end, then we can compare our experiences and why they happened.

Enjoy.

TAUREAN’S VERY OWN GUIDED MINDFULNESS MEDITATION

I am going to take you on a journey with me from my home in North East London through the autumnal majesty of Epping Forest to our destination- the little town of Waltham Abbey, on the perimeter of the forest.

The abbey church was built over ley lines, so even before Christianity it had a pagan sense of calm and contemplation about it.


My garage door is dark brown – like the window frames of the house - and lifts up and over cantilever style. Before removing the car I spray my lower neck with my Prada male scent (which I keep there because my wife is allergic to anything with citrus it it) – it’s not cheap, it cost me £50, but it lifts my mood and I love the smell and so of course do others (except my wife for reasons given!).


I like to smell nice, look good and often wear a little male jewellery in my private life for feel-good reasons. And today I am wearing comfortable brown shoes with Velcro fastenings (not laces) pale brown heavy cotton trousers, a T-shirt and a heavy brown zip-neck pullover.

On my left wrist is my beautiful Accurist watch with steel bracelet – a retirement gift from my work colleagues - and on my right wrist sits a name-tag silver bracelet engraved with “Roy”.

The car is gorgeous, specially ordered from new and paid for with part of a life policy maturity pay-out 10 years ago: I was a commuter whose wife doesn’t drive so even now it has only driven 20,000 miles.

The colour of the car is mercatto blue – a shade just lighter than royal blue that stands out well on a grey day like today. It is also easily distinguishable by the small rubber England flag on the top of the aerial mast – I can easily spot it in a car park!

From the front it seems to smile at me with its “fruit gum” shaped headlamps and snazzy radiator grill.

Imagine the styling of this car? What appealed to us were the beautiful lines sweeping back and slightly downwards, with a black strip along the sides which also protected it when doors of adjacent cars are opened.

It’s a 5-door hatchback of German manufacture – which maker?

It’s the smaller of two models named after sports – does that help?

I start up the engine and I have slipped a cassette into the music player – the sound system has 8 speakers, a 6 CD multi-changer, FM AM and – via a separately purchased converter – DAB digital radio.

So imagine the beautiful rich sound of string music playing in Dolby digital stereo all around me.

We are passing through the forest now and on the way up to Woodford Green.

On the green there is a statue of a very famous Britain, who actually won the title of greatest ever Britain on a

TV series where the public voted in and the case for the various famous brits was made by one celebrity per programme. Brilliant series. I voted for the winner, but also would have been happy with Queen Elizabeth 1st or Isambard Kingdom Brunel (the civil engineer).

The answer to the make of car - Volkswagen. And the model name – Polo.

Whose statue was standing on the green – Winston Churchill, whose parliamentary constituency this was.

As I drive up towards the Epping High Road, I set the “cruise control” on the car. Moving a little lever, then pressing up and down buttons sest the speed of the car without me needing to use the accelerator – great in speed trap zones. As the car has an automatic gearbox, it will automatically change gear up or down to maintain the speed when cruise control is set.

I wanted to set it because approaching me in the middle distance is a yellow box mounted on a pole – a deadly speed camera which has caught probably more of its fair share of motorists.

We are now on the Epping High Road, wide single carriageway with chevron “no overtaking” zones where there is danger. I am watching out for deer – yes deer!!! The forest was full of deer back in the time of King Henry 8th and these are those deer’s descendants.

A short diversion off to the left would take me to the amazing “Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge” – a timber-framed whitewashed 3 story building which has been preserved from her day. Imagine it standing on the hill overlooking a plain (Chingford Plain) within the forest and visualise the Queen and her consorts enjoying an open-air banquet served by waiters in doubloon costumes and busty serving-wenches!

I am on the Epping high road now – what world-famous sporting event took in this stretch of road in July 2014, heading in the opposite direction towards London?

The trees in the forest have their gorgeous autumn hues – predominantly various shades of yellow, contrasting with the grey of the sky. I let down the electric window a little – there is the whirr of the motor, and I can hear the crows cawing, the seagulls (they come up the river Lea from the river Thames) cawing – and the smell of

Autumn is a rich combination of water in the air (it rained yesterday) and the leaves starting to break down on the ground.

There are two roundabouts before I reach my turn. I am cruising at the permitted 40 miles an hour, so apply the brake and change the gear down overriding the auto transmission – this selection allows me to come down from top gear (4th) all the way down if wanted to 1st then back up again – its great) – the moment I touch the pedal, the cruise control disengages.

After the roundabout, after reaching 40 miles an hour a touch of the “resume”button and cruise control is back on!

What was that sporting event – The Tour De France! The cyclists were coming from Cambridge via Chelmsford to London. I adore the tour, but I was helping present a seminar that day and couldn’t see it live – had to watch highlights on TV later. But, imagine with me now the “peloton” (main group) of riders in their coloured team outfits and bicycles whipping along this road at 50 miles an hour , occasionally taking a drink and sometimes throwing empty water bottles away (the tour littler people scour the area for any discards afterwards that the fans haven’t taken ).

I turn off and see that I am on a high plateau, the road drops away down two zig-zag bends towards the valley of the river Lea.

We are approaching Waltham Abbey – what famous London 2012 Olympic sports venue was built here and has a lasting legacy?

In the distance I can see the tower of the Abbey church. The building itself was greatly reduced in size in the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry 8th. Why was the church originally a place of pilgrimage?

The car park is in a beautiful spot. A tributary of the Lea was diverted to form a mill stream for the monks to get power from a wheel. Below the mill this area runs by the car park – the water is bright clear and shallow, and there are ducks swimming along!

That famous Olympic sports venue is the white-water rafting centre – state of the art and in full use in legacy.

Nearby and utilising greatly the water from the river was the Royal Gunpowder Mills – lottery money has now turned this historic site into a tourist attraction.

I walk past the front of the church, admiring the small figure of King Harold 1st on the west wall – more on him soon.

There is a shady (on a sunny day) walk to the north of the church through the churchyard where each side of the path are small memorials to those laid to rest. At the end of this path is an old building – probably 18th century – containing “Philpott’s Tea Rooms” with tables and chairs in green plastic placed outside, within the abbey grounds.

They know me well here, and I settle down for a decaffeinated coffee and a toasted tea cake. I can hear the chatter of the people on adjoining tables, mainly retired people as it is a weekday – the soprano voices of the ladies float above the rumble of the males, and a friendly waitress gives me a big smile as she serves me.

Why was the abbey church a centre of pilgrimage? Well, it contained the “Holy Cross of Waltham”, said to have special powers, and it was to here that Harold came to break his journey on the way to Hastings to tackle the armed forces of William of Normandy. Sadly Harold’s presumed prayers for victory were not answered, but they brought his body back from Hastings and buried him in the abbey church.

When Henry 8th’s men sacked the abbey the church was drawn back in size, and Harold’s tomb now lies in front of the east window – with just a stone slab over him. Sadly that holy cross disappeared, no doubt looted by Henry’s men.

The story of William and Harold prior to the battle is amazing – look it up, it’s a great story of two nationalities contesting the throne of England, and why.

“Taurean” – October 2014.

Now having read this piece, please let us know what your thoughts and feelings were as you were reading it, and why you think they were so?

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I am pleased that a lot of you have read this, and thank you Eddy for liking it.

And thanks to Hal our moderator, who has following my request inserted the missing paragraph breaks to make it much more appealing to read.

But can you give me an insight into what you felt, what you feel you saw and how it affected you when you read the passage? did you like the "quiz2 element, did that hold your attention in to the piece?

While you were reading it, and imagining the scene, and being asked questions, did you find that you could only concentrate on the piece, and your other thoughts were pushed away?

Did you feel yourself more and more comfortable , getting relaxed, as you "drove" with me through the forest, hearing the music, working the cruise control, watching the pointers like the yellow speed camera, the roundabouts, hearing the birds, smelling the leaves ?

Did the history inserts inspire you to want to learn more?

I'd love to hear back from you on these points, and we can share the findings.

Did any other thoughts, feelings, or emotions occur as you read the piece?

Edited by taurean
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Mindfulness is a practice during which we observe the activity of the mind without becoming involved in its activities. To do this, we identify with that part of ourselves that is the witness of the mind.

Anon

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Yes maybe anon

But my questions are designed to help people see how they can specifically respond to a mindfulness opportunity.

Come on folks - you can then probably build on this knowledge - make it really useful for you.

Humour an old man - some specific answers to my questions please?

I will answer them myself later!

Edited by taurean
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Guest Shannon

I think in this modern world it is harder to be mindful- I definitely think it is something we should all work on. How often do we get asked the question 'Are you listening to me?' Most of the time, truthfully, we are caught up in our own problems and this is when we need to apply mindfulness; listening, hearing and absorbing nature and the surrounding world.

I love your writing, Taureen. It is lovely piece, richly embroidered, interesting and inspiring. I enjoyed concentrating my thoughts on your journey, I have never had any problem with my imagination (perhaps that is part of the problem? but it can be used to my advantage) and I could easily imagine all the little details- when my mind tugged me into thinking about worries, I steered myself back into your journey and became immersed.

When I was fully concentrating, it made me feel more relaxed and I feel in a better frame of mind because of it. Perhaps we all need to take it in turn posting a weekly mindfulness journey?

Thank you very much for taking the time, it was very therapeutic and I loved the historical questions.

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Taurean - I failed I think at the mindfulness side. I was reading trying to picture the atmosphere created, up till the point you raised the question of what type of car - then I just thought well I imagine a VW , then my mind went oh my Taurean drives a polo just like me !

My favourite car only because that's all I've ever known . 30 years driving 2 cars both polo's that's why I drive a polo!!!!

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Congratulations to everyone who read the piece, was pulled into the story, and found that just for a while it pushed away other thoughts. Well done Shannon for giving the questions a go - and doing well. and AJ I just l-o-o-v-e my Polo!

When I compose something on here I do tend to find that my brain is sucked into concentrating purely on what I am doing, which proves it is a great distraction, providing .....(i'll come back to that).

Well here are my answers to the questions.

To make sure that the piece had plenty of mindfulness content meant I was always looking to hold the reader's attention and plug right into their imagination so that their brain was continually focused on what was going on all the way through the piece - I was actively seeking to engage with your brains and prevent them from diverting away from my prose.

I read it through again some time after originally writing it, and I certainly found that - even though I sub-consciously knew what was in the piece - i could let myself use it purely as a meditation and just imagine myself back in the the moment doing all those things again - my mind stayed with the action right up until the end.

I was unaware of any unpleasant bodily sensations whilst reading it - my conscious brain was distracted away from any aches pains or whatever - and certainly I felt calmer.

I noted the way the questions came, and that people would have to think about them and wait for the answer - I felt this further hooked them into the moment and distracted them.

I enjoyed the history elements, even though I wrote the piece - I think they lent local colour and interest and fuelled the imagination nicely, especially the Elizabethan party at the hunting lodge!

The point of all this was to show people who maybe didn't know it that our brain works in two ways.

The first of these is the part that causes us OCD sufferers the most problems - it is the active part of the brain.When the active part of the brain hits a problem, it digs in, continually trying to resolved it, and will also dig int the past to analyse that and look at previous situations which are simialr - it may "re-open" those case histories and agonise over them if they match. It fuels our anxiety problems if the OCD kicks in and pulls the strings in the active part of our brain.this has been a particular problem for me personally recently.

But if we can switch emphasis to the being part of our brain, we can do what we need to do - we can be the impartial observer, we can detach ourselves from our thoughts and the ruminations which cause so much trouble.

By moving into the being mode, and engaging with a mindfulness meditation, we can further put the thoughts on hold because we can't think about them and be totally engaged with the mindful experience at the same time - and if our thoughts should stray, we just calmly refocus them back again.

So if those of you reading the piece found that during reading it you didn't think of anything else, then you know that using mindfulness meditations is extremely suitable for you.

if you found your thoughts drifting and had to pull them back, then you can see the benefit and need to get a lttle more detached from your active brain - you can work on that.This was the "providing" I mentioned at the beginning.

And that is how mindfulness meditations work, and shows what they can do for you.

My therapist and I are taking this process a little further - we are using mindfulness metaphors as well to help me be the impartial observer, staying with the thoughts but disengaging from them; this is the modern psychologial practice of mindfulness based cognitive behavioural therapy, and I am finding I enjoy it at the same time.

Kind regards

Roy

Edited by taurean
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Guest lizinlondon

Hi Roy

Lovely writing. The questions threw me off mindfulness because I started trying to guess the answers. The descriptions of nature and people really engaged me and helped me be mindful.

I also love my car, it is not a posh one but I love it all the same. I treat it as a friend almost, lol. I hope I will find a relationship that gives me as much satisfaction as my car!

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Interesting point - yes you would momentarily disconnect from the mindfulness (but not from the engagement of the mind ) by thinking about the questions.

I have always tried to think that there is someone out there for all of us; I am currently reading another of James Bowen's books about his life as a Big Issue salesman with Bob the street cat.

Its wonderfully mindful and James has a great bond with "Belle" another recoveree - they found each other and give strength and hope to each other.

For me, you are doing the right thing - really looking to get some control over your OCD and the right priority. Maybe a loving relationship lies in wait for you soon.

I have sadness tonight - I was booked in to go to the confetence very speculatively as there were likely to be reasons I would not be able to go which proved to be the case.

And I have been very unwell with OCD and physical sensations and am in bed anyway with stomach trouble as a result.

But I do plan to make a London support group meeting soon.

Best wishes

Roy

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Loved it Taurean didn't want it to end tbh. The little history lesson was interesting too!

I am so pleased you found it beneficial.

Since I enjoy writing anyway, am a student of mindfulness and , in fact , will show this piece to my therapist as "extra homework" as she is using mindfulness to help me at the moment, I think I will write another piece soon.

Hopefully as a result of this piece a lot more people will see how we can deploy mindfulness to take us out of the "active" mind mode, constantly scanning and digging and ruminating for answers, and engage the "being" mode which encourages us to just "sit in the sun" and be!

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