Have you ever taken a sound bath?

I've been experiencing a new meditation technique lately - called a sound bath. And I love it. Here's why: The other day I spent forty-five minutes in a sound bath. I sat in a straight-backed chair in a small auditorium with my eyes closed while listening to the leader play eight frosted glass bowls of various sizes. She used long glass sticks on the inside and outside of the bowls to create a rhythmic and continuing sound while she sat on her knees on the floor. I know because I opened my eyes to see what she was doing for a minute or two. After she finished with the bowls, she played two kinds of drums. One made a quiet rattling sound like it was filled with small beads, the other sounded like low-keyed chimes. She walked around the room with each of the drums so the participants could get the full effects of the sounds they were making. We also were instructed to breathe deeply throughout the session. She said to take one deep breath and hold it in while taking a second … [Read more...]

The gratitude challenge

My Facebook friend, Dorothy Sander, invited me to take the five-day gratitude challenge and I accepted. That means for each of five days I need to post three things I'm grateful for and invite three people to join the challenge. This was a real challenge for me because I don't normally think about my life in terms of gratitude - especially in a list. I've thought of benefits and gifts that have come my way. I also very much appreciate my family and friends who have stuck with me through some extremely tough times. So it's not as though I'm ungrateful. I just found it hard to put the words down. Even so, I have completed my list of fifteen. Three went up on my Facebook timeline yesterday, three went up today, and I will post the rest in the next three days. My Grateful List  For being with my godson Hugo and his brother Oscar and their mum and grandmum this morning. We got to show 4-year old Oscar the paleontology exhibit at the Page Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits. What a … [Read more...]