• Table of Contents
  • How to Pray for Someone by Swami Veda Bharati
  • ‘Last Words of the Rishi’ by Dirk Gysels
  • Himalayan Neem Nursery by Sunil Trikha
  • Challenges on the Spiritual Path by Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral
  • Highlights from Korea
  • The Himalayan Tradition in Italy by Sabina Cesaroni
  • Surrender to the Wave of Silence by Jim Whiting
  • Lithuania Silence Retreat by Darius Plikynas, PhD
  • Health Camp for Virpur Khurd
  • A Contemplation on the GURU-Gita by Swami Nityamuktananda
  • Life’s Twists and Turns by Marylou P. Nunamaker
  • New Magazine Announcement
  • 2011 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Life’s Twists and Turns

“Accepting life's twists and turns through meditation and its practice fills me with humility and strength.”

by Marylou P. Nunamaker

When entering meditation, I tried to be aware of my breath at all times. Yet my mind would wander, and at other times thoughts would pop into my consciousness. Those thoughts would be about areas of my life that were problematic and sad. As a student of meditation, I would release those thoughts and center on my breath. When those thoughts arose at other times, they seemed less troubling, eventually seeming to be resolved without me giving them any consideration. Eventually I began to think of my challenges when not meditating, and becoming more accepting of my life as it is. Somehow I felt more comfortable, happier, peaceful, and strong. On occasion these old thoughts still come to me in meditation, and again I just let them go, returning to breath awareness and peace.

Reflecting on this statement was suggested by a new friend that I have recently made over the internet. In fact, I wrote it to her and didn’t even recognize it when she sent it back to me asking me to write about it.

Becoming aware of how subtle meditation is in my life does make me humble. As I said, I didn’t recognize my own statement. This is just the beginning for me of knowing and understanding that I hold the answers to my questions, my problems, my challenges, and my life path. Unfortunately, I don’t know all those answers right now, but am filled with an awareness of comfort and being…being here in the present, taking each breath in the now, calm at how my life is.

Becoming more aware of my thoughts, statements, and actions is an on-going challenge for me. My usual course of action is to be reflective. There hardly seems to be time to just sit and think. My sitting time is devoted to lesson planning for my yoga classes; meditation, where I only think of my breath; and juggling all the activities that I try to fit into my retirement.

So with a joyful heart, my life’s twists and turns keeps me upright and spinning in gratitude to my new friend that asked me a question, causing me to sit and think. :0)