I Attended a Light Meditation

The first reason why I signed up for the Light Meditation Seminar is because the money would go to the kindergarten's renovation. I was the first one on the list.

The second reason is because I missed my yoga sessions which I regularly did during my Bangkok years, around seven years before. Yoga helped me a lot especially to relax, fight stress and most importantly, to find my inner peace.

I was really thinking that Light Meditation would focus on yoga itself. I have even goggled about it and it always goes back to the same meditation 'inner light meditation' , focusing on yoga and the inner self. I even joined my Thai Buddhist friends during their trek to the biggest temple in the world, at least during that time. It is located in the outskirts of Bangkok.

But why do we need a white candle for this meditation? Well, the question was answered during the day itself. We needed the candle because we are literally having a light meditation. We started with a light yoga to relax us before we were lured into the light. We started with eyes closed and then being asked to open our eyes to look into the light was a different feeling altogether.

Lured into the light meaning, we had to light our candles located in front of us and focus on that light during the whole meditation process. Just imagine, everything was dark and you can see only the flickering of lights from our candles. That was really mesmerizing. I forgot about the people beside me, I forget where I am, I even forgot about me, I simply focused on the light.

And that was the main purpose of the light, you need to focus on the inner you. Find out what your greatest wish is. A wish that would help you find your inner light. Because sometimes we focus too much on the others: our family, our friends, the material world and we forgot about ourselves.

We are asked to reach deep into our feelings. To forego the mind, the opinions of others... simply glide into what you feel, your heart. To wish for what your heart is saying. And this is our inner being. Sometimes we are affected by the things we hear and read from our loved ones... we could always give them advices. But the best way of helping them would be by letting go of that person. Of giving them a time alone to find themselves. You know what, I have been consciously doing that for years. As a friend, I would always be there, but I am not someone who would repeat what I said. Because I believe my presence despite my silence would also be helping.

What got me was this: if you admire someone, you need to let go of that person. Know what you love or want from that person, either his optimism in life, her patience etc... think on that something that really impressed you. But forget the person. And try to embrace what you love from that person into the inner you. That would be more satisfying.

And of course, we must believe in the higher power, our God.

In the end of the light meditation, we are asked to bring our candles back home. We could use this candle when we wanted to focus on our wish. Or when we wanted to find some peace. I think my candle would be used within this month :)

The First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Tradition calls for us to light up one of the candles in our Advent wreath before we sit down for breakfast, and that we did.

I find this Advent wreath tradition a very simple and direct way of reminding us what Christmas is all about: that it is about the coming of Christ. That this is one way of celebrating being a Christian. That is it is about giving, not only material things but also those things that we sometimes take for granted... like visiting our relatives, sharing time with those in need of them, saying things that would make someone else happy, giving a smile, lending a hand... these are only examples, I am sure we could do more.

Nope, we dont need to wait for Christmas to be available for other people; but doing these during the busy days of Christmas mean a lot because it would show how you really take time off to share a part of you. Let's reflect on this...

Christmas is not about Santa Claus, or gifts, or parties...though sometimes we tend to focus on the fun of it. We even sign our Christmas cards happy holidays or enjoy the season. But you know what, with this Advent wreath, I always remember that we are celebrating Christ.

The kids know this, they learn and practice it in kindergarten and we religiously follow this at home. I hope they would never forget the real meaning of Christmas.

Wikipedia states that Advent is:

Advent (from the Latin word advenio, meaning "to come", "the coming of Christ our saviour") is a holy season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, also known outside the Church as the season of Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western Christian year and commences on Advent Sunday. The Eastern churches begin the year on 1 September. The progression of Advent may be marked with an Advent calendar reckoning Advent to start on 1 December, a practice introduced by German Lutherans.

Adventus is the Latin word for "coming", and is the exact Latin equivalent for the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Jesus.

PMN Fam Pics: Messy No More

There are times when MC's closet would be too disorganized that it would take tears and a lot of shouting before she could find something to wear for the day. Although I always tell her to prepare her clothes for the next day the night before, she would sometimes discover that what she wanted to wear would be too short, too long, too pink, too flowery, too jeans, too whatever.

And so, because we are always in a hurry in the morning, she would not have the time to return those discarded clothes properly. Thus, when not organized for a week, her closet would just be a jumble of wrinkled clothes. A real mess! Sometimes she cant even properly close it. And she hates that.

The solution? She would fold and organize her closet. She does this once a month. Alone. The rest of the month she helps me. That's our deal, for now.

See how proud she is...

And the evidence that it is messy no more!

This is my contribution for PMN: Fam Pics.