Daily meditation

          Over the past couple months I've tried a couple new things. First, I gave up diet soda. Now some people don't get this. "No calories, right?" Yes, actually, no calories, but I was starting to feel like all that fake sugar and and additional amounts of sodium could be better replaced with water.

         I  didn't go completely cold turkey. I might have a regular soda once every two weeks. I've been amazed at how well I've been able to hold back, since I used to have nearly two liters of diet cola a day. About six weeks into dropping the fake sugar kick I tried a diet cola again. It was ok... just ok. This time I noticed how fake the sugar tasted. So that habit is officially kicked.

         The other new thing has been daily meditation. I've made it a habit to take about fifteen minutes to sit, close my eyes, concentrate on my breathing and clear my head. Sometimes it's indian style on the floor, sometimes sitting in a chair.

         There are variations I use as far as the mindset. Sometimes it's to concentrate on my breathing. Other times I'll focus on an imaginary glowing blue ball of energy in my hands that I can shrink or expand at my whim. And then there's concentrating on my center, the imaginary spot about two inches below the naval that in various martial arts is known as the human center.

          Also, once a week I'll do some self Reiki as part of my meditation. For those not familiar with Reiki, it's sort of a spiritual way of "palm healing", with you're palms situated over areas on your body. Some people go overboard with it with the whole "healing hands" thing like it's gonna magically cure cancer or something. It won't. Not by itself really, but studies have shown some higher percentages for curing disease if people are happier and/or less stressed, which meditation and/or Reiki can help with.

         As a medical professional, if you're sick, get yourself checked out by an actual medical doctor. Just sayin'...

          Anyway, this has been good for me. I've kicked one habit and restarted another I'd only rarely done in the past. I've found myself to be just a little bit more calm, and more centered in my life.

          Strangely enough, I've been handing out more beatings to the BOB (my body opponent bag). I'm starting to wonder if I'd be better off filling it with sand instead of water, as I'm finding it easier to slowly push away the bag with my kicks and hand strikes. I use these slow strikes to start as a sort of warm up before I move onto faster hitting. I find it helps with the focus of where and how I strike a particular target on the bag.

          Hope everyone out there is enjoying the autumn season, even with the recent snow. Peace, love and all that jive...