It was close that time. He has to remind me to breathe. I think I'm trembling a little. My head is spinning, my chest is aching. But do we dare? The line will be crossed if we do. So, we talk some more.

I've made my decision. I will step over that line, if he will.

This time, it's a tease. We almost touch, but then move just out of reach. Who will give in first? We both do, I think. All I know now is the feel of his lips, the taste of his tongue. I'm sure that I'm trembling. He again reminds me to breathe. I can't, he's stolen it away. My heartbeat is like thunder in my ears. I want more.

Time slips by between bouts of conversation and kissing. After each time we kiss, I linger with my eyes closed. Just feeling the sensations, trying to capture the moment to keep forever.

More. I need more. Some are sweet, teasing. Others are hard and passionate. Each kiss brings some amount of satisfaction. But, at the same time, increases the hunger. I drink in each touch of his lips, but can't seem to swallow it to the place that needs fulfillment.

There will have to be more.

Any hints of suggestions for me, how am I to understand what is happening?

This is a good question. Pain is something that many people become aware of in their bodies when they sit. Sometimes we have been carrying aches and pains in our daily lives and then suddenly when we sit down, the awareness of this condition appears in our practice.

Sometimes the pain is your body’s way of warning you that your posture is incorrect, that you are sitting in an incorrect manner. That is why in Zen there is so much instruction regarding right posture in meditation. Sitting up straight, checking that the body is completely relaxed, the gradual relaxation breaths before we start, even stretching before a session all help to get our body and mind ready for sitting. The top back of the head is pulled upwards as if attached to an invisible thread, while the chin tucks in ever so slightly. We sit tall, not slouching, aware of our body, sitting fully in the space around us. All practitioners should approach their practice with this in mind.

Pain, if it is serious, should be noted by us. I am not suggesting to anyone to go ahead and hurt themselves. You must decide for yourselves what your threshold is. Also, this is where having a teacher is very helpful as they can suggest alternatives or solutions for you so that you may continue your practice.

Remember, there is always a way.

Then there is the pain that leads to thoughts. This is the pain which becomes the tool of the monkey on the rope who is trying to escape. This is the ego talking to us. By going through your relaxation methods before you practice, you should be able to tell what condition your body is in before you start. Then, if suddenly these thoughts start to appear one after another, you can see that this is just the mind at play, and you can acknowledge it and go back to your breath. Again, you must learn to discriminate that which is real, and that which is just the minds activity.

That being said, I have sat with and known some practitioners that have sat for an incredible amount of time each day and had severe physical problems which did not stop their practice. One great man had severe polio as a child and yet always manages the hugest smile even after a long session.

Theravada monks in Burma or Sri Lanka sit through long meditation session in boiling heat, with flies and mosquitoes buzzing about, and yet they still practice. It is quite incredible to watch how they can remain in the moment with things that would drive us crazy.

My suggestion to all practitioners who have just started is to gradually increase the discipline of your practice over time, and try not to do too much. Small, short, focused meditation sessions are the way to build physical and mental confidence that the practice is benefitting you.

Also, try to avoid as many obvious distractions to your practice as possible, especially if you are bothered by bugs and insects. And keep close eye on that monkey.

Enjoy!

meditation+problems pain sensation blocks+meditating solutions advice

Desire at the end was a malady, a madness or both. I grew careless of the lives of others. I took pleasure where it pleased me and passed on. I forgot that every little action of the common day makes or unmakes character...

I made art a philosophy, and philosophy an art....I altered the minds of men and the colours of things....I treated art as the supreme reality, and life as a mere mode of fiction....I awoke the imagination of my century so that it created myth and legend around me...I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease. I amused myself with being a flaneur, a dandy, a man of fashion. I surrounded myself with smaller natures and meaner minds. I became the spendthrift of my own genius, and to waste an eternal youth gave me a curious joy. Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in search of new sensations...

-------

Bunnyblu's response:
So where am I in this scheme of things? And where are you, my beloved Gazelle? Nay not in reflection of each other for that too has passed, but in reflection of our inner selves? Are we not, then, in our different ways, spendhtrift of our own geniuses? And now... tired... 
Forgive me... of nothing to forgive... yet forgive me my dear...

La ballade sensorielle :
Il faut qu'à l'avance ce soit une fête, pour le tout petit, mais aussi pour tous ceux qui l'accompagneront.
Pour un tout petit, chaque sortie doit être une exploration, une conquête, une moisson de plaisirs, une glane incessante de sensations.
Et non un truc commode pour le calmer, l'endormir, l'anesthésier à l'oxygène du grand air.
Tout le monde doit être en pleine forme, bien éveillé, dans l'humeur joyeuse de découvreurs.
Alors, sortons après la sieste des enfants, en tout cas après celle des tout petits (le grand soleil de l'été sera déjà moins agressif – vous savez sans doute que les mélanomes du grand âge se préparent dès l'enfance, et qu'il y a dans ce domaine un capital santé de la peau à préserver dès les premières années.)
À coup sûr votre tout petit sera aussi heureux et fébrile de « sentir », de deviner les préparatifs de la promenade, que ceux d'un biberon imminent, d'une séquence jeux…
Car très vite, il a des repères séquentiels dans sa journée, rythmés par ses sensations physiologiques de faim, de fatigue, de plénitude, de grande forme, par ses envies venues de sa mémoire d'heureux évènements passés.
Cette ballade doit être une fête d'un maximum des membres de la petite famille, le chien compris, et non celle de la seule nounou qui y voit souvent une pause dans son emploi du temps et qui se réjouit de voir le petit endormi…
Où aller ?
Le plus près possible de la maison, pour commencer.
- Au jardin, si vous avez la chance d'en avoir un. Vos plus grands vont l'aimer viscéralement, surtout si vous les associez aux menus travaux d'aide à leur portée (mise en terre de nouveaux plants…) quand le plus dur est fait, quand papa et maman ont préparé le massif.
- Au jardin public, dans un square de votre ville. Les toboggans et autres jeux collectifs ne sont pas indispensables, mais ils peuvent être l'occasion d'une découverte de nouvelles « jouissances » physiques : équilibre, grimpé, risque…)
- Dans un coin de votre « pays » qui vous plaît bien à vous les adultes, qui a bien plu à vos plus grands qui y retournent alors comme en pèlerinage, comme pour un rite d'initiation, de révélation, à des joies, à de vrais bonheurs qu'il faut qu'à tout prix le « bébé » connaisse lui aussi comme eux l'ont connu quand ils étaient tout petits : c'est là et alors que prennent racine les forces résilientes : une colline avec son moulin abandonné, un méandre de votre rivière, une source quasi secrète de vous seuls connue, une clairière d'un petit bois, un gué de pierres à consolider sur le joli petit ruisseau et sa mini cascade qui vaut le détour rien que pour le bonheur de la voir et de l'entendre et d'en tâter la fraîcheur.
- Apprenez à repérer sur les cartes IGN ou autres, à l'Office de tourisme le plus proche, les sentiers de grande randonnée (les célèbres GR) mais aussi tous les balisages d'itinéraires que réalisent bien des associations, bien des groupes d'amis de la nature.
Cela doit se préparer, à tête reposée : il faudrait même que vous fassiez peu à peu une collection de ces ballades, de ces visites, de ces itinéraires potentiels qu'offre l'infinie diversité de n'importe quel coin du « pays » auquel on est attaché, lié affectivement.
Et pourquoi pas, faire votre repérage personnel (avec votre code à vous), un balisage réel (sans nuire bien sûr à ce qui existe déjà – car on s'aperçoit vite que bien des tracés se chevauchent ou sont voisins. Mais vous pouvez très vite apprendre à vos plus grands à faire sur papier le balisage d'une promenade mémorable et qu'il faudra absolument refaire – sans risquer se perdre – ou faire partager à des amis ou relations : ce sera l'occasion de faire sentir aux enfants la supériorité de l'écrit sur l'oral – qu'il faut avoir bien mémorisé « - il a dit qu'il fallait tourner à gauche avant le chêne – non ! à droite ! » - la puissance des codes, des symboles bien choisis. Vous (re)découvrirez ainsi la « course d'orientation ». Mais ce sera la vraie, celle découverte, vécue, construite en famille, reprise sans doute à l'école, puis par la suite en club ou association.
- Chaque fois, la partie « voiture » devra être aussi brève que possible. Vos enfants doivent apprendre à aimer, à adorer, à éprouver par tous leurs sens – et donc par leur intelligence, leur culture – leur « pays », celui de leur maison, les quelques kilomètres qu'on découvre du haut des collines, des hauteurs les plus proches, ces quelques arpents du paradis qu'on évoque chaque fois qu'on en est loin ou dans la douleur, et qu'on craint alors ne jamais revoir.
Dès qu'ils en ont la force, les jambes, ils doivent avec vous d'abord, puis seuls avoir le goût de tenter de nouvelles explorations, de faire de nouvelles découvertes, d'« arrondir » leur patrimoine, leur « territoire » affectif, conquis et vécu par les yeux, le nez, les oreilles, la peau, la lassitude des jambes et toute la gratitude de la tête et du cœur pour tant de beautés, pour tant de vrai bonheur intime.
Il faut être équipé :
- la poussette, avec son petit passager tourné vers l'avant, le regard dans le sens de la marche, « dans le vent et les images », comme j'écrivais dans un autre article (« père (vélo)porteur ») qui souligne bien le bonheur relationnel qui s'installe à l'occasion de ces expériences partagées, même si parfois ça peut tourner à l'épreuve).
Votre poussette aura bien sûr un petit auvent escamotable, une ombrelle orientable…
- des vêtements en fonction de la chaleur, des averses ou coups de fraîcheur toujours possibles dès qu'on met le nez dehors.
- de bonnes chaussures, bottes…
- un bâton : on ne dira jamais assez les bénéfices, les joies qu'apporte un bâton (choisi, taillé, sculpté dans son écorce ou dans sa masse) : on le sent très vite bourdon et on se sent un peu « chemin faisant » avec Jacques Lacarrière sur un itinéraire vers St-Jacques (de Compostelle).
Et pour un tout petit, le bâton, de bourdon de pèlerin se fera baguette. Mais une simple baguette donne un sentiment de grande puissance et c'est un remarquable moyen d'évacuer symboliquement bien des tensions, bien des agressivités. Ne vous inquiétez pas si vous le voyez frapper très fort un tronc, de grandes herbes, le sol, un insecte qui rampe : il règle alors son compte et s'en délivre – sans même en avoir conscience – à quelque « ennemi » intérieur qui le tourmente à son insu.
Quelques équipements pour conserver quelque chose de précieux pour ne pas se fier qu'à la seule mémoire – rien de plus volatile !
- Un ou plusieurs grands sacs pour les trophées, les découvertes.
- Un appareil photo
- Un petit magnétophone pour les chants d'oiseaux, le clapotis de l'eau, le vent dans les arbres : rien de tel que cette réécoute au retour ou bien plus tard pour habituer la mémoire de votre tout petit à jouer les enregistreurs et pour lui donner la sensation de cette profondeur, cette organisation en avant, après, il y a longtemps..., du temps, du passé.

Si vous avez d'autres idées, communiquez-les moi (toutpetits@hotmail.fr) ou faites-en profiter tout le monde par un commentaire juste en bas de cet article (le « no comment » que vous voyez n'interdit pas les commentaires mais « pour le moment 0 commentaire »…

Demain, nous repartirons avec nos tout petits, au jardin, découvrir les couleurs (et senteurs, saveurs, bruits…) de l'été.

Have finished animating the Unzie organ parts and am now about to start work on the first freak. Thought I'd share the construction of the freak - without giving too much away. 

As you can see I've used a wire armature with the plasticine moulded over to give the character more strength. 

I can then start building on this and create the characters defining features. 

Things will go quiet again (animation diary post wise) as I imagine it will take a long time to shoot this particular freaks part. Will keep you updated of any changes though..

JS x

Just as in the sky different windsas different winds in the sky blow from east and west, from north and south, dust-laden or dustless, cold or hot, fierce gales or gentle breezes- many winds blow. So also within the body arise sensations, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. When a meditator, striving ardently, does not lose his constant thorough understanding of impermanence even for a moment, such a wise person fully comprehends all sensations. Having thus comprehended sensations, within this life he becomes freed of all defilements (and becomes an arahant or vedagu). Such a person, who is vedagu (one who completely understands the sphere of sensations), being established in Dhamma, after death attains the indescribable state beyond the conditioned world because he knows sensations thoroughly (their arising and passing away and also the state beyond sensation).

Various sensations arise in this body-pleasant sensations, unpleasant sensations and neutral sensations arise; pleasant sensations with attachment, unpleasant... neutral... arise; pleasant... unpleasant... neutral sensations without attachment arise.

The above passage clearly describes the process of Vipassana, whereby through observation of sensations in the body (kayasmim), a person can be fully liberated from suffering. First, it describes different types of sensations (pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral) which a meditator easily understands and experiences by practising Vipassana. By constantly observing the sensations in the body, one experiences the characteristic of arising and passing away. This objective unremitting observation is sampajanna (constant thorough understanding of impermanence). According to the Buddha, one who practises sampajanna is a wise personwise person, knowing experientially how sensations arise and pass away within the body as a result of the repeated contact of sense objects. This person knows that when one begins to relish the pleasant sensations and abhorr the unpleasant sensations, misery is generated and multiplies. Without sampajanna, one remains unaware of the deeper unconscious level of the mind. It is in the darkness of ignorance that an unconscious reaction begins towards the sensations. This momentary liking or disliking soon develops into craving or aversion, the reaction repeating and intensifying innumerable times before it bursts forth into the conscious mind. If importance is given only to what happens in the conscious mind, then because of one's ignorance of the underlying reality, one becomes aware of it only after the reaction has occurred repeatedly. One allows the spark of sensation to ignite into a raging fire before trying to extinguish it, resulting in unskilful physical and vocal actions. By practising sampajanna, one learns to observe the sensations within the body objectively, permitting each spark to burn itself out without starting a conflagration. By observing the physical aspect of vedana, one becomes aware of the reality that the vedana that has arisen is impermanent. With this understanding, one remains equanimous and prevents any reaction from occurring. Constant observation of vedana in this manner by anicca-bodha gives rise to detachment. With this attitude, one can prevent not only fresh reactions of craving and aversion, but also eliminate the very habit of reactinghabit of reacting, and thereby gradually come out of suffering by transcending all the sensations and becoming what the Buddha calls a vedagu-
Pleasant bodily sensation is the cause for the arising of pleasant sensation of the body, unpleasant sensation of the body, and attainment of fruition (nibbana) in relation to the strong dependent condition. Unpleasant bodily sensation is the cause for the arising of pleasant sensation of the body, unpleasant sensation of the body, and attainment of fruition (nibbana) in relation to the strong dependent condition.

By moving with full awareness, remaining detached from the sensations within and without and observing them objectively, one reaches the cessation of consciousness.
Feeling the same pleasant or unpleasant sensations in the body, an ignorant personignorant person reacts to them and multiplies his or her sankhara. In contrast, a Vipassana meditator with the wisdom of sampajanna emerges from the old habit pattern and becomes fully liberated. Thus our bodies bear witness to the truthwitness to the truth. By observing sensations, we can advance from merely hearing about that truth to experiencing it directly for ourselves. When we meet it face to face, we become transformed by the truth and faith arises in us, based not on blind belief but on experience.

http://www.vri.dhamma.org/research/90sem/vedana14.html

That is why, if you can, you should try and take a couple of moments straight after waking before you get up and physically leave the dreaming space of your bed.  Keep your eyes closed for a few moments, don't speak - if your partner tries to wake you just murmur sleepily and roll over - these few precious moments can make all the difference in grasping at least a single image or word from your dream.  Hang onto that, write it down.  When you have more time later this single image will be like a key that lets you back into the dream.  You may start to remember things that happened just before it or just after it - but in any case you should be able to build on what you had, instead of having nothing at all.

My hands are perspiring. Opening the window would mean letting the damned smog of Milan invading the interior and getting into my lungs, and my lungs are tired. As I am.

The woman at the traffic lights leading the same old life will ask me for the same old change, capable - that's what she says - of feeding her children for the next two months. But I am ready today, as the man at the tollgate gave me the change in nine easy instalments. Marvellous. I will give her everything, if she keeps quite.

She is used to fall silent after saying something terrible concerning me and my coming years. That is generally the instant I surrender to my enemy, pull down the window and offer her one euro on the spur of the moment. She is beautiful, and always pregnant.

Her look incites me, really. She nails me to the seat of the car as a culprit to his gibbet. I guess I feel guilty, even if it goes on a generic feeling I can not focus with precision. Every time she looks into my eyes I am sure she is just touching my existence with the tip of her fingers. And as I can't, I get troubled.

"Writing", I told her. "All the rest is additional". She stared at me, my answer does not sufficed for her. It might be noble, but lacks usability. That's what her look betrays, and I am used to it.

"I can't give up", me trying again, "writing is a drug and I am looking for its side effects".

Er zijn 10 parcours te gaan met verschillende moeilijkheidsgraad voor de kleinen vanaf 5 jaar, daarna van 7 tot 13 jaar en vanaf 13 jaar de groteren en volwassenen.

U vindt daar (in het Frans genoemd):

U wordt begeleid door gekwalificeerd personeel en met eerste klas materiaal.

Geopend:
Zomer - Iedere dag

van 9.00 tot 20.00 uur

September en oktober - van 13.00 tot 19.00 uur op woensdag en de weekends
of op reservatie - zie de site

The Miracle Berry. Who doesn't like to talk about bodily sensations that are changed by a natural, legal trip?

The Miracle Berry is a small, red fruit that changes your perception of taste so that everything you eat is sweet. Bite into the berry, nibble the flesh off the seed, let it sit in your mouth for a minute, then off you go to amaze your taste buds! First-hand experiences go from beer tasting like chocolate milk to hot sauce tasting like the glaze of a doughnut! Even vinegar tasted so sweet!

How does this flavor trip work? Scientists believe that a protein in the fruit binds with the taste buds and activates the sweet receptors when sour foods are tasted. The berries have to be eaten within a day that they are picked, or else they turn brown and go bad like any other fruit does in a matter of days. This means diabetics can still have that sweet flavor without having to worry about high blood sugar! But this is all still being tested in the labs.

And guess what? These can be easily grown in your home with natural sunlight from a window or in your backyard! However, it's not like growing your average fruit tree because there is a 24% sprouting rate. Because there are no regulations set by the FDA on these berries, they are legal to grow and sell. But if anything goes wrong, the FDA won't be able to do anything about it because there are no rules. If you decide to grow these from your own home, you'll be saving some money - because you can spend up to $3.00 per berry or up to $90 per bushel of berries. You can even find flavor tripping parties that have an entrance fee of $10-$20. Now THAT'S a lot of money for some fruits!! If you feel like shelling out some cash on these amazing taste-bud-altering fruit, you can buy it in fruit form at http://www.miraclefruitman.com or http://toptropicals.com and tablet form from http://www.miracleberrypill.org.

Want to see a flavor tripping party in action? See the video here:

My example: a book, a best-seller book, that comes with a soundtrack composed by the author/writer. To read and listen at the same time. And to go deeper and deeper into the story.

The Shadow of the Window, a best-seller book from Carlos Ruiz Zafón 

Listen!

Have you just come back from an interesting travel? Have you got the recipe of a local dish from India? You have been on holiday but you are disappointed with the experience done? You work in the tourist industry and you want to tell us something about this world?

In this Blog you can leave your comments, suggestions, pictures, sensations about your travel experience and share them with other people! In a sense you will be 'AUTHOR FOR ONE DAY'!!! Always remember that YOU are the protagonist of your experiences and your stories are all special because YOU tell them to us!

Have you already start writing? Well done! We are looking forward to reading your stories!!!