Guest guest Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 I'm still having trouble with the train car excercise in the book. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a similar excercise for me.I have trouble doing the visualization. I am sure there is more to why I'm having trouble doing the visualization, but I can't seem to get more than one thing in any of the cars. I can visualize the setup, but as soon as I get anything in the cars, the whole thing just dissapears. I had some success visualizing non-verbal items in the cars, but I still can't hold the whole thing together very well. I also tried to do the excercise with "non-threatening" things (kittens, food, etc.) and still had problems. Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 Hi , I also had trouble with the train car exercise. It seemed that holding all that content together at the same time was impossible; at that time my experience suggests it was. However, as I let my " failure " with that exercise go, and moved on to other defusion, mindfulness and acceptance practices, then months later came back to trying the train car exercise, it flowed pretty well and I enjoyed the exercise. So, what I am saying is, see if you can let the exercise go for now, and come back to it after practicing some other ones; see what happens. > > I'm still having trouble with the train car excercise in the book. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a similar excercise for me.I have trouble doing the visualization. I am sure there is more to why I'm having trouble doing the visualization, but I can't seem to get more than one thing in any of the cars. I can visualize the setup, but as soon as I get anything in the cars, the whole thing just dissapears. I had some success visualizing non-verbal items in the cars, but I still can't hold the whole thing together very well. I also tried to do the excercise with " non-threatening " things (kittens, food, etc.) and still had problems. > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I had a thought about the Train Exercise! It is one of my favorites in the book, and my kids love it as well. My family has been doing a formal sitting meditation as a group for 2-3 years now. I've introduced some of the ACT exercises this past year as options for each of us to consider for a particular sit. So in addition to 'formal' sutras or loving kindness meditation etc. The kids may choose to do leaves on a stream or mining cars. I think one of the reasons the mining cars resonate with us is because it closely matches the vipassana style meditation that we taught ourselves (books, cd's, video etc.) at the beginning of our practice. The way I learned vipassana was in stages. The first was a breathing practice -- shamatha -- that instructs to bring your awareness on your Breath. If you notice a thought (body sensation etc.) you 'touch it lightly' and come back to the breath. The next step, was to take a single experience -- a single mining track if you will. So we would sit ... focus on the breath and then IF a strong body sensation came up, we would allow our breath to move to the background as we focused our attention on that body sensation. Then as the physical experience changed or faded we would come back to the breath. The next week, we would do the exercise with emotions instead of body sensations, then with thought. One mining cart track at a time. And only after working with each individually did we combine all of them and sit with all the experiences as we still connected with our breath. I wonder if it would be helpful to start with a single mining cart track. Just you up on the bridge watching one lane of cars go by maybe the physical body track ... then if a physical sensation comes up (itchy nose, aching knees) you notice the sensation and place that image (or word) in the cart and just be willing to watch it (notice it from up on the bridge) without acting on it. When you can watch an itch on your nose without scratching it and see that it changes and eventually dissappears (mining car vanishes in the horizon) it feels GREAT!! The other thing I suspect makes this and other exercises fun for my kids is that there is no expectation of failure. I conclude every session with folded palms a deep bow and the words -- nicely done. Doesn't matter how many times they fall off the bridge, or if they forget the focus for the whole 20 minutes until the chime sounds. They did a great job and we can laugh and talk about whatever happened without labels of good/bad. Have fun with it! ~Em > > I'm still having trouble with the train car excercise in the book. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a similar excercise for me.I have trouble doing the visualization. I am sure there is more to why I'm having trouble doing the visualization, but I can't seem to get more than one thing in any of the cars. I can visualize the setup, but as soon as I get anything in the cars, the whole thing just dissapears. I had some success visualizing non-verbal items in the cars, but I still can't hold the whole thing together very well. I also tried to do the excercise with " non-threatening " things (kittens, food, etc.) and still had problems. > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Lovely and helpful, em! When you say "your kids" do you mean family, or do you work with children? I am just intrigued, so I hope you don't mind the personal question. Thanks for this exercise. I am looking forward to practicing this meditation, just as you suggest. Goldie Re: Train car excercise I had a thought about the Train Exercise! It is one of my favorites in the book, and my kids love it as well. My family has been doing a formal sitting meditation as a group for 2-3 years now. I've introduced some of the ACT exercises this past year as options for each of us to consider for a particular sit. So in addition to 'formal' sutras or loving kindness meditation etc. The kids may choose to do leaves on a stream or mining cars.I think one of the reasons the mining cars resonate with us is because it closely matches the vipassana style meditation that we taught ourselves (books, cd's, video etc.) at the beginning of our practice.The way I learned vipassana was in stages. The first was a breathing practice -- shamatha -- that instructs to bring your awareness on your Breath. If you notice a thought (body sensation etc.) you 'touch it lightly' and come back to the breath.The next step, was to take a single experience -- a single mining track if you will. So we would sit ... focus on the breath and then IF a strong body sensation came up, we would allow our breath to move to the background as we focused our attention on that body sensation. Then as the physical experience changed or faded we would come back to the breath. The next week, we would do the exercise with emotions instead of body sensations, then with thought. One mining cart track at a time. And only after working with each individually did we combine all of them and sit with all the experiences as we still connected with our breath.I wonder if it would be helpful to start with a single mining cart track. Just you up on the bridge watching one lane of cars go by maybe the physical body track ... then if a physical sensation comes up (itchy nose, aching knees) you notice the sensation and place that image (or word) in the cart and just be willing to watch it (notice it from up on the bridge) without acting on it. When you can watch an itch on your nose without scratching it and see that it changes and eventually dissappears (mining car vanishes in the horizon) it feels GREAT!!The other thing I suspect makes this and other exercises fun for my kids is that there is no expectation of failure. I conclude every session with folded palms a deep bow and the words -- nicely done. Doesn't matter how many times they fall off the bridge, or if they forget the focus for the whole 20 minutes until the chime sounds. They did a great job and we can laugh and talk about whatever happened without labels of good/bad.Have fun with it!~Em>> I'm still having trouble with the train car excercise in the book. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a similar excercise for me.I have trouble doing the visualization. I am sure there is more to why I'm having trouble doing the visualization, but I can't seem to get more than one thing in any of the cars. I can visualize the setup, but as soon as I get anything in the cars, the whole thing just dissapears. I had some success visualizing non-verbal items in the cars, but I still can't hold the whole thing together very well. I also tried to do the excercise with "non-threatening" things (kittens, food, etc.) and still had problems.> > > > > > > ------------ --------- --------- ---> Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Let us know how it goes for you Goldie. To answer your question, I have three children ages 10, 12 and 18. The youngest was just seven when we started a formal sitting practice. I sit in the morning by myself and when my husband and I get home from work we sit as a group with our kids (eldest now off in College & joined her own meditation/yoga group on campus.) Having 20 minutes to be still and present can be a lifesaver before you get bombarded with the 'news of the day'! Homework, test scores, scwabbles etc. On the weekends I meditate with my kids outside in the early morning. Hearing birds and the babble of a tiny watergarden makes even a wandering mind feel like it has had a 'good sit'. Off to go sit. ~Em > > > > I'm still having trouble with the train car excercise in the book. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a similar excercise for me.I have trouble doing the visualization. I am sure there is more to why I'm having trouble doing the visualization, but I can't seem to get more than one thing in any of the cars. I can visualize the setup, but as soon as I get anything in the cars, the whole thing just dissapears. I had some success visualizing non-verbal items in the cars, but I still can't hold the whole thing together very well. I also tried to do the excercise with " non-threatening " things (kittens, food, etc.) and still had problems. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------ --------- --------- --- > > Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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