June 2018 - The Panic Project

EP 5: Snap Out Of The Trance

In today’s meditation, I approach the topic of being stuck in a trance – perseverating on some thought that upsets, captivates, distracts us.

Can you think of that last text, email, interaction which left your mind spinning for a bit – maybe even days? You might even be in the midst of it now. Or maybe you have a health concern. Some pain that triggers fear and concerns in your mind. Maybe it is in the body of a loved one and you find yourself thinking the worst of the worst. I have certainly been there.

When you are in the midst of a trance like that – it is hard to see ourselves in it for sure.

Well, how do we snap ourselves out of that trance? How do we return our selves to here?

Tara Brach – my guru – reminds us “we are not our thoughts, we are not our thoughts.” Easier said than done.

How do we get perspective that we are on the edge of something great or on the edge of getting thru or out of something terrible?

Well, what if I asked you to right now place your hand on your Lap. Go ahead, place your right hand on your right lap. Can you feel your pants on your right palm?

This is where today’s meditation takes us.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Ep. 4: Overhelm: Exploring a Clearing in the Woods

The feeling of overwhelming, whether it is ruminating thoughts, the feeling of anxiety or panic or a general whirl of the so many things one must do, is real and it is personal.

When I first heard Tara Brach talk about the clearing in the woods, that safe, comfortable place where I could experience refuge for myself, I found that concept tremendous. Richard Rohr talks about the lifeboat, the boat between the island (ie the one aspect of our world) and the mainland (ie other aspects of the world we are a part of) in a similar fashion.

Both concepts provide solace, and they also provide a place from where one can have perspective and cultivate awareness.

In this meditation, I use the clearing as a place to explore the body and the comfort it feels in the clearing and then I use the clearing to explore the periphery where chaos and overwhelm live.

Step one: what does the comfort feel like.

Can we feel our bodies in the physical space of the clearing? Can we imagine it?

It becomes clear that at the periphery of the clearing, which I define as strong, safe and comfortable, I find the details of chaos. And at the edge of chaos, I again find my clearing. But in exploring the edges or peripheries of both, I discover that overwhelm has its edge and it not everywhere. That discovery may be helpful because it means that the overwhelm and chaos does not saturate our whole selves.

Once we feel – physically explore the edge of the place in our bodies – where overwhelm ends, then maybe we feel that we have again entered our own personal clearing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Ep. 3: Guided Meditation: I see the goodness in you

‘Namaste,’ I see the goodness in you. I see the goodness in me.

I have often said that as the mind, goes the body.

This meditation is designed to turn up the volume on goodness in our thoughts, and in how we see others. When we see others as good, we can also see the goodness in ourselves. Seeing the goodness is an active practice that overwhelms the negative thoughts and leads our mind and body into positiveness.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Ep. 0: Welcome to Search for Joy Podcast By Gregory Rutchik

Welcome to my this first podcast of the Search for Joy series. In this first podcast, we will explore some of the basic goals of our 10 minute sit.

Subscribe to Podcast

Whether you are a beginning meditator or have sat for 300 plus sits, the goal of 10 minutes is going to be different for everyone and may even be different every single day. In one way, that is the point. In sum, every moment we are “change”. Can we see ourselves changing under our own eyes and marvel at what we see?