{"id":1089,"date":"2010-08-27T18:38:33","date_gmt":"2010-08-27T18:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2010-08-24T18:39:05","modified_gmt":"2010-08-24T18:39:05","slug":"practicing-mindfulness-for-me-needs-near-constant-commitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089","title":{"rendered":"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not a great meditator, in the traditional sense. \u00a0When I first got sober I took a course in Transcendental Meditation, as did many of my friends. \u00a0It had become the rage in the seventies. \u00a0I paid $75.00 for the training and a mantra that I was assured was spoken by no one other than me. \u00a0I believed them. \u00a0They also said I must not tell any one what my mantra was or it would lose its “power.” \u00a0Again, I believed them. \u00a0And for more than two years I meditated twice daily for the assigned twenty minutes, morning and late afternoon. \u00a0Ha rum, Ha rum<\/strong><\/em>, I whispered quietly, over and over and generally, before the end of the twenty minutes, I had slipped into a deep, very silent space. \u00a0I loved it actually.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure it changed me much but the ritual was just what I needed. \u00a0The meditations were like book ends for the very busy life I had as a graduate student and teacher. \u00a0The books written about TM made claims that communities that practiced it en masse went from violent to peaceful and we’d feel more peaceful too if we developed the practice, and in the process, we’d add value to our community.<\/p>\n

I did develop the practice but continued to live with fear and an over-ripe indulgence of expressed anger. \u00a0I think my ego was simply stronger than my willingness to shift my perception. \u00a0The ego is very strong and unyielding. \u00a0Our willingness to choose a different way to perceive our situation and the people we walk among takes near constant vigilance. \u00a0I’m certainly glad I did have this experience more than thirty years ago because coming back to a form of mindfulness practice now excites me. \u00a0And even though I am not choosing TM, per se, I think that any practice that invites us into the quiet for a spell is good for us. \u00a0And good for the people we live and work among. \u00a0I have become a proponent, in books and talks, of the idea that how we greet the people close to us is also felt by the people we will never see. <\/strong>What we do to one, we do to all.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Practicing a few minutes of mindful stillness every day is helping me in my daily interactions I think. \u00a0It’s common to millions of people here in the western hemisphere and certainly many millions in the eastern hemisphere. \u00a0Surely my simple efforts can’t hurt. \u00a0I think what ever any one of us can do to make this a more peaceful world is worth the time and the effort on behalf of the generations that will follow us.<\/p>\n

Do you practice any form of meditation? \u00a0Share your thoughts, please.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not a great meditator, in the traditional sense. \u00a0When I first got sober I took a course in Transcendental Meditation, as did many of my friends. \u00a0It had become the rage in the seventies. \u00a0I paid $75.00 for the training and a mantra that I was assured was spoken by no one other than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections-in-the-mirror-you-and-yourself"],"yoast_head":"\nPracticing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . . | Karen Casey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . . | Karen Casey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’m not a great meditator, in the traditional sense. \u00a0When I first got sober I took a course in Transcendental Meditation, as did many of my friends. \u00a0It had become the rage in the seventies. \u00a0I paid $75.00 for the training and a mantra that I was assured was spoken by no one other than […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Karen Casey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-27T18:38:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"karencasey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"karencasey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"karencasey\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be42ec49697eba07d84ddf86ace97639\"},\"headline\":\"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . .\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-27T18:38:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089\"},\"wordCount\":471,\"commentCount\":21,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Reflections in the Mirror - You and Yourself\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089\",\"name\":\"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . . | Karen Casey\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-27T18:38:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=1089#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . .\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Karen Casey\",\"description\":\"You are not alone, anymore\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Karen Casey\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/Karen-Casey_Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/Karen-Casey_Logo.png\",\"width\":1925,\"height\":396,\"caption\":\"Karen Casey\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be42ec49697eba07d84ddf86ace97639\",\"name\":\"karencasey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d716ba136efb23645023089393ecf4a985aa038929f77a8947d71f877283c6ac?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d716ba136efb23645023089393ecf4a985aa038929f77a8947d71f877283c6ac?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d716ba136efb23645023089393ecf4a985aa038929f77a8947d71f877283c6ac?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"karencasey\"},\"description\":\"I am an author, a lecturer, and a workshop presenter. I have presented programs throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Ireland. As of July, 2010 I have published 23 books, with number 24 being released in spring of 2011 and a memoir underway. For a listing of my books and ordering information, go to www.womens-spirituality.com. To contact me about presenting a program in your area, call 239-398-6327 or e-mail me from my web site or at jcasey4991@aol.com\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?author=4\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . . | Karen Casey","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . . | Karen Casey","og_description":"I’m not a great meditator, in the traditional sense. \u00a0When I first got sober I took a course in Transcendental Meditation, as did many of my friends. \u00a0It had become the rage in the seventies. \u00a0I paid $75.00 for the training and a mantra that I was assured was spoken by no one other than […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089","og_site_name":"Karen Casey","article_published_time":"2010-08-27T18:38:33+00:00","author":"karencasey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"karencasey","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089"},"author":{"name":"karencasey","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be42ec49697eba07d84ddf86ace97639"},"headline":"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . .","datePublished":"2010-08-27T18:38:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089"},"wordCount":471,"commentCount":21,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Reflections in the Mirror - You and Yourself"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089","url":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089","name":"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . . | Karen Casey","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-27T18:38:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=1089#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Practicing mindfulness, (for me) needs near constant commitment. . ."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/","name":"Karen Casey","description":"You are not alone, anymore","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#organization","name":"Karen Casey","url":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Karen-Casey_Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Karen-Casey_Logo.png","width":1925,"height":396,"caption":"Karen Casey"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be42ec49697eba07d84ddf86ace97639","name":"karencasey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d716ba136efb23645023089393ecf4a985aa038929f77a8947d71f877283c6ac?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d716ba136efb23645023089393ecf4a985aa038929f77a8947d71f877283c6ac?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d716ba136efb23645023089393ecf4a985aa038929f77a8947d71f877283c6ac?s=96&r=g","caption":"karencasey"},"description":"I am an author, a lecturer, and a workshop presenter. I have presented programs throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Ireland. As of July, 2010 I have published 23 books, with number 24 being released in spring of 2011 and a memoir underway. For a listing of my books and ordering information, go to www.womens-spirituality.com. To contact me about presenting a program in your area, call 239-398-6327 or e-mail me from my web site or at jcasey4991@aol.com","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?author=4"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1115,"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions\/1115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}