Sitting Still

I have spent some time seeking to learn more about the practice of being still and quiet and listening; this type of meditation that leads me into a 'resting' of my thoughts so that I can have room for God to speak to me.  It seems that different people have different words to define what I'm talking about; some call it meditation, some listening prayer, some contemplation, some christian zen...

I don't care to get into any type of debate about it or what it's called, I just simply desire to grow in my level of closeness to God and have therefore in my endeavoring toward Him have learned something about this type of meditation.  I am going to call it 'sitting still.'

Over the past monthish I have been getting up early (well, earlier than anyone else around here) and sitting still with the Lord.  Getting up early has never been one of my strong points, but I have not had much difficulty in getting out of bed since I started meditating.  I'm a little amazed at the ease really, and am thankful.  I have to admit that I am using a little of Steve Pavlina's helpful hints regarding training yourself to get up early (you could check out his blog at http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/).

I sort of have a routine now:

The alarm goes off - I turn it off and stretch...then sit up and put my feet on the floor.  I always do this the same and try to never 'think'... just do it.  This tactic has been very helpful in 'training' my body to respond to the alarm and get up.

I make my way to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of Kefir Tea, get Pandora up on the computer and set the station to 'Calm Meditation'.

I do run downstairs first thing and get up a child that has a hard time making it through the night dry and lead him into an early morning bathroom stop - he returns to bed in a stupor and I head upstairs for meditation.  This is irrelevant, but true to my morning routine.

I head out to my livingroom and grab my zafu (which is a round little cushion that I made for meditation - it helps me to sit lotus style a little more comfortably).

I begin by closing my eyes and taking some deep breaths and putting my mind and body in a state of 'rest' so that it is free to hear and interact with God.  This is a tough thing to do - my mind seems to want to think in overdrive all of the time and to simply NOT think is a great challenge in itself.  It is also difficult to 'forget' about your body and the urges to shift or be distracted by discomfort.  Distractions!  That's what I'm trying to overcome...

This is a simple beginning of this type of seeking to 'abide with Him' and I have found it be very enjoyable and I am hopeful for what God has for me in it all.