Buddhism

First off, I have to admit that I have had alcohol this evening and could still feel it in me as I meditated. I feel like it did not affect my attention any worse than normal, but wanted to at least get that out there.

My toe doesn't bother me in pain except when I'm wrapping it in the morning, and throughout the day when I stretch or move it as one does without noticing. When at rest, I don't even notice the wrapping keeping it semi-immobilized. The pain that came up during meditation was in my left shoulder and lower neck, which has been stiff and irritating this evening.

What I found most interesting during the meditation was first how when asked to focus on my whole body that I felt detached from it and then couldn't feel it, other than noticing my breath. Then later in the meditation as I was asked to notice the pain in that same detached manner that it would fade to no pain quickly. However, I couldn't keep my focus like that and the pain would slowly come back. Yet, every time I focused on it in that detached manner, it would fade quickly.

It's just as we were previously discussing, so I'm going to have to put the technique to use when I have other pain, including pain that's more than dull pain in a generalized area (it also seemed to travel as the guide suggested.)

So I thank you again for these meditations, and will have to try more of them. My past experience in meditation has been mostly with guided meditations for exploring higher forms of consciousness and not so much mindfulness.