Bobby Rock

The Bobby Rock Newsletter #35 (11-26-2021) - A Moment of Gratitude

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

Hope all who celebrated yesterday had a great one. And let me just say, “thanks a bunch” to all of you for joining me here each week. I’m keeping things short, sweet, and very thematic this week. Back to more drumming, nutrition, book stuff, and the usual next week, so let’s jump right in...

In this Issue:

• 500 Consecutive Days of Meditation: Another pointless milestone? I'm thinking not...
  
  
• It's a Gratitude thing: A brief reflection on our official day of gratitude...
  
  
• A (year-round) Thanksgiving "Affirmation" to Scope: Something simple and cool that will affect your life in a meaningful way...
  

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500 Consecutive Days of Meditation

Just hit 500 consecutive days of meditation on Wednesday. Next stop: 730 days, AKA 2 years. Does never missing really matter? Probably not. But I find that structure in a meditation practice can be just as beneficial as structure in any other endeavor, like practicing, running, hitting the weights, or writing. As for the upside of this kind of consistency, I would simply echo what I wrote at the one-year mark in July in Newsletter Issue #16. You can scope the article, This is Your Brain On Meditation, HERE:

As for the how, there are a kajillion different meditation techniques out there. I’ll leave you with one super simple approach I use regularly.

Counting Breaths

Find a quiet environment, then sit comfortably with your shoulders back and spine straight. 

Slowly take in a long, deep breath through the nose. At the top of the breath, hold for 2 or 3 seconds, then blow out slow and steady through your mouth as if you were blowing out a candle. The exhale should take slightly longer than the inhale. 

As for the counting part of the process, I would suggest silently saying to yourself “one in” as you inhale, then “one out” as you exhale. Then “two in” on the next inhale, pause, then “two out” on the exhale, etc. You can count to 10 and then start over, or keep going. Doesn’t matter. The practical function of counting at all is to keep the mind focused on something other than the constant swirl of thoughts in your head.

As for duration, here are two ideas: 

A) For your main medi session, you will want to use a timer so you don’t have to think about time. This is where these cool meditation apps come in handy. I like Calm because you can select some ambient sound as your background (fostering greater concentration, I feel) and, of course, it will document each session so you can obsess over your latest streak!  But seriously, having a mechanism in place to document your practice will help you stay accountable to the practice.    

B) You can do an anytime/anywhere 10-Breath Meditation where you simply count 10 full breaths and you’re done. This is especially effective as a supplemental medi when you’re meditating more than once per day. These shorter sessions help to keep you “dialed in” throughout the day between your longer sessions. At the same time, if you never get around to your longer form medi, as least you did this.

Good luck "in the zone."

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A Moment of Gratitude

For Thanksgiving last year, I wrote about my days volunteering at Animal Acres—a farm animal sanctuary located near Los Angeles—probably because I have so many great holiday memories connected to those times. I went on to write:

Spent quite a bit of time there over a four or five-year period, helping out around the farm and participating in a number of their various education programs. I believe one experiences a whole other dimension of understanding animals when you help to take care of them… especially “farm animals,” like cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, emus, and, of course, turkeys.

I’ve always found turkeys to be remarkably similar to our “companion animals,” like dogs, cats, and birds, in terms of emotion, lucidity, intelligence, expressing preferences, and exhibiting a powerful desire to live.

December 18, 2021, will mark 31 years since I’ve eaten a turkey or any other animal so, as you might imagine, Thanksgiving is always kind of a rough day for me, to be honest. But, “don’t cry for me Argentina!” A massive vegan feast is imminent!

And so it was this year.

Stuffed acorn squash, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce,
asparagus, and a whole wheat roll. Incredible food!
(Vegan pumpkin pie for dessert!)

To be clear, I have no judgment toward, or attachment about, how folks choose to celebrate their holidays where their food is concerned. I understand it’s a creatures-of-habit, creature-comforts kind of thing, and unless you have a damn good reason to abandon or upgrade your cultural traditions, you won’t.

However, I do try to take a few minutes and remember all of my turkey pals at Animal Acres, and the vegan Thanksgivings we had in the farm courtyard as the turkeys literally walked among all of us as we ate. Good times! And I do wish that more people had a chance to get to know some turkeys in the same way they’ve gotten to know dogs and cats. No real difference in my mind… except that our society has randomly deemed one as “pets” and the other as “food.” Again… it’s a cultural thing.

But celebration style aside, I like to contemplate the deeper meaning of the day when I can. I’m sure it’s cliche to say by now—and Thanksgiving is the day we formally say it—but truly: 

Every Day is a Blessing. 

And not just the good days. Just being alive is a blessing… regardless of our current situation, even if it’s looking grim at the moment. Simply being around to endure and navigate the tough stuff is a blessing, because it is ALL part of the human experience.

This is why I honestly feel that we are all extremely fortunate to be here, right now, at this time, on planet earth. Yes, there is a lot of shit going down these days. But, that’s precisely what makes it all so exhilarating! We are all living a great story right now… and every great story has what? Conflict. Adversity. Resistance. Even what’s known in novel and screenwriting circles as “the all-is-lost moment.” We love that shit in our books, films, and even our sporting events. In fact, we won’t watch or read much of anything for long if there’s no conflict... or nothing at stake. Why? Because all of the struggle makes the inevitable resolution feel that much more triumphant.

And yet, we bitch about any form of conflict, resistance, or difficulty in our personal lives. This is crazy. Instead, we should be grateful that we’re still around and even able to engage some tough times here and there. It’s what makes "the story" compelling... especially when a difficult issue inevitably resolves. And remember: every issue inevitably resolves... one way or another. And our difficulties will only serve to make these resolutions that much more meaningful.

Which leads us to our final thought today…

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A (year-round) Thanksgiving Reflection to Try

Gratitude is universal, even in ancient Sanskrit teachings. (Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism.)  But anyone of any (or no) spiritual orientation can benefit from this.  Here's the simple prompt:

Dhanya Vad: I feel gratitude.

{dahn-yah vahd}

 

When I'm grateful, I find grace. By looking for the blessings in my life, I open up a space of light in every experience; I open up the path for grace to flow. I make room in the middle of everything for gratitude.

 

Which leads us full circle back to a simple Gratitude meditation:

 

Daily Gratitude Medi

 

Here's an easy one that’s probably more of a visualization/affirmation kind of vibe. It will increase your resonance with gratitude and keep the daily grind in perspective.

 

Simply perform the Counting Breaths mediation described above, with this twist:

 

Before the first breath, think of something you’re grateful for, then say to yourself (for example), “One—I’m grateful for my excellent health” as you do your long inhale.  Then simply say, “Thank you” as you exhale. Next, you would say “Two—then state something else you’re grateful for and repeat this process all the way up to five. Takes 2 or 3 minutes.

Note: You can think of whatever you’re grateful for in the moment, no need to plan it out. It’s more about the authentic feeling of gratitude you conjure up on the spot. 

 

This is a game-changer, friends. Try it at least once a day for a week or two. You’ll feel it...

 

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Thanks again, everybody! Connect next week...

Until then,

BR

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