labyrinth, walking meditation

Meditation can be practiced while walking or doing simple repetitive tasks.  Walking meditation helps break down habitual automatic mental categories, thus regaining the primary nature of perceptions and events, focusing attention on the process while disregarding its purpose or final outcome.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Zen Clocks by Now & Zen, Boulder, CO

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1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

Arizona

The act of being mindful is simply a way of maintaining a higher level of awareness in daily life action and thoughts.  One of our favorite ways to practice being mindful is to hike. 

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often on hiking trails.  

Hiking is one of the fundamental outdoor activities on which many others are based.  Many beautiful places can only be reached overland by hiking, and enthusiasts regard hiking as the best way to see nature.  Hiking over long distances or over difficult terrain requires both the physical ability to do the hike and the knowledge of the route and its pitfalls.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Bamboo Zen Clock

cherry blossoms, Now & Zen Inc. makers of Zen Timers

Meditation has been defined as:

“self regulation of attention, in the service of self-inquiry, in the here and now.”

-Maison, Werheimer, & Kabat-Zinn (1999)

 The various techniques of meditation can be classified according to their focus. Some focus on the field or background perception and experience, often referred to as “mindfulness”; others focus on a preselected specific object, and are called “concentrative” meditation.

In mindfulness meditation, the meditator sits comfortably and silently, centering attention by focusing awareness on an object or process (such as the breath; a sound, such as a mantra, koan or riddle-like question; a visualization; or an exercise).

wikipedia.org

maple zen timer for meditation and yoga

Now & Zen Headquarters

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Mt Fuji Ukiyo-e by Hiroshige, woodblock print

Meditation  is a holistic discipline by which the practitioner attempts to get beyond the reflexive, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.  Meditation is a component of many religions, and has been practiced since antiquity.  It is also practiced outside religious traditions.

Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual goals—from achievement of a higher state of consciousness, to greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind.

wikipedia.org

Bamboo yoga and meditation timer, designed especially for meditation practitioners

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

Haiku Ukiyo-e by Kitagawa Utamaro, woodblock print

Matsuo Bashō  (1644 – 1694) was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haiku no regata form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku.

Despite his success, Bashō grew dissatisfied and lonely.  He began to practice Zen meditation.

“Spring morning marvel
lovely nameless little hill
on a sea of mist”

-haiku by Basho translated by Peter Beilenson

Cherry Blossom Festival, Chokosai Eisho - Now & Zen Inc.

Hanami was first used as a term analogous to cherry blossom viewing in the Heian era novel Tale of Genji.

Emperor of the Heian Period adopted the practice of holding  flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts underneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral.

This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan.

wikipedia.org

Courtesan Hanaogi of Ogi-ya by Chokosai Eisho, Now & Zen ukiyo-e detail

Japanese poets first encountered Chinese Poetry when it was at its peak in the Tang Dynasty.  It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry.  For example, in the Tale of Genji both kinds of poetry are frequently mentioned.

A new trend came in the middle of the 19th century.  Since then the major forms of Japanese poetry have been tanka (new name for waka), haiku and shi.

In Japan during the ancient times, it was a custom between two writers to exchange waka instead of letters in prose.  In particular, it was common between lovers.  Soon after in Japan, making and reciting waka became a part of aristocratic culture.

wikipedia.org

Bamboo Zen Clocks, progressive chime clock and timer

Now & Zen Headquarters

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Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Pink Sakura, Now & Zen Inc.

A cherry blossom is the name for the flower of cherry trees known as Sakura in Japanese.

Cherry blossom is an omen of good fortune and is also an emblem of love, affection and represents spring.  Cherry blossoms are an enduring metaphor for the fleeting nature of life, and as such are frequently depicted in art.

Cherry blossoms and leaves are edible and both are used as food ingredients in Japan.

Kitagawa Utamaro Cherry Blossom Flowers of Edo, Now & Zen

 wikipedia.org

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

Ukiyo-e Toshi Yoshida Sanbu Zaki Cherry Blossoms

In Japan cherry blossoms symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence.  

cherry blossoms like clouds

The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect.

from wikipedia.org

Zen Clocks by Now & Zen, Boulder, CO

Now & Zen Headquarters

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Boulder, CO 80302

(800) 779-6383

...the art of the ‘tea ceremony’ inspired by Japan continued…

Zen Timepiece, a timer for the 'way of tea' ceremony

In that the Japanese tea ceremony is conventionally conducted sitting on tatami, seiza is integral to it. Unless it is the ryūrei style of tea ceremony, which employs chairs and tables, both the host and guests sit in seiza throughout.

To sit seiza-style, one first kneels on the floor, folding one’s legs underneath one’s thighs, while resting the buttocks on the heels.  The ankles are turned outward as the tops of the feet are lowered so that, in a slight “V” shape, the tops of the feet are flat on the floor and big toes are overlapped, and the buttocks are finally lowered all the way down. Depending on the circumstances, the hands are folded modestly in the lap, or are placed palm down on the upper thighs with the fingers close together, or are placed on the floor next to the hips, with the knuckles rounded and touching the floor. The back is kept straight, though not unnaturally stiff.  Traditionally, women sit with the knees together while men separate them slightly. 

Japanese woman performing tea ceremony in seiza sitting position

Stepping into and out of seiza is mindfully performed. There are codified traditional methods of entering and exiting the sitting position depending on occasion and type of clothing worn.

All the bows (there are three basic variations, differing mainly in depth of bow and position of the hands) performed during tea ceremony originate in the seiza position.

from wikipedia.org