AMANDA'S BASKETS: MEDITATION & FINGER LABYRINTHS

Thursday, September 17, 2020

MEDITATION & FINGER LABYRINTHS

I love the orange-rust color of the flower above. Reminds me so much of fall. The temperatures have taken a dive into the 60s for the next several days or so. My t-shirts are in the chest of drawers and my sweatshirts are now front and center. Hope it stays this way for a while...not too cold, but not warm.

I was planning on working in Duchess but the guild stuff seemed to multiply in front of my eyes so I have been tied to the computer most of the day...make that all of the day.

And my computer seems to be on the slow decline...right now the left shift does not work. Makes typing a bit slower than normal...actually, it is very frustrating but not enough yet to plow a couple thousand into a new computer. Especially since I just plowed thirty-five hundred into SnowWhite!!!

Do you meditate? A lot of my friends and most of the members of the guild meditate at some degree. I found that interesting but not surprising. A couple were having a time settling down long enough to meditate and others suggested a labyrinth. Well, going to one (if you can even find one) isn't very convenient right now. BUT there is a solution. A finger labyrinth.

All you need is a pattern, double sided tape, pins, black thread, two pieces of fabric about 12 inches square and 1 piece of batting also 12 inches square plus fabric for binding.

First download whichever pattern you want to use (website at end of blog). Layer the top fabric, batting and bottom fabric and pin corners. Then use double sided tape to secure the paper pattern to the fabric at the corners (not under any lines). Stitch over the line with a short stitch. Once stitched, remove the paper.

Using a tight but narrow zig-zag stitch sew over the lines. Finally, add a binding. And this is the result.

So now that you have a finger labyrinth, how do you use it. Many folks use labyrinths in conjunction with their religious faith, but many others do not.

One way to begin is to simply enter the circle slowly tracing the path with a finger from your non-dominate hand. Some folks concentrate on the experience of tracing to empty their mind of other thoughts. Other folks allow thoughts to come and then dismiss them while tracing the circle. Still others look at emptying their mind on the way to the center, once there, they take a few deep breaths and then allow thoughts to come and go as they trace the circle on the way out. Experiment to find which works best for you.

You can find patterns for laybrinths here: https://www.relax4life.com/download-paper-finger-labyrinths/

You can find ideas for meditations here: https://www.headspace.com/meditation-101/what-is-meditation

Talk to you tomorrow...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?