Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds Archives - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
170
archive,category,category-meditation-journaling-at-ashby-ponds,category-170,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,select-theme-ver-2.1,vertical_menu_enabled, vertical_menu_width_290,side_menu_slide_from_right,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.9.0,vc_responsive
 

Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Posted on February 9, 2026
in Imagination, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality, Well Being
4 Comments

The word “meditation” is often confused with “mindfulness.” Meditation is the discipline of sitting still in a particular posture in silence and solitude with focus on the breath. Mindfulness is the complete attention on the task at hand, and the state of total awareness of what is going on in our mind and around us. Attention and awareness results from the daily practice of meditation. Mindfulness Meditation is also the name of a meditation and is one of the meditations we practice such as Body Scan, Loving Kindness, Guided meditations and so on.   You have practiced focusing attention on your breath. In doing so, you watch your own mind in the present moment. You witness yourself. This is similar to looking at your own reflection in a life-size mirror. The way you become aware of your...

Read More

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Posted on February 5, 2026
in Journaling, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Originality, Spirituality
4 Comments

Personal Power/Spiritual Spot My earliest attempts at writing freely on the pages of a notebook were during the time of extreme trauma. That led me deeper into journaling. Within the span of eighteen months, my youngest brother was killed in an automobile accident, soon after that my grieving mother passed away and my father followed her, his soulmate, within a few months.  This all happened during the months which were supposed to be celebratory for the family, especially for my husband and me. But we were in mourning when I gave birth to our second child. Her presence and my daily pouring out of emotions in words kept me sane and brought me back to my senses from the doldrums.  Journaling was the source of emotional relief and healing. Tending to our beautiful...

Read More

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Posted on February 2, 2026
in Journaling, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Well Being
2 Comments

How does it feel to sit at your Spiritual Power Spot in your home? Peace? Calm? Some other feeling or sensation? Do you journal and practice silent meditation for 5 to 15 minutes at this spot?  At times when I’m faced with a “shitty” emotional problem I let go of the brick wall of expectations that my inner critic builds. If that doesn’t work, (and here’s when my journal comes to my rescue) at the top of the page of my notebook I write, “What should I do? How can I solve this problem?” Instead of carrying  my grievances and complaints around I vent them in my journal as no one else seems to be as intimate as this notebook. Journaling requires trust in yourself and believing that the practice you are following...

Read More

Monthly Guiding Points

Posted on January 31, 2026
in Journaling, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Well Being
2 Comments

JanuaryYour decision to walk on the path of spirituality and creativity is noble. If followed diligently it leads to wisdom, peace and joy. But the journey is filled with blocks, pitfalls and false dead ends. In order to overcome any strenuous situation you need persistence and perseverance. To help you successfully journey on the spiritual way I have collected ten practical points about mental clarity that I promise would guide you along the way.  I have learned and recapitulated these lessons from the works of great thinkers, spiritual masters, philosophers and teachers; their written and spoken words. Each guiding point is a practice; simple but not easy. But when practiced seriously, mere words turn into physical sensations and feelings. Eventually they impels us to act accordingly. Once activated they amaze us...

Read More

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Posted on January 28, 2026
in Journaling, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality, Well Being
4 Comments

Self-doubt is one of the major emotions we all go through. There are days when you feel overwhelmed and sluggish without any tangible reason. What can you do? You allow the heavy dark clouds of emotions and thinking to shower on the pages of your notebook, a rainstorm of words. You trust that by the end of two to three pages it will shed light on things you were only partly aware of. And it will present possible solutions to your malaise and listlessness. I started doing serious journaling in my early fifties that encouraged me to change my profession from teaching art history and world religions to become a freelance writer. It felt the right thing to do, I wished I had started journaling sooner. Not only was I able...

Read More

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Posted on January 26, 2026
in Journaling, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Well Being
4 Comments

The Final Post on Daily Journaling:What you pour on the blank pages of your journal can be compared with autumn leaves. The mountain of dried leaves of your mental trash is all biodegradable. It decomposes into mulch. Into this mulch you’re ready to sow new seeds and watch them sprout as fresh green saplings. It often happens, that upon rereading your journal after some time, you gain greater insight into the things that have happened. Personal events gather universal significance. You realize such exchanges and events, good or bad, are human. The edges of harsh events have softened. You’re pleasantly surprised at where one month’s or one year’s journaling has led you.  When you don’t journal for a while a restlessness gnaws at you. Your mind feels muddled and overwhelmed with mosaic...

Read More

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Posted on January 22, 2026
in Journaling, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
6 Comments

The eminent social psychologist, James Pennebaker in his book, Opening Up by Writing Down, writes that not fully expressing negative emotions, suffering in silence and keeping secrets—swallowing them or pushing them down—affects your heart, mind and body for the rest of your life. By hiding your fears, anger, and hurt from the world, you hide it from yourself. In order to replace the mask of social “goodness” and “niceness” with authenticity you must first recognize the anger, the hurt or the fear buried deep inside you. The recognition must be followed by acceptance of your negative emotions. Some of us may require therapy or hypnosis to cleanse the system but most of us can do this by, as the title of the book suggests, “opening up and writing down.” If you like, write...

Read More

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Posted on January 19, 2026
in Journaling, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
4 Comments

The way we observe physical hygiene for cleanliness, we must cultivate emotional hygiene for mental clarity. What practices could we follow to cleanse our mind? Meditation, journaling and mindful walking in nature. (The other two disciplines of the practice that I teach, Writing Meditation Practice, are reading and creativity.) This month we are focusing on journaling which helps us clear the mental mess which is created every single day. Transforming our mind-mess in words and jotting it down is like someone lending an ear to our problems. Especially for the things we can’t share with any person. It reveals possible solutions to an issue at hand and heals emotional wounds. So if there is a difficult situation on your mind or something is hurting you or knotting your belly, why not...

Read More

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Posted on January 14, 2026
in Cooking, Journaling, Nonverbal Activities, Reading, Walking, Writing
4 Comments

A sketch from "Writing Meditation Practice," 2019 When you shine the light of awareness on yourself, you begin to awaken to an authentic life. With the help of daily journaling you begin to become conscious of what masks your Authentic Self. You pen down passing thoughts and emotions running through your mind like a broken record and leave them on the pages of the notebook. Journaling daily clears your mind and lightens your heart. More importantly, things about yourself are revealed to you which you were not even aware of.  So place the bubbling thoughts, not under your control, of bitterness, anger, resentment or sorrow triggered by a family member, a friend or social event on the pages of your notebook. Then watch the petty or vindictive thoughts, careless actions or unnecessary...

Read More

Tuesday, December 13, 2026

Posted on January 13, 2026
in Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Originality, Spirituality
5 Comments

Spiritual and Creative Journey, 2026 Going within is not easy to do. It is harder than going around the world. When we are new to meditation and sitting in silence and solitude, for the first time we notice the narratives that circle our mind. Until then we are not aware of this quiet blabber which keeps our mind consistently occupied. In order to feel the clarity, peace and joy that meditation promises we must purge the mind of the narrative made of petty thoughts about past and future. They muffle the present moment. Here-Now is the only moment alive with which we build our future.  Benefits of Meditation and JournalingAt first when someone talks about the present moment its reality is hard to grasp. You think, I’m living in the present moment; how else would I...

Read More