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Raising your game

Mordant Carnival

19:53 / 04.09.01

I've noticed recently that magickwise I've started to coast a bit. I was on a pretty good roll: improving concentration, meditation going well, trance states going deeper than my overdraft... but now I seem to have hit a plateu.

I'm still working steadily and regularly, and in some areas I'm getting improvement (the lucid dreaming thing is finally starting to happen for me after five weeks of beating my head against a brick wall), but mostly things are tailing off and there's no progress.

Does anybody have any suggestions? Some good exercizes to improve concentration and viualization would be helpful, but broader advice is what I'm looking for here.

20:17 / 04.09.01

From what I've heard ,just keep going. It's like your walking up a slope. When you're near the top everything becomes mundane and boring and slow. Just keep on going and you'll get to the mountain's peak and will be on a roll all the way down. And maybe the other side of the hill will never end and you'll be on a roll forever.

Unless it's a hot dog/hamburger roll... Then get out ASAP!

20:17 / 04.09.01

How do you breathe when you meditate? In my experience, it's been sometimes the most important aspect...getting the body to a medium where you open and comfortable. Tai-Chi methods work best for me...imagining the flow of energy as it cycles, hitting the right pace, tongue to the top of your pallatte, hand positioning, leg positioning.

Also, is there anything distracting in your environment that may somehow attribute to this difficulty?

Mordant Carnival

20:26 / 04.09.01

There's always something distracting in my environment!

But on reflection I suppose I have been kind of busy with other stuff for the last month or so.

As to breathing: that's one of the things that is going well. I use pranayama all the time, even if it's just for the instant pick me up effect. This site ( http://www.yogaclass.com/ ) has been helpful for me lately.

I should add that it's not a matter of getting bored or not being motivated. I'm just as commited and interested as ever.

20:27 / 04.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Mordant Carnival:
Does anybody have any suggestions? Some good exercizes to improve concentration and viualization would be helpful, but broader advice is what I'm looking for here.

It's the nature of things.

For example, if you go to the Gym and work out using the same routine for a couple of months then you'll stop seeing any improvement. You have to vary the routine in order to give your body more challenges and to work your muscles differently. Also, its an easy way to keep your interest in what can seem to be a tedious routine at times.

So, you've a couple of options. Take a break from consciously doing anything Magical at all. Then, say after a month, go back and do a very simple exercise. You might be surprised by the results.

You could take up a totally different, or new, practise. September is a good time to do this as lots of classes are starting and there's that whole "new projects" kind of vibe going on.

Approach your subject from a fresh perspective. Do something goofy with magic, remember it's also meant to be fun, it's not all serious all the time.

Introduce variety into your practises, change the way you do things for a period of time, shake things up. You'll see a definitely reaction quite quickly.

09:43 / 05.09.01

Word, Wyrd.

Sometimes, nothing spectacular is going to happen for a while. This can mean any of a number of things, but in your case probably means you need to a) wait, b) change gears within your practice or c) do stuff outside your practice--just live life for a while.