This Friday's Live Chat - Temperament and Typology in Healing, Parenting & Teaching

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Meditation, Inner Work and the Temperaments

Meditation, Inner Work and the Temperaments
By Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
http://www.thewaldorfchannel.com/
http://www.naturopathichealingcourse.com/


One thing that Steiner saw as very important for Waldorf parents and educators was to maintain a constant awareness of ourselves through meditation and self-reflection. The beginning of his work, “The Foundation Meditation” expresses his thought the best when he says,

Soul of man!
You live in the limbs
That carry you through the world of space
Into the sea of spirit-being:
Practice spirit remembrance
In the depths of soul,
Where in the reigning
Cosmic creator-being
Your own I
In God's I
Is begotten;
And you will truly live
In the cosmic human being.


Phlegmatics are natural meditators. Remember Winnie the Pooh from the 100-acre-woods? He always seemed to be in a constant state of meditation – always looking at the clouds and seeing Hephalumps in them or something! People of the phlegmatic type don’t usually need instruction in meditating or finding time to meditate. For a phlegmatic, meditation happens when it will, throughout the day, alone or in a crowd, in the form of daydreams, short naps, sleeping in and sitting peacefully. While others may find this behavior irritating – phlegmatics are often told to “get up and do something useful” we could all learn a bit about meditating from their natural state of being. The phlegmatic’s challenge in meditation is to focus on themselves instead of distractions. If one is trying to center themselves they need to spend some time meditating on their own inner being and life. A phlegmatic can easily get distracted by thoughts of “Hephalumps and honeypots.”

Melancholics love order and are easily distracted and disturbed when things are out of order. So for a melancholic to be able to meditate they need to find a time of day and a space in which they will be able to be completely alone and at peace. A meditation class, a special room in the house, an early rising time or some time after everyone else goes to bed, is a good time for the melancholic to meditate. Melancholics have an uncanny ability to rise before anyone else in the house because they cannot “think clearly” when anyone else is around and they need that meditation time every day to stay grounded. The melancholic’s challenge is being able to spend that time in meditation focused on themselves instead of other people. Melancholics are often distracted by what may be “good for other people” and often do not spend enough of their meditation time on real inner work for themselves.

Sanguines are only at peace when there is movement involved so it will come as no surprise that it was a sanguine who wrote the book “Walking Meditation”. Sanguines are the people who find that they think most clearly in cars, trains and planes or on walks. There is something about moving in a steady rhythmic motion that creates the peace that a sanguine needs to meditate. The perfect meditation for the sanguine is a morning walk, an evening stroll, chanting, yoga, or some other form of meditation that involves movement. Sanguines are some of the most intense meditators and often spend too much time thinking about what they want to work on. The challenge for a sanguine is to be able to moderate their meditative focus and focus on one issue at a time, rather than all of them at once.

Cholerics often meditate by doing things. But not in the same way a sanguine does. A sanguine meditates by moving in some way and in this way the peace and thoughts of inner work are brought to the surface. For a choleric, meditation often needs to involve even more “doing”. A choleric could create a piece of art, write a book, or sculpt a sculpture and this would be both their way of meditating and the result of their thoughts – in the visual realm. Cholerics meditate best when they are talking, writing or creating something in some way. The challenge for a choleric is to keep focused on the inner meaning of their creations and to make sure their speaking, journaling and art remain a healing way for them to work on their own selves and do not become stifled by what society may expect from their writings, expressions or art.

This short article only touches the very surface of what “inner work” can be for each person. If you are interested in reading more there are many books published on the topic.

Some further reading on the topic of Steiner and meditation can be found at:
Full text of “The Foundation Meditation” at:
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Articles/FSFTSe_index.html

“Inner Work, A Study Guide for Rudolf Steiner’s Heart Thinking” by Mark Riccio at:
http://www.waldorfbooks.com/anthro/inner_work.htm

“Verses and Meditations” by Rudolf Steiner at:
http://www.waldorfbooks.com/anthro/inner_work.htm

And many more at the weblink above (Bob & Nancy’s Shop)

Parent Child Natural Healing Classes Start NEXT WEEK :)

Dear Parents,

Parent-Child Natural Healing Classes ONLINE will be starting on February 1st!
(Scroll down to sign up as a pair, a family or co-op group)

I have been teaching a naturopathic healing class online for 8 years (and offline for more). My children are all old enough to start participating in learning these skills, but the classes I already offer are at a higher level (14-16 years old and up to 150 years) So I will be starting a new series of classes over the next few weeks called "Parent-Child Natural Healing Classes". During these classes we will be learning:

Reflexology
Herbs
Iridology
Nutrition
Typology

These classes will be taught at a child's level and will all include video support. I will be uploading one class every month for the next 5 months. Mothers who have taken these classes "in person" with me before have been thrilled because the classes were so easy for THEM to understand too. Even herbalists and healers were excited to discover new ways of looking at herbs and healing and the kind of reflexology I teach is not American reflexology so it is new too!

How the classes will run:

1. Each month you will receive your video - downloadable online - and class materials and E-books, lesson plans and stories (all online). You will be able to access these materials at any time so even if you don't choose to participate WITH the class you can use these materials even 5 years from now!

2. The entire month we are running the class I will be visiting the online forum (open for the class forever) and I will be present there every Friday at a certain time to participate. You are welcome to join the class in "real time" or you can access the forum and do the class on your own time. I expect there will be enough people doing the class at different times that there will ALWAYS be someone on the forum so these classes are NOT restrained by time but I am adding an element of time to them so that people who want a more LIVE experience can have that.

3. You will be able to either participate in LIVE time or on your own time.

4. The classes do not involve testing, although you are welcome to contact me any time with questions

5. Two certificates of participation will be issued when you finish the series for participants in the class, however, as many children or family members as you like can participate in the classes. However, please do not distribute the class outside of your group as the materials are copyrighted.

6. You must sign up for all of the classes. You can pay all at once or you can pay in installments:

One time price is:
$150.00 payable at:
http://tinyurl.com/2gdrz7
(Ideas: sign up as a co-op group to save money and split the fee between more than one person)

The installment price is (a little more because of the maintenance from my end)
$50.00 for the first installment and then $30.00 a month after the first installment for the next 4 months.
http://tinyurl.com/2zq89k

7. If you want classes with testing and certification for older child or adults visit: www.naturopathichealingcourse.com


If you have any questions please contact me at : herbnhome@yahoo.com

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
www.thedreamangels.com