STORY BYIf you're a first-time meditator, the experience should go something like this:
Breathe in, breathe out... I'm focused on my breathing. Why do I smell gas? Not gas, really, more like Lysol... Breathe in, breathe out. I forgot to call my mother. I can already hear it, 'You manage to call your father, what am I, chopped liver?' Breathe in...
I wonder how long I've been sitting here... Breathe out. I have my mother's toes. I never realized that. Garbage bags. I like the ones with the little loops. Breathe in... breathe out. I wonder how they make garbage bags?... Concentrate on my breathing... sure smells like gas. Breathe in. Did I pay the gas bill?... Breathe out.
Even experienced meditators muse about the gas bill during meditation. The difference is, with practice, you can gently follow your mind back to its chosen focus and stay there, longer and easier.
Think of the mind's activity as passing clouds. You watch them pass, sometimes noting a cloud that looks like a rabbit, which takes you into a memory about Easter as a child. And then gently bring your attention back to the simple passing of clouds. In that short span of time, you have emptied your mind of thousands of racing and competing thoughts. Your blood pressure has dropped, your pulse has slowed, your adrenaline and cortisol levels have had no reason to soar. You've just given yourself a life-sustaining break.
Now call your mother.
UPDATED: 4-26-2005
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Special Instructions for Children Being Vaccinated Against Flu for the First Time:
Children 6 months up to 9 years of age getting a flu vaccine for the first time will need two doses of vaccine the first year they are vaccinated. If possible, the first dose should be given in September or as soon as vaccine becomes available. The second dose should be given 28 or more days after the first dose. The first dose "primes" the immune system; the second dose provides immune protection. Children who only get one dose but who need two doses can have reduced or no protection from a single dose of flu vaccine. Two doses are necessary to protect these children. If your child needs two doses, begin the process early, so that children are protected before influenza starts circulating in your community. Be sure to follow up to get your child a second dose if they need one. It usually takes about two weeks after the second dose for protection to begin.
Because flu viruses change every year, the vaccine is updated annually. So even if you or your children got a flu vaccine last year, you both still need to get a flu vaccine this season to remain protected. If October and November slip by, and you haven’t gotten your children or yourself vaccinated, get vaccinated in December or later.
