This morning I had a rough start. Had to go to Wally mart 1st thing ( no I do not want your opinions on wally mart) which is never fun and came home only to realize that my plans for the morning were not going to pan out.
On the weekends I often meditate in the middle of the day when everyone is up and about instead of early morning when I am alone. I started doing this after listening to an audio book by Caroline Myss. While talking about meditation she says that be able to sit still in a quiet dark room with pleasant music playing is not, to her, an impressive meditation practice. She goes on to suggest putting on your least favorite radio station or sitting in the middle of the mall and trying meditation that way. So taking her advice I often reach for peace in some very awkward environments. This morning I decided to take my exasperation and sit no cushion (my wife was snoozing on it), bare floor (cheap carpet), hands on knees (murder on my shoulders) in the "compassion mudra" which is thumb and middle finger touching, while the 4 children are a single room away playing (fighting over) a game.
After ten minutes or so I had gotten deep enough that all of the sounds coming in sounded ethereal, like I was reading thoughts and not actually hearing voices. This can get very interesting as my children say some very unusual things.
"you lost the two small ones so now we have to make it some other way"
"I don't know why she's naked"
"I'm going to tell daddy what your doing" and "no, no, I stopped!"
The 1st two are strange and curious. That last one almost broke me.

(Inhaling "nonviolence"; exhaling "respond with love")

After twenty minutes the internal visuals of the eye and the beautiful blue light had me in a deep bliss so my body decided to rebel. My ankles, hips, back and shoulders all began to throb at the same time. The "there's a bug crawling on my face" sensation came on instantly and with a vengeance. Another undertaking of mine is not allowing myself to fidget due to discomfort or phantom itches. At this point it was almost unbearable. I wanted to jump up screaming. I wanted to slap at my face and shake out my arms and legs. I refrained. And I ached.

(inhaling "nonviolence"; exhaling "respond with love")

I was suddenly inspired. I began to "respond with love".
"I love you make aching hips, I will give you relief as soon as the bell rings. I know you are strong enough to hold on for a few moments more. I love you my restless mind. Even though you are running around like a caffeinated ferret, I will still appreciate all that you have done for me."
It worked! My body relaxed and I got some relief. My mind settled. The beautiful blue light returned. The bell finally sounded.
Lesson number one.