For a good, long while now, maybe 10 years or even more, I have been thinking and even saying that I want to learn to meditate. Every time I see a movie or read a novel or a magazine article that has any mention of meditation, it sparks my interest again.
I have a book on ‘how to’…yet, for the 40 years of my life, until this evening, I have never really tried. Yes, I have been to the gym and taken a body balance class which has a few minutes of quiet time at the end, which was fabulous…don’t get me wrong, relaxing your whole body from toes to hair is a wonderful experience…but I don’t know if it counts as meditating.
Tonight, after our lovely welcome dinner of rice; yellow chicken curry; vegetables; fried chicken; mushroom salad and pineapple for dessert…
I went over to the yoga room to have a go at what I thought was going to be a yoga/relaxation session…however I was mistaken. It was a full on meditation session, complete with chanting…if you have ever seen ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ you may have some concept of the daily mediation sessions in they perform each morning in the ashram.
I could not read the script, nor speak the language….however what I could do, was sit (pretty still) and breathe and listen. I have no idea what was being said, yet the rythmic tones coming from those around me reasonated on my skin, I could feel it. I tried not to focus on anything in particular, though keeping my back straight took some conscious effort and sitting cross legged for 45 minutes was too challenging. At one point I pulled my knees up and put my feet on the floor in front of me, but a quick glance at my neighbour told me that wasn’t the right thing to do…so down they went and down they stayed…mostly…though I kept my eyes closed from then on so as not to see him shake his head at me…I think I did pretty well…and there is always tomorrow to try again!
My day has ended. I feel relaxed, ready for bed and happy to know that when I wake up I get to explore again!
