Quiet...A New Craving

I have become a meditater, or whatever one calls someone who meditates.  Like you, I've read about how important meditation is as a practice, and I've recently been exploring the negative impact stress can have on the body.  I thrive on action, movement, activity...and, after participating as a student in our Meditation Sampler Series for Women, I now crave some quiet mixed in for good measure.

Arlene Faulk

Our first session featured Tai Chi with Arlene Faulk.  This was an easy access point for me because we were on our feet, in motion, for the entire practice.  The slow and controlled movements used are different than what I'm used to from most of my dance and fitness activities but there was something very powerful about moving in this way.  This was only my 2nd experience with Tai Chi, my first being last year at a Chinese Garden in Portland, OR.  I felt my mind quiet while we were working, and had the pleasure of a very calm evening and good solid sleep that night.

Rebecca Mueller

Our second session featured Mindfulness Meditation with Rebecca Mueller.  We have this flavor of meditation at the studio on a monthly basis with Rebecca, so I'd had some experience before we got started, but there was a difference in working for close to an hour as opposed to our short 30-minute lunchtime sessions.  I felt like I was more able to find that quiet space in my mind without quite as much interference as usual.  I also felt more relaxed and refreshed than I'd felt before.  The effects stayed with me at home and, again, I slept very well!

Marsha Smith

Next up was our session featuring Focusing Meditation with Marsha Smith.  Even though on the surface Focusing and Mindfullness share characteristics this was a very different session than the previous week's.  Where Mindfulness seemed to be about quieting your mind and body, Focusing seemed to be more about quieting your mind so as to listen to your body.  This was the most interactive session in that we would meditate then discuss, then meditate some more.  Even with the back and forth I left feeling calm and quiet.




But how do I know I'm hooked?  We took last Sunday off (there was some sort of sporting event scheduled) and my body felt it.  I was off, agitated, unable to settle in to work even though I had ample time and space, and just generally out of sorts.  I realized, at about 7 pm, that I was missing meditation.  After only 3 weeks of carving out 75 minutes each Sunday evening my body reminded me that it liked the change of pace and did better for me with it on the schedule.

I didn't feel confident enough with my meditation skills to do one of the methods I'd been exposed to in the previous weeks so I did what comes naturally to me - I danced.  I danced with meditation as the focus and used my music and movement to reset and refresh.  I found a glimmer of what I'd gotten from the focused sessions with a guide in my solo attempt at home in my living room, and something clicked - meditation comes in many forms - you just need to find what works for you in the moment.

Corinne Peterson

The final session of the series - Yoga Nidra with Corinne Peterson - is this Sunday.  Wikipedia says Yoga Nidra is a sleep-like form of meditation, so this is likely to be the quietest of the four flavors.  I'm very much looking forward to giving this meditation style a try (and I'll add a comment with my thoughts next week), as is my meditation-happy body.



How do you meditate, and how often?