meditation bootcamp day one
Shambhala training Level One: The Art of Being Human
By "training," they mean "practice," because, as they say, the practice is the practice. so from 10:00 am until 5:30, it was 30 minutes sitting meditation, 10 minutes walking meditation, repeat. they did give us a nice long lunch break and a short tea break late in the afternoon. provided yummy food, too. i never knew i could be so tired from sitting all day. not to mention sore from the muscle tension i couldn't keep away.
during the morning, i had lots of judgmental thoughts, of myself and others. it was a bit disturbing to notice. By the afternoon, my thoughts largely followed the line, "this is hard. how much longer?" i took a break during almost every walking session to quaff cough syrup and stretch. during our tea break, several of us were hoping there'd be something else afterwards, but it was back to the cushions, with our hosts prodding the reluctant participants to get back in there. the last session was definitely the calmest. i still spent most of the time thinking, but my mood was much more accepting. i'm sure it helped that i knew it couldn't last that long, being the end of the day, although i did wonder a few times if we were going to meditate all the way until 6:00, or if they would have some discussion before the end of the day.
the director commented on how different the energy and all of us were at the end of the day, and he was right. i spent over five hours meditating in one day, and i got a glimpse of how regular practice really can transform.
By "training," they mean "practice," because, as they say, the practice is the practice. so from 10:00 am until 5:30, it was 30 minutes sitting meditation, 10 minutes walking meditation, repeat. they did give us a nice long lunch break and a short tea break late in the afternoon. provided yummy food, too. i never knew i could be so tired from sitting all day. not to mention sore from the muscle tension i couldn't keep away.
during the morning, i had lots of judgmental thoughts, of myself and others. it was a bit disturbing to notice. By the afternoon, my thoughts largely followed the line, "this is hard. how much longer?" i took a break during almost every walking session to quaff cough syrup and stretch. during our tea break, several of us were hoping there'd be something else afterwards, but it was back to the cushions, with our hosts prodding the reluctant participants to get back in there. the last session was definitely the calmest. i still spent most of the time thinking, but my mood was much more accepting. i'm sure it helped that i knew it couldn't last that long, being the end of the day, although i did wonder a few times if we were going to meditate all the way until 6:00, or if they would have some discussion before the end of the day.
the director commented on how different the energy and all of us were at the end of the day, and he was right. i spent over five hours meditating in one day, and i got a glimpse of how regular practice really can transform.