My first meditation
The next time I went to the monastery, a short nun with glasses taught us the basics of meditation. She was short and stocky, and had glasses. She seemed a little bit cross-eyed (hey, it happens). However, when she spoke, it was a whisper and yet it seemed to cut through the air like diamonds.
We started off doing exercises to prepare us for the lotus position. I think these were a form of tai chi but I may be wrong.
After the exercises, we got into the lotus position. I could only get into the half lotus position because my legs aren't nimble enough for the full lotus position. "This will probably hurt if this is your first time," she said.
This was an understatement.
I spent 20 minutes in the lotus position. When I tried to get up my left leg was completely numb, my neck and back ached. These latter hurt because the lotus position forces your spinal column to remain straight and rigid. I brought down my leg so blood can flow back into it, got up and kindly limped back to the car.
It's amazing to think that there are monks who can stay in this position for many hours at a time (some will meditate for days). I am really out of shape right now!
We started off doing exercises to prepare us for the lotus position. I think these were a form of tai chi but I may be wrong.
After the exercises, we got into the lotus position. I could only get into the half lotus position because my legs aren't nimble enough for the full lotus position. "This will probably hurt if this is your first time," she said.
This was an understatement.
I spent 20 minutes in the lotus position. When I tried to get up my left leg was completely numb, my neck and back ached. These latter hurt because the lotus position forces your spinal column to remain straight and rigid. I brought down my leg so blood can flow back into it, got up and kindly limped back to the car.
It's amazing to think that there are monks who can stay in this position for many hours at a time (some will meditate for days). I am really out of shape right now!