Tuesday, February 28, 2012
As I pondered the seating options, I felt myself leaning towards one of the bleacher seats. Wasn’t sitting in a chair cheating? Was I going to get the full experience? Suddenly the group got up and we were led in a series of stretches in preparation for sitting. I knew the class went from 7 to 8:30, hopefully we wouldn’t be meditating that long! As we sat back down again, new attendees were asked to give a name, if they had meditated, and why they were interested in meditating. I mentioned my solo bookworm attempts at meditation, dropped the name “Charlotte Joko Beck” (no response) and told the class that I was hoping a group environment might bring greater progress.
After an introduction into this group’s method of meditation, and a few pointers on how to focus and still the mind, I struggled with the best sitting position for the long haul, “do I wrap my legs up like a pretzel and try half lotus, or maybe something simpler?”. I ended up chickening out on the half lotus attempt, closed my eyes and began to listen to the guided meditation.
After an introduction into this group’s method of meditation, and a few pointers on how to focus and still the mind, I struggled with the best sitting position for the long haul, “do I wrap my legs up like a pretzel and try half lotus, or maybe something simpler?”. I ended up chickening out on the half lotus attempt, closed my eyes and began to listen to the guided meditation.