Drop in Meditation at a Buddhist Centre
As my project is coming to an end my Buddhist self development journey has just begun! One of my objectives for this project was to participate in a formal meditation class at a Buddhist Centre. When in Victoria I scoped out a centre that was well known by most people in the area community. I was excited and nervous to try a class because I wanted something more structured than my own home meditations but was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect.
Below is a picture of me waiting for the centre to open for their daily 30 minute lunchtime meditation.
Once I got in the hosts were so friendly and calm. They made me feel less anxious as the end of year festivities and last minute school assignments have made me a tad stressed. There was a choice of sitting on the floor or in a chair. I chose a chair in the second row. There was a leader that would guide the public through the meditation. The meditation began with reducing tension throughout all parts of the body. Relaxing our muscles. Then the leader told us to think about a bright light when we breathed in. This light symbolized peace and the light we wish to see in ourselves. When we were to breathe out, we were told to imagine a dark smoke. This smoke represented any negative emotions we had, leaving our body.
Finally, we ended with a 10 minute silent meditation. We were to focus on our breathing and the images of the light and the smoke. When the meditation was over the leader guided us out of the meditation.
This was a really cool experience because I had been able to keep my mind completely focussed on the images I was imagining while my whole body fell completely asleep. My arms, hands, legs, and feet could not move they were so relaxed. After the meditation, I felt very calm, a sense of peacefulness, and a feeling of safety. Safety, in the sense, that I was completely in control of how I was going to feel for the rest of the day. The sun was shining that day and I truly felt so appreciative for the light and warmth of the sun.
My perspective changed after that experience. This is why I plan to attend a few of the lunchtime meditations every couple weeks to keep me on track. In addition to challenge me on my meditation time. This is because at home I only meditate for a max of 10 minutes at a time. If I am being honest, after not meditating for a couple days now, I can feel heaviness in my chest and stress of little things building. This shows me how important meditation is for me now.
I encourage everyone to give a meditation class a try! :)