Meditation and Mindfulness
I remember being introduced to meditation at primary school with these instructions: close your eyes and think of nothing. I just kept thinking “Am I doing it right?” and I decided I couldn’t meditate and couldn’t see the point. When I tried a course in meditation for stress reduction 18 years ago I still came to the same conclusion. I couldn’t stop my mind and meditating every day seemed more like a form of torture than something for well-being.
It took a crisis to send me on a five day silent retreat in 2011. “This way I will have to learn as there won’t be anything else to do.” Every day, sitting, walking, sitting, walking, sitting, walking and my mind screaming with it — how boring the breath was. I wanted to hit the teacher and tell him to ring the bloody bell when I was sure that the 30 minutes must be over. Occasional moments of beauty, peace and stillness, but mostly I learnt how busy my mind was and how it likes to narrate and judge everything, EVERYTHING! It was a pain in the ****!
And how fortunate I was to have some time with a teacher who helped me to be curious about my thinking — “HOW INTERESTING!” — she would cry and I would think, that is rather interesting. And I started to be curious about my thoughts rather than judging them and trying to get rid of them. And then I started to find them rather funny and I would find myself smiling whilst meditating at the ridiculousness of these thoughts. I was learning a different relationship to thoughts and just how freeing that could be!
"If it weren’t for my mind, my meditation would be excellent."
— Pema Chodron
Experience
Since that first retreat, I committed to a daily practice (which wasn't quite so daily at weekends!). Going on retreat became my new holiday and I have had some wonderful times including a month at Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village and a month teaching English at a Tibetan monastery in Nepal. I have practised a wide array of meditations including metta (loving kindness), samatha (calm abiding), emptiness and the jhanas (deeper states of meditation). I opened a meditation group at my office then trained to teach mindfulness with the Mindfulness Institute in 2013 and trained to teach teenagers with the Mindfulness in Schools Project in 2014. I have run numerous courses and introduction to mindfulness workshops, facilitated day long mindfulness retreats and led hundreds of meditation sessions. I have loved it and a lot of other people have too!
If you're interested in learning meditation and mindfulness one to one or for a group or if you would like to introduce it to your workplace or school let's have a chat.
"I would like to thank you for opening my eyes to finding the balance allowing me to be kinder to myself as well as your many words of wisdom."
/ Kim A /