It’s a period of the year when I am returning into myself, a time for introspection, reflection and understanding. This month’s post kind of fits this mood. I am going to share with you some reflections on the practices that create transformation into my life and that are an integral part of the Vulcanicamente philosophy: meditation and mindfulness. ~~~ A moment of silence… One moment in a day when the noise of the outer world stops and I return to the inner world, just letting it be, becoming an observer of what is there; celebrating this moment of silence, breathing deeply and letting go of everything that doesn’t serve me; arriving into the space where I lay or sit, observing it with its sounds, colors, smells, energy. Shifting my attention to the breath, observing where it stops, observing the changes that take place in my body; simply being, being there with no result to be achieved, with no expectation, but rather with a gentle intention to offer this gift of silence when I need it; observing the thoughts that come in the mind, observing how fast they come sometimes, jumping from one topic to the other in an unstoppable frenzy, many times charged with judgment too, and being aware that now is the time to let them go like clouds; noticing the emotions present, recognizing them, accepting that they are there; trying not to judge them; remembering that we are not a thought, or an emotion, and that those are just visitors that come and go. And allowing myself to do nothing and simply be in the present moment. Meditation is a simple, yet so meaningful practice. My journey to integrating this practice into my daily life started some months ago, in one Youth Exchange organized by Vulcanicamente, when I took part in the morning meditations facilitated by Malte, one of the participants. At the end of the youth exchange he encouraged us to write a promise to ourselves that we would meditate every day, even for some minutes, for 21 days in a row. I had already experienced the blissful meditative state before, but that moment was perfect for setting an intention to do it on a daily basis. It didn’t stop after 21 days, it became a practice I ever since tried to integrate more and more into my daily life, in a form or another. In the beginning it requires discipline. In the rush of task, thoughts, duties, it seems to be hard to find a moment to allow ourselves a time or silence. It’s absurd to think we find time for so many other things, but oftentimes find it hard to dedicate even a short moment to our peace of mind. So what meditation taught me is to preserve a time for self-relaxation, awareness and silence, to allow it to myself even for some minutes. I learned how precious this time is, how much empowerment and bliss there is only in the act of deliberately setting this time for myself. By doing that I learned to listen more to what the body or emotional state are trying to tell me. There are moments when I feel the need to stay silent. This is a pretty new thing to me. I have always been pretty talkative. But there are moments when I realize I want to stay in silence for some hours or a day or so, when I decide to not speak, but only actively listen, without reacting in a verbal way. This is such an insightful experience, making me reflect about how oftentimes responses that we give are actually automatic and how much energy those responses take. Silent days are a good exercise. Active listening is one lesson that meditation taught me, a very important one. Another one is that meditation can be integrated within all the things we do, when we do them with presence: walking, eating, washing the dishes, cleaning, studying, working, taking a shower, writing, hugging, cooking a meal. An experience like cooking, which is a thing we do as part of our routine, becomes so much meaningful when done in presence. Eating with awareness (or mindful eating) is a journey of gratitude towards the food in your plate and whoever contributed into allowing it to get to you. This is what Cristian, our mindful chef, taught me during a silent mindful dinner experience in one of our youth exchanges. When things are done with awareness, the perspective is changing. Meditation brings back the feeling of oneness so long forgotten, the feeling that there is no separation between all the components of the Earth (plants, animals, humans, winds, waters, fields, soil, fire). That brings the realization that we are all part of this ecosystem and we are here to spread our nurturing generative energies. Meditation awakens generosity, care and appreciation for all beings on Earth, for all natural surroundings.
I am at the beginning of a journey full of growth, learning, awareness, light and compassion. And I am deeply grateful for the opportunity that Vulcanicamente gave me to get closer to meditation practices, so that now I can find different ways to cultivate them. The nice thing is that I don’t do these practices only by myself: meditation and well-being practices are part of our weekly meetings; this is how we start the week. They are an essential thematic approached during our youth projects, inspiring youngsters to be more connected with themselves and nature. Gathering to meditate or do mindfulness practices together creates a deep feeling of community between us. Maybe one day through one of our activities or workshops you will have the chance to be part of it too and experience this blissful feeling on your own skin Until then, I leave you with an invitation to allow the time and space for yourself, for whatever brings you inner peace and helps your mind to take a rest, for whatever brings you back to the present moment. Namaste!
2 Comments
Saanwal
12/28/2019 07:46:27 pm
Good one!
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