We are often asked whether we are introvert or extravert. Yet many of us may be (like myself) “ambivert”. It means that a person needs and thrives on social interaction as well as enjoy and recharge during the solitary or introspective experience. And there needs to be a balance between social and the solitary, in one’s life.
It is interesting the experience of meditating in a group provides both experience of social interaction as well as solitary or introspective experience at the same time.
At the DCMC Community Meditation on a recent Thursday evening, there were over 20 people, drawn together to know more about what meditation is about and how it might help to grow in understanding and inner peace. More than once during the session, I marveled at the fact that we each were experiencing our own inner world, but we also were sharing common ground. There was a strong sense of cohesion and connection and that we were all part of a greater whole.
Some were relatively new to meditation, others were more experienced, and some had experience with other forms of meditation other than mindfulness. The introductory talk provided some background and general orientation. Since meditation has been around for centuries in all the world’s major religions, and all of a sudden, surfaces in a tumultuous marketplace environment, it is important to understand the context in order to have an accurate view of what meditation is.
Meditation is “mind training”, not just for calming down
There are many forms of meditation in many different religious and spiritual traditions. What is being referred to today as mindfulness meditation is unique among them. And it was suggested we think about mindfulness meditation as mind training. This reduces the religious connotation and emphasizes that basically, our minds need training in a manner that we would need and training. For instance, if we wanted to be a cheerleader or a mechanic, the process is to take raw talent and refine it into a more coherent functioning to serve a specific purpose. It is easy to see that our minds are not that well-disciplined in general, given the proliferation of the artificial environments of cyberspace. And it implies also, that it takes training and practice to accomplish. The Cambridge Dictionary defines training as: “the process of learning the skills you need to do a particular job or activity”. And the particular activity of mindfulness helps one develop a series of skills, all related to each other, including, attention to the present moment, learning to pause between stimulus and response, to be able to separate a thought from it’s apparent “reality” (like the thought of an orange is not an orange), suspending judgment, delaying response, and a greater awareness of what one is actually thinking or feeling at any particular time. But it takes practice to bring these fully into one’s life.
And research shows, that when we are in the present moment, accepting things as they are without judgment, our subjective experience leans more toward calm, enjoyment, wise decisions, curiosity, and an abiding sense of wellbeing… with practice.
What do people experience during the community meditation – 3 examples
The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program includes eliciting feedback from participants on what they experienced during meditation. This helps people get a better understanding of what they experienced and can give others some insight into their own experiences. Three people volunteered to share their experiences.
The first person said she’s been meditating a long time but finds that her thoughts still race around and she gets very frustrated with that. It was pointed out that the thought that she couldn’t control her thoughts was also a thought… and was to be recognized as such and let go. Then it became clear that she was “trying” to meditate, and that could not could do that. It is like “trying” to pick up a glass of water… it will never happen. It was pointed out that the meditation is an experience to be encountered, that we can’t create it, it’s already there and with meditation we are just letting go of the mental processes that inhibit innate awareness.
Another participant said she usually meditates with the box breathing method and was that part of the manfulness meditation process. Box breathing is a skill based on a yogic pranayama practice, designed to soothe the nervous system. It works so well, it was adopted by special operations units in the military. It is a very effective for calming us down and getting mind and body re-integrated from being upset. However, it’s primary purpose is inducing calm. While mindfulness meditation practice also soothes the nervous system, that is side-effect, so to speak, of the meditation. The main purpose of mindfulness is to train us how to further develop our capacity for self-awareness, self-acceptance, and an open response to internal or external events. Remember that for centuries, mindfulness meditation was practiced to develop a foundation for further spiritual training, wisdom, compassion and so on, not just to calm down. This is important to understand at the beginning so we can begin to build that foundation with the right view.
Lastly, someone shared that he had almost not come that evening because of the pain from sciatica. And when the meditation started, it was difficult for him to follow since he was so acutely aware of the pain. He said he persisted and the more he was able to follow the meditation, the less the pain got, to where, though he could still feel it, it wasn’t bothersome and he could settle into the meditation. We talked about the important work that’s been done, using mindfulness meditation for transient as well a chronic pain. It can be quite effective. It was found that what makes pain worse is often what we think about the pain. We may be angry about it, afraid of it, feel helpless, etc. and all that does is make the pain sensation worse because we become more aware of it and attenuate it with future projections or past regrets.
These brief examples of what people experienced in the session, I hope provide a little insight into the process of mindfulness meditation itself, what it is and what it is not, and what might be possible for you.
As the DCMC offers these community events monthly, we hope to see you at the next gathering.
Alfie Wishart