An Exercise in Meditation

When did life become so busy and chaotic? I think I feed on the busy-ness of it all, but sometimes I have so much going on in my head that I feel overwhelmed by my own thoughts. I recently came up with this great idea to mentally hit alt/control/delete to clear all the thoughts from my head, but it hasn’t really been working. 

Last week I thought I’d try a more purposeful way of clearing my mind, so I attended a meeting of the Brecksville Meditation Group. They are part of Insight Meditation of Cleveland and they have been meeting at the for the past seven years. 

The Brecksville group is headed by John Cunningham, who said in an email that through meditation, we can see more clearly our own true nature, allowing us to find greater joy, happiness and an increased ability to deal with stress and negative emotions. He also said that meditation changes our relationship with the world by helping to open our hearts, giving us a greater sense of compassion and caring for others. 

The session last week consisted of a guided meditation, followed by a short talk on mindfulness and another meditation session during which Cunningham directed the group to use the principals that he explained during the talk. The Brecksville group practices mindfulness meditation. In a nutshell, "mindfulness" means experiencing this moment to the fullest by paying attention and not judging.

Cunningham points out that meditation has been getting more attention in the news lately because there has been research that finds that it helps in stress reduction, pain management and other types of sickness. According to the website for the Mayo Clinic, some research does suggest that meditation might help some people with various kinds of illnesses, including allergies, heart disease, cancer and depression.

My meditation experience was eye opening. Making a conscious effort to slow down and focus my thoughts can be almost impossible. Since the session, I’ve been thinking about how filling every minute of the day with busy-ness doesn’t allow me the time to really listen to myself. I think I have forgotten that I have a “self” at all. I have begun to think of myself as all the things I do, instead of all the things that I am, and I’ve made myself so busy that I’m not really present some of the time. 

The Brecksville meditation group welcomes everyone, whether you’ve ever tried meditation or not. Their website also has information on meditation and how to start your own meditation practice. They generally meet from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month in the library's meeting room, but it's a good idea to check their website for more information, in the event that the meeting place is changed.