Why I Meditate

I’ve been a serious meditator since 2005 when I joined a spiritual community with a mentor of Chinese medicine. With him and many colleagues I took on the practice with fervor and dedication. I practiced what is sometimes referred to as ‘just sitting’ practice. I just sat and watched the show of my mind. With the help of some very skilled teachers and joining dozens to hundreds of practitioners I became very good at it. At one high point I was meditating 2-3 hours per day and 3 hours on the weekend! I even joined in on yearly international meditation marathons where we would sit for 24 hours only taking small bathroom and snack breaks in between! It was pretty intense! Those times I was just on autopilot going through the motions more simply because it became a habit..not so much for the joy of it, as one might think.. And even though at time it was very rewarding at other times like when one commits to daily exercises, it was often grueling, painful and anything but enlightening. Still somehow I forged on.

But I have to say that as I continued the practice and days turned into months and months into years there was something that was changing in me. I think I often got the feedback through the comments of my friends, colleagues and family members that I was different…changed….calmer…more grounded. Things that seemed to fluster others didn’t seem on the outside to fluster me. I was always surprised to hear this as I never really thought I was ‘courageous’ or ‘peaceful’. On the contrary I often felt like I was riding the emotional and physical roller coaster just like every one else.

And at some point about two years ago, I started to think about why I was meditating at all. I started to become very very interested in how meditation could help me in Life…how it could help me but also others deal with Life. I mean what was the point of sitting every day? I felt something else changing, compelling me to explore what I perceived as possibly the next level of my practice.

In my following blog I’ll share with you what I have learned through Life experience that has come up for me that I feel is very exciting…because I feel it can help YOU too!

Thoughts, Comments greatly appreciated!