By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
I first experienced meditation in college in the mid 80’s. I thought it was really annoying and kinda stupid to just sit there and do nothing. I had heard about it or seen it on National Geographic shows where the guy traveled around the world and talked to other people in obscure places who chose to live alone. I had heard or seen documentaries about monks that lived in mountains and were like priests but just stayed to themselves and basked in silence. They seemed to be satisfied with not talking to anyone. UGH….. so weird. Why would anyone choose that. I never understood it as a teenager very social enjoying music competitions and group programs and of course hanging out with all my cousins or friends.
So, this psychology class called “education of the self” (because I hadn’t chosen a major yet) seemed the perfect place to kick back and enjoy figuring out life. Afterall, how complicated could learning about yourself be? Piece a cake. The first thing we did was a ‘relaxation’ exercise. We all layed on the floor on our backs. We were like sardines as it was a pretty big class. And the only we had to do is lay there, relax, and follow the voice or instructions of our professor. He started with “furl your brows, release, extend your ears, release, wrinkle your face up to grimace, release….” We went all the way down to our toes.
Once we had fully felt all the tightening and releasing of just about every single muscle in our body I felt like I was floating. I was so relaxed as if I had just had a 2 or 3 hour nap. Next came the meditation part. All we had to do was feel how our body felt and then imagine that we sat up and walked away from our body and into this field of grass and beautiful flowers. I was so easy and so refreshing. None of us wanted to for it to end. When it was time for coming back to, we sat and discussed for about 15, what we experienced. I couldn’t wait for the next time to meditate. It was rejuvenating and brought clarity and energy. I was truly amazed.
Our professor taught us that this helps to heal the body through natural destressing. This was my first encounter with meditation and understanding how wonderful it was. He told us this little irony that “You have to be out of your mind to meditate!” At first I didn’t get it…. Now and then I am a little slow. I think because my mind set was that’s a dumb thing to do….. sit and stare and do nothing, you gotta be outta your mind. Haha….. but in reality, you have to learn the skill of just BEING. Have you ever noticed that we are called…. Human Beings…. not Human Doings! Take time to just be. It really is a journey within and a journey of itself. The Bible says God says, Be still and know that I am God. He can talk to us when we shut our mouth and our minds. All kind of information will come pouring in. Try it.
We did other things in the class that I had never heard of. Like trust games….um…. wow. That was crazy. Get blind-folded and just free fall straight back knowing the big guys behind you will automatically catch you. Or be blind folded and have a partner you didn’t really know in the class to guide you around and explain what it is you will have to do to keep walking safely, like, there will be an incline, a step down, or a step up. Oh my goodness!! Have you ever done these things? It gives you a complete new perspective of life and how vulnerable we are and to instill gratefulness for the senses and faculties we all have. It definitely heightened my awareness and compassion for people as well as taught me things about myself. You may not be in a position these days to try this last exercise, but if you sit and ponder on it, you just may feel what that might be like. It was humbling for me.
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