Stressed? Shambhala

Today I partook in my first far-east experience; at the Shambhala Center of Lexington, they offer Meditation Instruction, Organized meditation sittings, and more intensive mediation and Buddhist teachings and trainings. I attended their weekly Saturday morning activity, "Cafe Shambhala," which is one of their gratis community events that includes an introductory meditation instruction and then a fellowship with foodstuffs and then another sitting for more formal group meditation.

The experience was powerful; powerful, yet challenging. This is my first exposure to a true-blue meditation, outside of a meditation-lite in a yoga class. Shambhala teaches "Mindfulness Meditation." Here's the gist.

Three tenets prevail for a Shambhala Mindfullness Meditation session:

1. Body. A good posture through the spine, a gentle depression of the head, (as referenced from the anatomical position), a long chin, and eyes dropped downwards. Shambhala supports an eyes-open practice to a) prevent falling asleep, and b) intensify presence of mind. Hands rest on the thighs while the legs sit loosely crossed. You sit atop a large, thick pad that allows the hips to sit superior to the knees to improve ease of attaining posture.

2. Breath. My teacher Sandra instructed us that there is no goal of breath manipulation, rather the goal is to simply observe the breath. Pay attention to it and let it be a center for our minds. The breath is the best bodily process on which to focus because breath is with us always and there is no need to try to escape it. It brings rhythm and consistency to life.

3. Mind- the hardest of the three to control. The mental component of meditation is an endeavor towards passive thought. The image that was given to us was this: "Imagine your stream of consciousness as a freight train. You are but a spectator to the freight train; but sometimes, we jump onto that freight train and get lost in its travel. When you jump onto that boxcar, realize that you are, "thinking," and then jump back off and become a spectator again."

I strongly recommend you try it. Very challenging to keep a quiet mind, but exactly what I needed.

Patrick