New Years Meditation Reflection

It had been awhile since I sat down in a long guided meditation and so I decided that I would attend the New Years Meditation led by Ricki Jean. I’ve been to Ricki Jean’s meditation sessions before and knew that this would be good for me but I didn’t really understand what sort clarity it would bring.

We started the session off by going around the room and introducing ourselves then we gave a short explanation of what drew us to come to a 2 hour, new years meditation class. I didn’t really know why I was there, other than to get some guidance but as I listened to others it became very clear to me that we all seemed to have missed the “new year.” That all of the running around we did in 2009, all the stresses we felt, we were still carrying in 2010. We had missed the opportunity to stop and contemplate what we went through in the past year and what were are aspirations for the year already at hand.

The session unfolded with a short sit, a good stretch, then we had a brief exercise followed by a discussion, and finally we had the big sit which was only about 35mins, but still. After the long guided meditation we were encouraged to write or doodle in our journals. Of course, what do you write after be asked to contemplate the joys and sorrows of the past year? Of being asked to look ahead and see what your desires are for this year? After drifting in and out of a 35-minute meditation? What do you write? Well…

“Hmmmm… Long sit… “

That is exactly how my journal entry started and as I continued to (what seemed like) force myself to write I started to gain clarity of what my intention is for this moment. Maybe for the year or the decade I don’t really know. But the idea that what I’ve been saying to myself for weeks in a thousand different ways finally came through in this session of meditation and writing was the reminder I needed to slow down and listen. It doesn’t always come out that way, and it takes a skilled teacher to guide you through something so big.

After reading what I wrote in my journal there was a certain lightness I felt when I saw clearly my intentions and aspirations. The confusion and hectic, rushed feeling that I was having, that seems to come with the holidays and new beginnings, finally seemed to quiet down. That evening I felt really present with everyone I spoke to and confident in my new findings.

Of course it is a new day and my printer is still speaking a different language to me and my ipod will not sync with my newly downloaded, upgrade, itunes but hey… It’s all a practice.