Finding Space

I’m lucky enough to live in a neighbourhood where I can walk to practically anything.  School, groceries, bank, coffee, LCBO and most recently my favourite destination, a yoga studio.  I try to make it there as often as I can but find myself in the same predicament as most parents – the studio schedule needs to perfectly align with not only my schedule, but that of my kids and my husband too.  Unfortunately for me, that means I’m not there nearly as often as I would like to be.

Yesterday, the yoga studio hosted a 2-hour meditation workshop.  With some help from our village of family and friends, I was able to drop the kids off for playdates and attend it.  I am so thankful that I did.

I learned more in those two hours about meditation than I have in all the research I’ve done on my own.  There were eight of us there and we meditated as a group for fifty minutes, broken up into four separate blocks.  FIFTY MINUTES!  I was amazed.

We were taught the three important instructions of meditation:

1.      Be still.

2.      Relax.

3.      Let go.

I’ll go deeper into each of those instructions another time but for me, the most important thing I learned was actually a realization.  I realized that I’ve always considered yoga as a chance to do something for myself.  And it is exactly that.  I get out of the house for a couple of hours and spend that time just on me.  Stretching, breathing, and focussing on nothing but the practice.  Finding space in my body.   

In contrast, meditation is doing nothing for myself.  Deciding to be still, relax and let go.  Finding space in my mind.  Something that I have needed in my life for a really, really long time.

And so begins my newest journey.