Again, starting with check in, challenges & successes, and a brief guided meditation, we reflected on our reaction to the meditation exercise. While we almost always agree that the meditation was enjoyed, this week one of us felt that they just couldn’t quite ease into the pace of gently letting each thought bubble up and float away. The problem was that sometimes too many thoughts rumble to the surface at once … “like a never-ending grand finale to a fireworks display.” We talked about how anxiety can bake and get to truly intense levels for us, each in our own ways. Sometimes it is challenging to try and relax into a meditation.
The idea of “walking meditation” for times when sitting through a mediation just doesn’t seem to cut it. There are internet resources for guided walking meditations, but this can be difficult to coordinate as a group. We talked about how sometimes moving makes it easier to sustain the calming feeling of a meditation. This led us into talking about experiences with meditative exercise like Tai Chi, QiGong, and martial arts. It was suggested that the monks at the Buddhist temple in nearby Raynham may have ideas to share about walking meditations. https://watnawamin.org/
We talked a bit about using a walking meditative labyrinth, too (a current topic in the town of Warren). We mentioned that there is a walking meditative labyrinth nearby behind the Congregational Church in Barrington, and we talked about touring it together somehow. We agreed that taking calming, thoughtful walks in the late evening was something that we individually might try, with or without a labyrinth.