Earlier this spring I was desperate for a vacation. We hadn't been able to get away all year due to the changes in our lives and I was exhausted. In desperation, I booked the retreat in Sedona with Leah. I also almost signed up for Vipassana which is a 10 day meditation retreat. I was desperate for some self care time and at that point, 10 days of soulfull silence sounded like heaven.
I just finished my meditation this morning and my entire leg is numb from hip to toes on my right side. It reminds me of the story a dear friend told me about her Vipassana experience. Now for those of you who don't know, Vipassana is a silent retreat, no talking and you meditate about 11-12 hours per day. I have just completed an hour with a numb leg. Imagine tacking on another 11 to that! She told me the first day was agony. Every inch of her body was on fire. She went to speak to the instructor and she told me she was completely angry! She said to him "How can I focus on my breathe hitting my lip when I am in this much pain?" He just smiled and said it will get better.
She said it did. Slowly. But the most profound lesson was that the more she focused on it, the worse it got. When she removed her attention from it, it often passed. Now remember she had a lot of time for it to pass ! But it did. Even leg numbness. I have yet to be able to sit long enough for it to pass on it's own, but she assures me, it does pass.
It is a lesson in life that nothing is permanent. That our purpose here is to allow things to pass through us. To realize that joys and sorrows are all part of life and not to attach to them as being defining. All of us have good days and bad days, joys and pains. We must keep moving forward and looking for the next sunrise and knowing that everything that comes to us is a gift. But to hold on to hurts or even one moment of joy is to become stuck and stop the flow of life as it is meant to be.
It is to stand in the middle of spring rain and fell the moments of life trickling down over your skin. To taste the clear clean water on your tongue. To smell the earthy scents that rise up as it touches the ground. To be alive. To simply be.
To pass through.
In love and light,
Kathryn
I just finished my meditation this morning and my entire leg is numb from hip to toes on my right side. It reminds me of the story a dear friend told me about her Vipassana experience. Now for those of you who don't know, Vipassana is a silent retreat, no talking and you meditate about 11-12 hours per day. I have just completed an hour with a numb leg. Imagine tacking on another 11 to that! She told me the first day was agony. Every inch of her body was on fire. She went to speak to the instructor and she told me she was completely angry! She said to him "How can I focus on my breathe hitting my lip when I am in this much pain?" He just smiled and said it will get better.
She said it did. Slowly. But the most profound lesson was that the more she focused on it, the worse it got. When she removed her attention from it, it often passed. Now remember she had a lot of time for it to pass ! But it did. Even leg numbness. I have yet to be able to sit long enough for it to pass on it's own, but she assures me, it does pass.
It is a lesson in life that nothing is permanent. That our purpose here is to allow things to pass through us. To realize that joys and sorrows are all part of life and not to attach to them as being defining. All of us have good days and bad days, joys and pains. We must keep moving forward and looking for the next sunrise and knowing that everything that comes to us is a gift. But to hold on to hurts or even one moment of joy is to become stuck and stop the flow of life as it is meant to be.
It is to stand in the middle of spring rain and fell the moments of life trickling down over your skin. To taste the clear clean water on your tongue. To smell the earthy scents that rise up as it touches the ground. To be alive. To simply be.
To pass through.
In love and light,
Kathryn
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