Last week I learnt something new about humans which surprised and honestly saddened me. One of those things that is so obvious, but something I suppose I have not given that much time thinking about.
Recently I have began taking meditation classes at a Retirement Village, it is honestly quite a buzz introducing meditation to this amazing group of people. An ex-farmer who was dragged along by his wife, who eagerly come up to talk to me after about reflexology and the large rose quartz chunks he had in his garden, a perfectly poised elegant woman who used to be a dancer, a nervous and suspicious lady who was extremely worried she didn’t know what to do “do I HAVE to take my shoes off?” But watching the combination of personalities gently begin to let go of their preconceived ideas that I am about to get them all to do some weird and strange things and seeing the bodies and minds begin to relax, I do think I get just as much out of it as they do.
Pretty sure some of the residents think this is what is about to happen! :)
I must admit though, for some reason, I assumed that when you get into the later years of your life, we would naturally begin to let go of the constant worrying and stress. That life and the accumulation of experiences, losses and joys would condition the mind to focus on the important things, that we would naturally begin to find the calmness and peace that we deserve.
After last weeks’ meditation class, I had several eye opening chats with some of the residents.
The conversation that really struck me was with a beautiful lady who is very ill with cancer, it was her first time trying something like meditation and she did absolutely love it. She said she felt extremely relaxed and couldn’t wait for next time. She knew that she did need to learn how to relax as relaxing was something that she never really did.
Now, that one sentence may not seem like a big deal to most people, but this really struck me like a thunderbolt. I am so extremely passionate about teaching people how to relax, I am so aware of the incredible health benefits of relaxing and it saddened me that this lovely woman had made it to this stage in life without gaining the knowledge and the insight of how important it is.
Sitting in front of me, was an elderly lady who has never learnt the power of being able to calm and control her own mind. Which also meant she was never truly aware of the powerful connection of her mind and body. Without the awareness of self, she had never made it a priority in her life.
Being aware of how your mind and body operates is so important, we tend to know more about how a computer or a car runs than our own bodies. Relaxing is not just something that hippies do whilst hugging trees, it is not only something rich people do lounging about with cucumbers on their eyes. It is something our minds and bodies crave, we need to be able to switch off, to recharge, to renew.
This is something that we need to dedicate time to learn how to do, it is not something that life teaches us. So get out there, find out what it is for you. Bring some mindfulness into your life, don’t wait until you feel life will give you the time, until you are in a retirement village – wash the dishes in the sink, experience the feeling of the water, the bubbles … breath and experience your life mindfully – relaxing experiences, mindful moments can be created anywhere.
We are the creators of our own happiness, no one else can do this for us – take life by the reigns and connect with what ever it is that gives you the space, the peace, the enjoyment….NOW!.