Is it just me, or is the racket of the world getting louder? Lately I notice it’s harder for me to find my inner peace, to hear my own voice. I connect with it easily in nature, but a walk to my park, resplendent with melodic river and soothing eucalyptus, is not always possible.

Hence when a friend invited me to attend a group meditation session, a voice within me whispered, “Go”. In past I have been sporadic at practice, but my deep sense is that now I must solidly commit. My mind, body, and spirit are crying out for it. And I will share this:

Stillness in meditation is not accomplished within a vacuum, the absence of all noise, because your combined environment and monkey mind can never be that. Hence my stumbling block in past, trying to achieve that impossible state. In essence, I was working too hard at it, which was derailing my practice.

Meditation is also not passive. Rather it is an intentional walk through a passageway, whilst using simple techniques to overcome the barriers of noise and mind. Finally, it is a calm “room” you enter at the end of the hall. And you surrender. When you find the knack, the approach, it is effortless.

The reward? I do experience this at other times, most often in my nature walks, or, in the hypnogogic state before sleep.  But now with practice it will be attainable anytime, anywhere:

A door opens to a sacred space, where the divine in you lives. The external world and your own relentless mind-grind fall away to the background. You are still remotely aware of them, but they are unimportant, like tiny fleas on an elephant’s back.

In that beautiful room, you have access not just to peace, but also to divine wisdom. You feel it. It’s very big in that room. You have entered the infinite. For you Dr. Who fans (I am a big one!), this idea will resonate. Think of that room as your Tardis, a place for your soul to rest, escape, explore, discover.

I will now purposefully make space for more meditation, because the crucial point the session demonstrated was its importance. And I hope in the reading of this, you will be inspired to do so too. It’s our safe escape from the chaos, and one we sorely need, now more than ever.

Escape | Your space within © Susan L Hart 2019 | Hart Haiku