Namastay or NamasGO??

Continued from last entry……

There was no way I could meditate like this?

This woman was driving me absolutely crazy.

Here I was hoping for a quiet and serene morning to escape the “noise” of my everyday life, but this woman’s shuffling, rifling and incessant whimpering was creating the most annoying experience ever for me!

I was so frustrated.  

Actually, I don’t think that I was the only one who was annoyed.  I felt like there were a few people in the room who were having a hard time staying focused with all of this background movement.

And I bet Sunim could feel everyone’s negative energies as well because……well….. because he’s Hae Kwang Sunim!  And I had no doubt that he could feel even the slightest  of energy shifts. 

I think I was right because Sunim suddenly announced to the group, “Let us now quiet our minds, turn our thoughts inward, and focus on our breath”.

I tried so hard to focus on my breathing, but every time I did, hot mess would cough again, or sniffle again, or….. just be super annoying again  >:(

This whole meditation thing would be SO much easier if she wasn’t here.  I half-wondered if while everyone’s eyes were closed, I could quietly pull her yoga mat out of the classroom.  With her on it….

Sunim spoke again, “Let any thoughts that come into your mind just pass through.  Do not remain on them.  Do not focus on them.  Acknowledge them, and then let them pass…..”

Ok, I guess I should let that thought pass….especially since it was kind of an evil thought.

So, now what??

Sunim clearly read my mind because then he said, “Continue to focus on your breath.  It is impossible to think about anything when you are thinking about breathing in ….. and breathing out.”

Pfffttt….no way!  

I could ABSOLUTELY breathe in and out at the same time that I am thinkin…………..

…………….. ?

..........!!??

Holy crap!?  

He was right!!  

You COULDN’T think and breathe at the same time!!???

This was amazing!!  Why had I never realized that before??

I tried it again.  

My mind was thinking about everything under the sun UNTIL I stopped to focus on my breath.  And then, quiet and peace washed over my body.

Un-be-lieve-ABLE!!!

For years I’ve been filling my mind with stupid idiotic nonsense, worrying about  things that would NEVER come to fruition, and stressing over complete silliness when all I could have been doing all this whole time was breathing!!

Wow.

What a breath-taking experience this had turned into!!  (insert laughter and applause here for that perfect pun).

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For the next 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!) I became ONE with the universe.  In fact, the universe and I had become “besties”.

I worked, and focused, SO HARD on my breathing that I became untouchable.

At one point I had actually quieted my mind so much that I felt like I was floating amongst the stars, up in space.   

But then….. I thought that that was a little weird, and totally unrealistic.

So then I floated down to reality………..or rather, down to a large yacht....where I was being shuttled to my own private island :)

This was the life!!

After floating all over the planet, Sunim asked us to “bring our attention back to the classroom and back to the present moment”.

I was SO relaxed.  I felt like mush.  The good kind of mush :) 

And then I wondered......was hot mess even still here??  Or had she left during our meditation session?

I opened my eyes, and there she was.  Still sniffling and coughing and rolling up Kleenexes in the corner of the room.

Remarkable!!

I had managed to perform 2 hours of meditation without once getting distracted by hot mess!??  How cool was that???  

And then I thought to myself.   If I could completely ignore hot mess and exist in my peaceful state of mind, then what else could I ignore????  My kids when they’re fighting……my mom when she’s nagging me about my messy house…….my personal trainer when he’s yelling at me to do that 100^th sit up?………the possibilities to ignore were ENDLESS!!  (Well, except for that last one.  Everyone knows that Ridiculous Girl does not work out.  I perfected ignoring the whole “workout” thing a LONG time ago…..).

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At the end of class, Sunim smiled and said thank you to all of us for attending his class.  Then he put his hands together and said "Namaste".

He continued, 

 "The word Namaste means 'the divine in me recognizes the divine in you'.  I wish you all a wonderful week, and I hope to see you again soon".

As my sister and I rolled up our yoga mats, hot mess walked past us on her way out.

She smiled and whispered to a few of us, "Sorry that I was so loud.  I've had a rough week.  I'm really happy I got to join this class.  I needed it".

In my peaceful state, I smiled back at her and said, "You weren't loud at all".


And then, for the final time, I inhaled deeply, and exhaled loudly and whispered to myself, Namaste.

Which in my books means......... 

'the ridiculous in me, recognizes the ridiculous in you'.


;)


The end.