Tuesday night meditation

I started physical therapy last week. I found out that I had a disk out of place in the lower half of my neck. That probably explains the slight discomfort I had been feeling. It has been sitting on a nerve and caused loss of strength in my left arm and hand. That explains the reason for having trouble with my left hand while playing the guitar lately. This has been due to sitting in the same position while playing and practicing guitar for years. And for me, stress is another big reason. I don't handle stress well, I tend to hold things in, I think a lot of us do. I needed to learn a way to clear my mind and relax. I've been looking for a new way to deal with it and my physical therapist recommended meditation. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? And who better to ask about Meditation then Ottmar

So I asked him about meditation and he offered to give me a meditation class. I thought that was great. We set up a time and I stopped by his place last night. We started the evening off with tea (very good organic tea by the way) and he started explaining the history of meditation. For about 45 min, he talked about all this amazing history along with showing pictures of Buddhist temples from a book. He explained about Zazen and how to prepare your self for meditation. (I think he would make a great professor - Then again, maybe he is? When I first arrived, he did say there would be a test afterwards!!)

He talked a bit about Martial arts and it brought memories back from when I took martial arts growing up. Since I've had that experience and playing an instrument, he said It shouldn't be too hard for me to be comfortable with meditation. We then walked into a room where he had two Zafus set up on Zabutons with candles lit. We meditated for probably 10 or 15 min. After concentrating on my breathing for a bit, I started to relax and it felt very similar to when we start a show. Ottmar will start playing a solo piece and I'll sit there quietly until it's time to start playing. At that moment, I'm concentrating on my breathing, trying to calm my nerves a bit and getting focused to be in the right mind set for the show. Also when we're playing live, I'm not really focusing on just one thing, my mind becomes free and kinda scans everything going on. Sometimes thoughts will come into my head and you just have to discard them. This was similar. Thoughts would come and go, I see the connection he was talking about. I really felt refreshed afterwards and very moved by the whole experience. He sent me home with a Zafu to try out and I will make this part of my life now.

What a great introduction into meditation! If you're like me and have a hard time clearing your mind, this might be something to consider? I hope you'll be inspired the same way I was. Being at peace in your mind makes a world of difference.