Week Three : Meditation and Super Mario Brothers

Week Three

Class 5

I missed class, but watched on-line at a later date. We learned about the invocation prayer that is dedicated to all teachers. We say it at the beginning of each class. We also did some sun salutations. We learned about the bandas. They are places in your body where you generate heat and energy. I thought I knew yoga. Now I can see – I was that pompous confident person who really knows nothing! But at least I am open to learning and catching up on what I thought I knew.

Again, I watched the class at a later date. So I walked into class not knowing the assignment…

Class 6:

Yoga Class (prior to training)

I attended class with a different teacher before the teacher training. She is athletic and the yoga is hard. Harder than I ever thought. I am sweating. I am hungry. I am thirsty. But I am warm on a cold night.

Teacher Training

We learn more about breath and I get a quick review.

The assignment that I missed was to teach a meditation session. Say what????

I have been meditating for as long as I remember, but I have never taught a full session. But I quickly remember my Super Mario Brothers session with Heather from my journal and I stay calm; I can do this, I’ve already done this. Thank you Super Mario Bros and thank you Heather! What am I going to say or do? I decide to bring motion and guided imagery into my session.

My classmate does her session. It is calm, relaxing, and well-timed. I am blissed out. My second classmate does her session. We sit up. It is the metta meditation I didn’t connect with on my own. She suggests we face ourselves in an imaginary mirror. It works. Listening to her voice and taking her suggestions helps aid the forgiveness a session on my own did not. This is amazing!

I do my session. I decide to lead off with motion and ask everyone to just shake off their day. This is not my original idea. I recently attended a sound meditation where we did this by brushing off our day, and I felt it was very effective. So I modified brush to shake. I then started guiding my classmates and allowed them to choose sitting up or laying down. They all laid down. And I did a brief guided imagery. Totally copying what I could remember of Dick Sutphen’s White Light Meditation. Which wasn’t much considering I’ve been listening to the recording since I was 16…

My classmates and teacher all fell into meditation. I think. It was hard to tell. I tried to recall all I could remember from Dick Sutphen. I noticed they weren’t moving. It felt a bit eerie – like they weren’t there. I looked up and all of a sudden I felt totally alone – like the only one awake at a sleepover. It’s an unexpected feeling. And it dawned on me – how in the world do I wake them up? Nicely? I should have looked at my watch, but I kind of panicked at gauging time. So I asked everyone to return. To gently shake their fingers and toes and bring some movement back into their body and sit up when they felt ready.

Everyone liked the shake it off and the guided imagery. Thank you prior meditation sessions, Super Mario Brothers, and Dick Sutphen! My weird past brings present success at teaching meditation.

Our assignment is to journal our meditation and read assigned materials.