Unprocessing through Meditation

So, what exactly is Unprocessing My Planet? Obviously, it's about food & the environment. But that's not all - it's about unprocessing feelings and stress. It's about unprocessing bottled up emotions that prevent us from ever moving forward. Unprocessing My Planet is a journey towards betterment, finding a natural way of life - physically, mentally, & spiritually.

This blog has been registered for quite awhile now, and last Saturday I finally got the "push" I needed from a friend, who didn't even realize in how many ways she was helping me. So, this way cool friend of mine decided to have a meditation class in her home for her birthday. How far out & nifty is that? Even though we are just now rekindling a friendship from long ago, and I've only seen her twice in the last 14 years, she invited me to come to all the New Age fun. How could I say no? I've always been intrigued by alternative, mystic kind of stuff. I was so there!

I didn't really have any preconceived notions coming into the meditation, other than looking for ways to relax. I thought it was all about keeping your eyes closed for an hour and saying "ohm." I've had no experience with it, although in retrospect there are many aspects of meditation that are strikingly similar to prayer, at least for me. I was surprised that there were actually several short meditations, with time in between to discuss how it felt, and guidance from the instructor for the next meditation. It was difficult at first for me to still my thoughts, but once I found my "center" the first thing I felt was complete relaxation. I was totally unprepared for what came next.

Through the first discussion part, I let the instructor & the other ladies know I was going through divorce. You can read all about that here. She tells me to hold my hand over my heart through the next meditation. Okay, sure. I'm game. What totally took me by surprise though was the physical pain I felt flowing from my heart to my hand when I followed her suggestion. I was actually scared, and had to take my hand away for a moment. I repeated this several times throughout this session, and every time I felt the pain. There was nowhere for the pain to hide, no way for me to swallow it down, nothing for me to do but accept it. I felt completely, thoroughly alone- I don't know that I've ever been so in touch with myself as I was for those few minutes. After coming out of this session, I became very conscious of my ability to ignore the obvious, and overwhelmed at the depth of my buried emotions.

The next meditation was with a partner, and I was paired with my friend who invited me. I had a hard time letting go of my emotions, and I think I was just too damn scared to let my thoughts go any further down the road than I had just left them. After a bit, I started to feel the faintest twinklings that I could trust in her and I was in a safe place. When we came out of this session, I was amazed when my friend told how she actually felt that I had a "wall" up. Honestly, I got chills. Maybe all the talk about life forces & energy is more real than I thought it was.

The last session was all about the birthday girl, a guided meditation about light and love and peace that was just uplifting and refreshing. It was a phenomenal way to end the day, and an experience I shall not soon forget. In the short time I was there, I ran through a gamut of emotions. The calm happiness radiating from the instructor is a quality I know has never graced my face. I completely understand how meditation is a life long process, and it is definitely a practice I hope to have more of in my life.

For most of us (I believe there were 9 ladies) it was our first experience in meditation. A few other women had deep visions/thoughts/feelings as well, giving credibility to the notion that meditation is a way to connect with your secret self, a way to become unprocessed.