Jan 27

Half-Time at the Silent Bowl

After 10 days of mostly silence, I have reached the gap between the two consecutive retreats. It feels wierd being out on the streets among the hustle, bustle, honking, begging and other assorted chaos. But the feeling of inner calm is still present. Not that the chaos isn’t disturbing, it just doesn’t seem that important.
I said “mostly” silent because there were times when everyone had chances to ask questions and report back on our experiences. Personally, I was even more vocal because I volunteered to be the retreat yoga instructor, so I spoke while leading extremely abbreviated 45-minute classes (let’s just say thinking of things to fill that time was not the problem). The yoga was very well received and it was wonderful to feel such deep appreciation from such a grounded and aware group (especially at 6:00 in the morning). As a side benefit, I received permission to do my own yoga practice later in the mornings (effectively missing a couple of walking meditation sessions). I haven’t had 10 (soon to be 20) days to dedicate 90+ minutes to my own yoga practice since my teacher training. It is great to go deep into my body, then right back into meditation.
As I re-read the words above, I realize I haven’t really talked about the meditation. Perhaps meditation just isn’t something easily describable or equually as likely, I am still too close to it to give it proper perspective. That might sound like a cop-out considering that I have been practicing meeting whatever is happening in life as it happens. What is happening right now does not feel particularly interesting. Maybe this is a good place to stop. I will check back in for the post-game wrap up sometime around February 6th or 7th