Treat yo’ self to some Meditation: Part 1

By Edgar Mendez

I’ll begin by asking a question:

When I say meditation, what comes to mind?

As February approaches, I’m entering into a month full of transitions. Due to these upcoming changes, I noticed that I’m reaching for my phone constantly (too much for my own good), drowning my stress in the images and stories on Instagram, the current events and happenings of everyone’s life on Facebook, etc.

I’m finding that it’s easy to turn to social media to numb the mind from all the stress.

As a performer (dance artist) I like to think that I’m in touch with my body and can easily be aware of when I need to restore my mind, body, soul to be able to take on hardships. I’m a mover, I need to be on the go and get things done to find peace. As a society I feel that we are conditioned this way, to get things DONE and not enjoy or sit with the process – it’s easier to keep your mind busy.

I partake in movement classes that vary in form from Ballet, contemporary, and jazz, Yoga classes, but never meditation, WHY? Nothing against meditation but I find that the slowing down, getting in touch with my breath takes much longer to accomplish, which stresses me out about not being able to fulfill a meditative state. I’m interested in finding the thrill in meditating and the power of breath.

To be completely transparent, I’m writing this in anticipation of participating in Monday Meditation with Marie Kyoko Morohoshi at Community Well. I want to hear Marie’s perspective on meditation and how we can implement it into our daily, fast-paced lives.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I will share what I learned about meditation, anything that came up for me, and Marie.

Photo by Tim Goedhart