Everyone is welcome to attend and usually between 10 and 30 people show up.
The first 15 minutes the facilitator of the meeting explains how meditation works those who are new to the process. The next 40 to 45 minutes we meditate. Then for the last half-hour, the facilitator answers questions for those who are new or are relatively inexperienced.
I find it interesting the kinds of questions newcomers bring up. Those who are unfamiliar with the process often look upon meditation as some sort of therapy that will help them heal past trauma, almost as if it were a cure-all. And while it is true that meditation can help make us calmer, more focused on the present, and less anxious, it is by no means a panacea. At best, one might look at it as a tool that supports our efforts to live a more sane and fulfilling life.
Because what meditation teaches us – if it teaches us anything at all – is how to pay attention to our thinking. This continual examination of our thinking makes us realize that most of our thinking is not that important, that thoughts are not something so tangible that we have to react every time one of them passes through our mind. We learn to look at our thoughts from the standpoint of being an observer. And when we observe the thought we recognize it without judgment, then let it pass through our mind like clouds through the sky.
I believe the meditation process is particularly helpful to those of us who are in recovery. And the group I attend has several members who have been in recovery for many years. And I say this because what else got us in trouble but our crazy thinking about our lives and how we should solve our problems? The twelve-step programs recommend meditation as one of the processes of remaining sober, though they don't recommend any specific school of meditation.
Try it, you might like it.
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