Meditation does not have to equal an hour and a half of sitting still to regain internal peace. In my case, the very prospect of sitting like this brings on a sense of deep distress, and I believe I’m not an exception. So for many years I thought this form of “activity” was not meant for me. Until one day it turned out meditation can have a completely different face than sitting in an uncomfortable position on a hard floor.
When I first came to Aude I learnt that our boss is active in many different ways, more or less related to the business. One of them includes running workshops in meditation in motion, which at first seemed to me like a conjunction of opposing words – after all, how is this even possible to meditate in motion? When Ula decided to organize such meetings once a week for the company’s employees, I decided to give it a try. The first meeting was very mysterious to me; I kept losing the pace, I just couldn’t get it all, and I couldn’t stop thinking: “What on earth am I doing here? I don’t understand it… It’s so strange!” The worst moment was when we were supposed to express our deeply hidden emotions – this is when you can shout, jump, cry, anything you want. But I wasn’t able to utter a single sound. This was an extraordinary experience for me – after all, how can you not be able to make a sound? But I wasn’t.
I decided not to give up. Each next meeting seemed easier. And even Ula herself admitted she had a similar reaction to mine after her first classes. Phew… I felt relieved. It also turned out she had tried to meditate in a seated position, without movement, but she felt it wasn’t her thing. The solution came when she discovered that being in silence can be effective but only after a given dose of motion. This is how Ula came upon dynamic meditation, which indeed abounds in activity! What is it all about? While exercising, we go through five stages. In the first stage, we breathe out chaotically and concentrate on “what others think about us?” And by the way, we exercise with eyes covered and to loud music, which makes it much easier to focus on yourself. Stage two is the one that was so problematic to me in the beginning – we let go of anger, sorrow, sadness – anything that hurts. Here we are also accompanied by sounds from loudspeakers. Stage three is no less intense as we jump… with our hands up. Finally in stage four we are silent. After all the previous stages we are able to get deep into it and just be. Physical fatigue is very helpful. The fifth stage, very pleasant, is dancing to gentle music, any way you like.
In dynamic meditation you get results from making the movements in a sequence. There’s no need to be interested in Eastern religions or spirituality. Meditation in motion is for everyone who needs to set free from everyday tasks, understand what is most important to them, and stop worrying about things that are not worth it. Who doesn’t belong to that group, raise your hand!
The results of taking part in such classes regularly may surprise you. We all see the world differently, but we agree in one thing – active meditation is great to learn more about yourself, also because it gives you the space and time that you can devote solely to yourself. This type of exercises also provides you with confidence and courage to speak up and to act, you become mindful and more open. What’s interesting, all this happens as if incidentally – all of a sudden you realize it’s easier for you to cope with problems, to make decisions, cross barriers which used to make things more difficult. And you feel better physically! Such a dose of movement is like going to a gym, so you get fit as a result. After classes we usually have healthy breakfast with a vegetable smoothie, which we informally dubbed the sixth stage of meditation.
What I love about our meetings is that we are in that releasing of tension together. Even though everyone is letting go of their own emotions and we’re focusing on ourselves, it’s always uplifting when there are people around who need the same that you do. We usually have several people in the class, sometimes it’s just people from our company, but oftentimes we are joined by someone we don’t know. And that’s also cool, because every new person brings in new energy. We are not a closed group and if anyone wants to join us – we’ll accept them with arms wide open.
The time of the day is important in active meditation – it must be the morning, because while exercising we gain power for the entire day, er even week. What’s interesting, this type of activity is recommended by some medical doctors as a complementary therapy in fighting a disease, a way to let go of fears and to gain confidence – shortly speaking, to gain strength. It’s even more interesting that in Germany meditation in motion is reimbursed by the national health fund, which only confirms the therapeutic “properties” of our classes.
If you’d like to join us, we meet every Friday at 6:45 at Oh Lala, ul. Pankiewicza 3 (in central Warsaw).
Kategorie: power of contentic