Training Wheels

Thought I would share my experience with this week's Monday Meditation - Flowing Water. Let's just say that my dog, Scooby, did much better than I did!

Since I don't have a small desk fountain, I decided I would utilize the waterfall in my backyard spool ("spool" - bigger than a spa, smaller than a pool = spool!). The first time I tried it was at night and was actually quite wonderful. I wrapped myself in a blanket, closed my eyes, and listened to the waterfall. I could feel the coolness and moisture in the air that was created by the water and I breathed it in. The entire 90 seconds was bliss, and then my kids burst out of the house to see what the heck I was doing. They thought we were going to have a nighttime swim even though it was past their bedtimes on the 2nd day of school!!

That's ok. I tried it again the next evening - this time
in my bed. There was no water element so I visualized one. I imagined the sound of trickling water and pictured myself next to a wooded creek. I was surprised at how effective just visualizing it was! It actually helped me focus only on the imagined sound of the water and my experience with it. My mind chatter had to wait because I was busy visualizing the water! This was a great discovery, as my biggest challenge with meditating is the quieting of the thoughts that chase each other around inside my head.

I tried it again this morning next to the waterfall. I'm not going to lie - my thoughts were screaming at me. But Scooby was a natural at it.

Well, just like riding a bike, we need training wheels at first until we get our balance. Let's just say, I'm in training!