Orange Flower

Sit or half- lotus?

     As I pondered the seating options, I felt myself leaning towards one of the bleacher seats. Wasn't sitting in a chair cheating? Was I going to get the full experience? Suddenly the group got up and we were led in a series of stretches in preparation for sitting. I knew the class went from 7 to 8:30, hopefully we wouldn't be meditating that long! As we sat back down again, new attendees were asked to give a name, if they had meditated, and why they were interested in meditating. I mentioned my solo bookworm attempts at meditation, dropped the name "Charlotte Joko Beck" (no response) and told the class that I was hoping a group environment might bring greater progress.
      After an introduction into this group's method of meditation, and a few pointers on how to focus and still the mind, I struggled with the best sitting position for the long haul, "do I wrap my legs up like a pretzel and try half lotus, or maybe something simpler?". I ended up chickening out on the half lotus attempt, closed my eyes and began to listen to the guided meditation.

First Group, the full experience

As I pulled in the parking lot, I did a quick look around and found someone walking towards the entrance. I played follow the leader and watched as he took of his shoes, entered the building and walked into a large carpeted hall with a stage in the front. A large golden Buddha sat in the center of the stage, and I was surprised, because he seemed rather trim, with more of a smirk, or knowing smile, instead of the fat laughing Buddha you see at Chinese restaurants. About 15 people were scattered around the hall amongst chairs and small seats without legs almost like the seats people bring to sporting events for the bleachers. Obviously, these were some kind of meditation chair.

First Group

Since my individual meditation attempts were not progressing well, I decided on group meditation. Luckily on my commute to work I passed a meditation center. After years of wondering what went on inside, I decided I needed to find out. One try couldn't hurt? I researched the organization on the web, found pictures of people meditating who looked "normal" and only a few orange robes in the background. They met once a week in the evening after work. I set the next meeting on my calendar, cleared my schedule and informed my family.

Zen Habits

After my dip into the Joko books, I decided to expand my horizons and check the web. I researched meditation techniques and after a while settled on the weekly updates from a blog called Zen Habits , by Leo Babauta. This created a great rabbit hole of bloggers whose various perspectives and subjects kept me busy for quite a while. Still, I made little progress in my individual pursuit of meditation's benefits.