When I’m sitting with a group of people who are brand-new to meditation, I ask them to close their eyes and call out words that come to mind when they think of meditating. Often they come up with words like bliss, ecstasy, no thoughts. And then there’s one person in the back of the room, with a little smile on his or her face, who’s actually meditated, and that person will say words like obsessive thinking, pain, humiliation.
A lot of people have a concept of what meditation is, but when they actually engage in the practice, they recognize the real challenges of what it means to be present.
My interest is in bringing meditation to different populations in such a way that they can relate to it and see its value and want to learn more. I’ve taught meditation in corporate settings, in adult evening classes, and for stressed-out high school students. It’s immensely satisfying to help people recognize that there are strategies that can not only help them improve the quality of their lives but also give them a real, palpable sense of inner freedom.
To read more, link here: http://kripalu.org/blog/thrive/2014/01/30/meditation-resistance-and-the-practice-of-compassion
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.