This summer, I dedicated myself to the practice of meditation. It became my greatest tool to heal from a concussed brain injury, and the substance of what I would teach in my annual autumn retreat on Monhegan Island, ten miles off the coast of Maine.
Of course, there is a distinct difference between thinking about meditation and the act itself.
I find it ironic how my computer incessantly attempts to autocorrect the word meditation, trying to replace it with mediation.
This defines the practice.
How often does my (overthinking) mind try to sabotage my attempt, my ability to be still?
How do I try to mediate my way out of five minutes of quiet? My mind will do everything in its power to maintain control.
Of course, this is the practice.
How do we learn to sit? How do relinquish control of our busyness, our self importance, not to mention our inner critic?
How do we create, how do we come to know the stillness within ourselves?
How do we discover and encourage more meditative moments into our lives?
For myself, I return to Monhegan, even if only in my mind’s eye and I envision the ocean. Rather than fixate upon the crest and crash of waves upon the shore of myself, I contemplate the spaces in between.
The moments when the ripples recede and return to the vastness of the sea.
When I am able to embrace the pause rather than anticipate when the next wave might appear, I am able to churn a little less vigorously. To trust what lies within me and embrace the silence all the more.
even if only for five minutes
Because some days five minutes is enough to becomes the reminder to sit, and then to do it again.
to practice
How do you invite meditative moments into your life?
How do you sit with silence? Can you encourage your breath into your being, to notice the way it becomes interconnected, how it already is interrelated? One part feeding and flourishing in community with the other ~ it’s not that different from the decision to dedicate yourself to being in the Wellness Glow community ~ to trust in your capacity, to be better together, to breathe into the fullness of your whole self.
Our Wellness becomes our light. In reflection and illumination, in relation, in gratitude, we Glow.
Sarah E. Webb’s path consists of many stitches, but at heart, she is a storyteller. From the artist studio to the yoga studio, her multi-disciplinary approach considers both spaces as creative, contemplative sites of corporeal process and practice. Sarah weaves her critical, visual, and perceptual background into a unique environment to map and make meaning of one’s individual stories and experiences from breath to pen, mat to page. For more information on her upcoming retreats, writing & meditation workshops: sign up for her newsletter check out her website: or follow her on IG @tobejustsew.com
Comments