I am my second week into the world of week. Ever since my first day that began with only 2 hours of sleep, I have always been ridiculously tired at work.
I believe this tiredness to be due to a melange of things:
- Regularly not getting as much sleep as I’d like. I know that 6-7 hours may be plenty for most people, but not me. At least 8 otherwise I’m ruined.
- I’m just a ridiculously sleepy guy. I will and always will fall asleep anywhere and everywhere. And the absolute worst hours of the day for me are 2-3 (am or pm). Sleeping through lectures and lessons was always inevitable so I’m petrified of snoozing at my desk.
- Just being in the state of rising early and working as a routine. Not quite used to it, it has been over 5 years since I went to school after all.
- Finally, starting a new job in a new place with new faces and learning a completely new industry is surely going to take its toll.
Add the fact that I am doing this project on top, it’s making me quite the stressed out and exhausted chap.
So, then comes along thing #36 – try out meditation. I wonder if this will go some way to remedying my situation…
It was a Wednesday evening and I had time and a hunger to kill. After attending Wok to Walk and then the Punch and Judy pub, I made a phone call to my Mum to let her know I was not going to be back till late because I was about to try out my hand at Sahaja Yoga.
After gaining my Dutch courage with a guy from Michigan who ran an intriguing candy store/restaurant and a couple of ex-military fibre-optics experts, I headed off to a Friends Meeting House expecting to be greeted by a couple of hippies and an intoxicating incense aroma.
Instead, my doorbell call was greeted by a very normal looking guy who, with a smile, guided me to a room of another hundred normal looking people, most of whom were sitting with good posture but well-relaxed and with their shoes off.
Taking a seat, I began to listen to the guy at the front discuss this yoga. To be honest, I was a little worried that it was going to require athleticism and flexibility – two things I have not displayed immense amounts of in recent weeks. Joyfully, all I had to do was sit and focus.
I soon realised that a good quantity of the words emitted from his lips were not of an English origin. This is because the movement was founded by a Nirmala Srivastava from Madhya Pradesh. She is commonly called Shri Mataji and this is who she was referred to as during the evening.
After a doctor lectured us on the psychological impacts of Sahaja, I was finding myself thinking that maybe it’s not purely a religious movement but one that can be practised for the benefit of your mental health. Intrigued, I awaited the start of the meditation.
With a chap at the front telling us what to do, we closed our eyes and began to relax. We touched parts of our body, beginning with the heart, then abdomen, hip, neck, forehead, back of the head and while we did, we were to say statements in our head. Kind of like prayers I suppose.
Eventually, the gentleman was relieved of his services and a video of Shri Mataji took precedent. We repeated a lot of the meditation that I have mentioned above, and paying particular attention to just completely clear your head of all thought – an amazingly difficult task to do, I thought.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. In this case, the proof of the meditation is in putting your right hand above your head to see if the Kundalini has been awakened. I was repeatedly told that this was via a cool breeze sensation rushing out of the top of my head. Although, I did feel some kind of energy up there, I didn’t really notice a draft out of my skull.
And then, the session moved onto a workshop. When they said workshop, I was expecting something like little workgroups, discussing ideas and maybe putting a few down on a flipchart. I was quite wrong.
Once the music began, members of the group gently rose to their feet and then stood behind other members and performed their own meditation routine for these people. it looked very bizarre from a newbie’s perspective. Kind of like giving a massage without touching the person.
And very soon, I was greeted by someone who worked on me for a good 10 minutes encouraging me to just focus on the candle and photo of Shri Mataji at the front. I instantly felt my body becoming heavier but more free. I guess that’s relaxation for you.
At the end, he invited me to bring my right hand above my head as before and, boom, there it was. As if someone was lightly sprinkling Listerine out of my head, I could feel this cool sensation, faint though it was, rising from my body. I was shocked but he did not look surprised at all.
He spoke to me about the amazing benefits this meditation has had for him over the 25 years that he has been practicing it and I began to think, maybe this is the answer to my tiredness issues. I wasn’t so interested from a spiritual side of things but the benefits to my health could be tremendous.
On departing he gave me a photocopied guide of the meditation so I can get involved at home, as well as a photo of Shri Mataji and encouraged me to meditate with her photo there and a candle and see what happens after a couple of weeks.
I must say, if it wasn’t for a pounding headache that I suffered post-meditation, this is a most intriguing and awakening experience that I would recommend to anyone to have a go.
