Meditation.

As you may remember, last week I went to my first silent meditation retreat.  I had an excellent time and really made a lot of progress with my meditation.  I've been meditating passively for years, but have always had a hard time with it and have never had much success on my own.  I am happy to say that I think that may have changed now.  I still enjoy group meditation because it causes you to be more structured, but I feel more capable of sitting down to meditate on my own now that I've received some instruction.  I would like to share a few things that I have learned about meditation that work for me, but I remind you: everyone is so different, try as many things as you can and I can guarantee you will find something that works well for you.

First of all, meditation is the ultimate eco-nomical activity, as it is both environmentally friendly and wallet-friendly.  Technically, if you are interested in pursuing a meditation practice, the only things you need are to be alive, to have a space to sit, and a pillow, block, or even a book to sit on in the event that you cannot sit comfortably without a bit of added support (more on this below).  There are infinite resources on the internet telling about various methods of meditation, including webpages, free podcasts, even some online books that are free.  There are free meditation classes available through many Buddhist groups, and they are very accepting and welcoming, even if you don't identify as Buddhist.  If you're willing to spend a little extra money, you can buy even more resources brand new, or try searching Craigslist for things you might be interested in that are second-hand.  In particular, meditation pillows or blocks to sit on or meditation benches are easily available.