CAS journal #4-Meditation

With the completion of the first meditation club session my realizations were correct. Not only was it a calm environment with peers I knew quite well but the instructors, two guys with a great sense of humor added to the good mood. They talked about "Zen", a form of meditation that they were undergoing classes for, meditation itself is very diverse and different people prefer to do different ways depending on its use. For Zen a simple sit down is all that is required. I was taught different ways of holding my hands and body gestures that would help with concentration as well as breathing techniques that consisted of breathing in and out of the nose as if I was pushing the thoughts out of my head. When the meditation started I decided on a beach setting where as I breathed in the waves would wash over me and as I breathed out they would recede. I found this to be quite effective and before I knew it lunch was over. I went on to my next class calm and happy, even though this class takes place only twice a week I think its going to be a nice break in the middle of the day and week. And now that I had actually completed a session I could reflect on how its going to help and what things I can do to improve this skill. During this first class I found I could meditate for about fifteen minutes, not bad for starters Im guessing but ive decided that outside of these sessions im going to practice to improve my endurance and the amount of time and can successfully meditate without any interruptions. Im very satisfied with this club so far and I feel as if its going to do wonders for my attitude.