An Attempt at Meditation

For the past few weeks, my mind has been on overdrive trying to process all the new sights and sounds of the places I've visited here in Southeast Asia. Even when I'm completely on my own, like on long bus rides or walks, it seems like my mind can never stop working. I'm constantly thinking about the future and boys and friends and society and the world. So the other day, I decided to try something new. I signed up for a two-day meditation retreat here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in an attempt to silence my thoughts.

The program I chose was run by a group of surprisingly cool young monks from MCU Buddhist University of Chiang Mai. We started the retreat with a brief introduction to Buddhism, which was fascinating. I was raised Catholic, but I love learning about different faiths. The monk told us about the three main ideas that are central to Buddhism: do good, avoid bad, and purify your mind.

This retreat focused primarily on purifying your mind. We learned the two main meditation techniques:
- Sitting meditation: sitting in silence for 15-20 minutes, concentrating on breathing, counting, or the sounds of nature outside the meditation center.
- Walking meditation: taking slow, mindful steps forward, while concentrating on the movement of the feet.

I had the most success with walking meditation, mostly because it gave me a chance to be active! With sitting meditation, I'd get bored instantly, and my mind would start to wander. Our monk leader told us that the key to truly benefiting from meditation is regular practice, so I think from now on I'll try to take a few minutes out of each day for silence. Hopefully, if I can't get my mind to completely stop, I can at least get it to slow.

Do you ever feel that a million thoughts are running through your head? What are your techniques for staying calm? I want to hear them.

Until next time,
Jess
CosmoGirl Travel Blogger