TEACHER: James Maskalyk
THEME: The subtle pleasure of concentration.
James: After almost twenty years of doing it, I still struggle with meditation. I argue with myself about whether it’s the right time of day, should I stretch first, after or instead. More often than not, like a petulant child, I feel sorry for myself that I need do it at all, because my mind just wants to go: wheeeeeeeeeeeeee. Clang about, deliver its set menu of preoccupations like an eager and anxious friend. With websites and telecomms and wearables slyly hijacking my attention, it’s harder and harder to remember the pleasure of my own company and how it feels to choose it. It has none of the whiz-bang-almost-orgasmic hit I feel scrolling or arguing or letting my imaginations run. It is different, an almost imperceptible loving joy, a feeling of the tumblers turning in a lock. We will work on this ‘coming home’ during our sit, see if we can make the case to ourselves that no glove fits so well as this living, breathing moment.
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