breathe in breathe out

In college, I gave some half hearted attempts at meditating and what I mean by that is that I’d download the headspace app and stop before the initial ten day period. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to meditate, because I did, it was that there was always something else that needed to get done and meditating would fall to the wayside. 

Meditating is certainly not easy, at least not for me, but I’ve read enough to know that there are serious tangible benefits if you practice it consistently and thoughtfully. In my head, meditating and yoga are quite similar you aren’t always able to see the benefits of the practice or how far you’ve come in a day, but gradually in time you can start to see the improvements in your practice. 

I received the opportunity to go to a (free) meditating class at Inscape (thanks Nudge!), a meditation studio in Flatiron and thought what do I have to lose? As I looked through the different meditation class offerings, I wasn’t sure which class sounded like I’d get the most out of it, but all I knew was I wanted a class where we were lying down. I ended up picking “Tree of Life” for a Sunday evening time slot. I thought what better way to start the week then by being completely zenned out. 

I showed up to the studio about 15 minutes before my start time and wandered around the attached shop. There were crystals galore, spell books, but then also some products I’d be interested in trying different face rollers, and body scrubs. The store was organized beautifully and there was something to appeal to everyone no matter how skeptical you are. The staff was really pleasant and helpful giving me a tour of the space and answering any questions I may have. 

After I walked away from the store, I went into the “tree” room where there were blankets with pillows arranged in a semi-circular state around the room. The room was darkly lit with blue lights emitting from the walls. There were no hard angles and the walls were all in circles. Not that I can remember being in the womb, but this felt weirdly the same. As more and more people came into the room and took a spot, I cozied up with the blanket around me. 

The instructor (or facilitator not sure how she’d like to be referred to) came around and introduced herself to all of us and then hit the gong twice. She explained how this class would focus on breath control and then a recording came on. I had initially thought she would be the one talking us through the meditation, but instead it was some faceless woman, with an untraceable accent. 

She counted us through our breathwork instructing us when to breath in and breathe out, this went on and on. I can’t be sure for how long because I either was meditating so well I lost track of time or I fell asleep, I suspect it was the latter. I became conscious again as the voice continued to instruct us how to control our breath. Class only lasted a couple of minutes longer before the recording turned off and the instructor began speaking to us again. She talked us through the ending of class and when I stood up to go get my shoes and leave. I felt eerily calm and subdued. 

I walked outside to see two fire trucks and numerous police, which didn’t rattle me and as I walked the mile and a half home I felt calm and ready to start the week. It made me re-evaluate how I can add meditation into my day to day.