EDUCATION FIRST

My first Speaker Series on Meditation asked me to speak on meditation for 1 hour to a student body where english was not their first language. At first 1 hour seemed like an immensely long period and I soon realized I can talk endlessly on meditation and that there are so many types of meditations that can be experienced to fill up that amount of time quickly. It seemed all my passion for the science behind meditation peeked the interest of the students. I could see in their eyes a sense of relief to realize most of what we experience is a physiological reaction in autopilot that often creates the anxiousness or worry that we carry.

It was interesting to observe some of the attendees lost in parts of my talk but as soon as I dropped into a breathing exercise there was this familiarity within them that kept them engaged in the experience. Experience is truly what I believe is the beauty of meditation. It is through meditation that I have learned to appreciate the here and now in the moment without letting the experience pass me by going unnoticed and being in my head. It still happens but it is better. That was the main message I wanted the exchange students to take away was that through this challenging experience of being in a foreign city and trying to assimilate into a new culture; that it is in noticing the experiencing challenging or not can they find more appreciation and joy in the whole process and that meditation can help. It was apparent the students started to relate to this message as students started to share their similar experiences of the anxiety of being a foreigner and trying to navigate in exploring careers in Toronto.

If you are looking to explore more of the science behind meditation here are some #NatRecos