OM IN THE CITY: After spending the last year immersed in reading the works of the greatest spiritual leaders, I needed a break so, it was no accident that I found myself stealing a few moments last week to get lost in a novel.  I loved it, it was decadent.  It was like eating chocolate cake after spending the last month on a wheat-free diet.  More than that, it brought me back to myself, back to the little girl who hid a flashlight under her covers to read Judy Blume and V.C. Andrews.    My mother was always trying to pin those dark circles under my eyes on poor nutrition, especially my aversion to canned peas, but it was always those darn novelist keeping me awake, riveting me to their stories and their pages.  They helped me to define myself in ways that nothing else could.

Spending all my energy, while I was in Seminary, on reading the great works of religious thought took me away from the simpler me, so I’m going to spend the next month (or maybe two) on rediscovering what I love, simply, straightforward, back to basics.  What do you love to do that you haven’t given yourself permission to enjoy over this long winter?  Isn’t springtime the best time to get back to basics, shed your winter skin and spend your time rediscovering yourself?

 Use this meditation to help you get started.

Begin by focusing on your breath.  With each inhalation and exhalation begin to feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed, you may even want to count backwards — from 10 if you easily relaxed, 20 if it’s more difficult and 100 if you’re super-stressed.

Once you feel yourself in a relaxed state,  use your imagination to travel down a pathway.  At the end of the pathway is a garden gate, feel yourself push the gate open and find yourself in your childhood playground.  The one you remember most, I loved the monkey bars, climbing, hanging upside-down - -just imagine yourself there playing.  Now I want you to imagine that you (as an adult) walk up to this younger version of yourself and ask, “what are you doing?”  What do you enjoy about being here? Can I play?  Find yourself  lost in the innocence of this moment, remember what life was like in this simpler time, as you ask yourself.  What joy can I bring to my life that I learned and felt here on this playground?  when you feel like you have gotten the answers you needed feel free to say goodbye and head back out of the garden, don’t forget to leave the gate open so you can give yourself the opportunity to return later.  Bring your attention back to your path and back to reality.

When you do a meditation like this don’t forget to take notes, sometimes you’ll have creative insights and memories that you might like to record – returning after a meditation is sort of like waking in the night in the middle of a dream with a creative burst of inspiration, no matter how many times you tell yourself, “This one I’ll definitely remember…” you know unless you write it down you never will.

During the rest of the week, when you feel stressed,  remember to evoke feelings of childhood joy!  I know I will, but first back to my novel….