Retreat Countdown: 10 more days ...

Tonight we had our meditation practice group meeting.  Saturday is when I get in my longest sit time each week.  Our 6 PM meditation was a different type of music for our group.  There was a basic sound that continued throughout the track that was what took you away.  However, there were tones and other sounds that rang intermittently throughout or where a sound would suddenly cut in and out, that could bring you out of your deep state.  As Lorena said, however, it's nice when the sound suddenly brings you back to awareness because that is when you realize just how deep you were.

During that meditation I had a brief experience where I had completely zoned out.  When I became aware again I felt as if I were out of my body, and yet not.  I could not feel my physical body at all, yet I was aware of everything.  It frightened me at first because I couldn't sense myself and yet was aware of myself.  It was so unexpected and I have only briefly had experiences like this before.  Once I had settled back into full awareness of myself, all I could think was, "Cool!"  It was very relaxing meditation.

Only 2 people came for our 8 PM meditation, which wasn't surprising.  Until the last few minutes, we didn't think anyone was going to show at all!  We knew with the extreme cold tonight (extreme for Floridians, anyway) and it being a Saturday evening before Valentine's Day, we didn't really expect a lot of people.

It was a nice, intimate, and relaxing meditation.  The music was of a higher frequency than the 6 PM meditation was and I found myself reaching brief states of high awareness and being able to watch my thoughts without engaging them.

Overall, this evening was extremely encouraging for the retreat and I am looking forward to the challenge.  I am curious to find out what will happen when I am able to devote multiple, full days to meditation!

The only down side to the evening is that I did do a little bit of cross-legged sitting and as a result, my knee is a little swollen and feels slightly unstable again.  I will have to stick to chair sitting for the retreat, I'm afraid.