By Liz Rogers
Last year I went to a Vipassana course wanting so desperately to just turn off from everybody else and feed something for me.
I’m always externalizing and I didn’t quite have the willpower to focus inward on my own. I get there and they say, “Give me your phone and stop looking at everyone and don’t talk to anyone,” so the only thing I could “know” was what everyone’s shoes looked like. It was like a breath. I could take a breath.
My meditation practice is a lot about choosing life over self-neglect. It’s taking this life seriously, and caring about myself.
My personal practice has been going into the park, and walking in the old growths—connecting with nature in that simple way. I’ve had some really important times in the park alone doing that. It’s really important to just be alone. Connecting to that peaceful part of me is not something I necessarily want to talk about in a big group of people.
It’s a subtle thing.
Photo: (Yasodhara Ashram)
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