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The master-class I attended was lead by Tom Cronin. I was drawn to it because I had heard that Tom Cronin teaches meditation and mindfulness which are areas that fascinate me.
It was called "Accessing The Stillness Within."
The title alone had me hooked!
We have such busy lives. All too often my head is filled with circular thoughts and general chatter. At times, when I have been able to clear my mind for a few moments, I have experienced clarity and calmness. This I love. Naturally, with such a peaceful title, I assumed that Tom would be touching on this very area and I was right.
Tom has a website where you can find out more about his work, if you are interested....here's the link:
https://www.tomcronin.com/
Anyway, I learnt that Tom used to work in Finance for 26 years before the imbalance of his life meant that he suffered from anxiety, depression and insomnia. Following a 'wave of panic' he decided to explore ways to feel better and then he discovered meditation.
He explained that meditation forms vary. Some meditation focuses on concentration and some on contemplation. He talked about chanting, affirmations and mantras. His main area of expertise appears to be Transcending Meditation.
My mother took me to a Transcendental meditation class when I was about 10. I had almost completely forgotten about this. Now I remember that I had to give the teacher a weeks pocket money and a bunch of tulips as a donation before I had my session!
I don't remember much more about the experience but hearing Tom speak did bring back those memories...
Mindfulness is similar to meditation but focuses on being aware of the thoughts that enter your head. Meditation aims to still the mind.
I like doing both as they each have benefits.
These processes help us to realise that we are something more than our thoughts.
Tom guided us through his Golden Heart Meditation which focused on visualising the light of love. It was wonderful.
He also mentioned FEAR- ( Future Events Appearing Real!) This was a great reminder that most of our fears centre around things that we think may happen but possibly never will. The more time we spent in the present, the less anxious we feel.
I thought the master-class was fascinating and uplifting. I will definitely be building more time for meditation into my daily life.
I will let you know of any key insights or discoveries I make through this blog. I would be very interested to hear about your meditation experiences too. feel free to comment in the comments section below.
