Prep
My colored card system allowed me to check what I covered the previous session and what was not covered that could be carried forward to the next week. it also allows me to document what I skipped.
The essence of Walking Meditation:
Letting Go of Resistance
This is from session 2 and it was good to delay as this is an important teaching that I repeated throughout each session. I know I myself forget about it.
The formula is Suffering = Pain x Resistance.
What are the examples of resistance? It seemed that it was easier to come prepared with examples and I believe this was one of those powerful teachings that raised awareness but not much participation. I knew this because they were all quiet, a very unusual occurrence. The first lesson is we all experience suffering. Suffering is a tough word to use as it does not feel like the right one. I want to use the word, but I already know that my suffering is a lot different that these girls are experiencing.
I had a dialogue with Ca about suffering. She said we are locked up here and that is suffering and I said, well a lot of people suffer in a non-physical way and are completely free to go where they want.
Anyway, suffering increases with resistance and we are blind to holding on for something else. If we are able to practice self-compassion and mindfulness it will help us release from our suffering. That what we resist, persists.
Reflection Exercise:
Writing down a situation in your life where you feel that resisting reality was making things worse. Working in pairs always goes well. I was not clear and a staff member could not share as I did not emphasize we were going to share. The youngest members, To and Ka were paired with Mr. Gi and they always struggled but I think they were able to make meaningful progress.
It seems like this exercise could be very powerful for these teens knowing that they have been involved highly traumatic situations. However, it was my impression that they liked the exercise and were working with what they wrote down and having no problem sharing.
Affectionate Breathing (from session II):
Per a suggestion I picked up from a zoom session, I used Palm Up and Palm Down gestures for this exercise. It did not seem to create quiet minds. As I learned in in MFY, teens like more concrete meditations. What I did learn is the follow up something not working with something they would like. And we followed with Soles of Your Feet.
Walking Meditation:
They loved this and we were still in the large room. An liked it as she followed me where I walked. I stopped at 10 minutes and again this confirms that teens were about done in this time.
Loving-Kindness Meditation
I ended with the L-K meditation as an introduction and they loved the mantra-like rhythm it created.