My new counselor suggested that I attend his mindfulness group a few times, there's a meeting tonight that I'm probably going to go to. Lately we've been discussing how important community is to the human animal, and how I really don't have much of that in my life at the moment. He's an old hippy who likes to use the word 'awakening' to describe what he sees as global trends towards conscientiousness, nonviolence and nuanced thinking. (Side note, he has a bit of a crush on lil, based on some excerpts from our conversations that I've showed him.) I think I'm definitely too young to have the kind of comforting perspective on these things that he does, but I at least have an academic appreciation for the general decline of violence in the United States. Maybe one day I'll internalize it.
My aunt was on medical leave for some mental health stuff, and was mandated to go to something like that (but a little more intense - 9-5 with a bunch of different activities). She didn't want to do it, but when she went she said she got a whole lot out of it. sample size of 1, but hey, i guess don't knock it?
Ok meeting report. lil, i asked, he is taken. It was the first session of an 8 week cycle of guided meditation and mindfulness exercises, done largely by the method of Kabat-Zinn. There's a wide variety of experience in the room, with regards to familiarity with meditation in general and mindfulness in specific. I'm glad I went. I have been neglecting my meditative practice, and nothing made that more apparent than sitting for 10 minutes. I think I'll go next week too. Now I'm home, watching Godzilla while I cook dinner. Star Wars for dessert I think.