Meditation To Help Navigate A Path Through Lockdown

Meditation To Help Navigate A Path Through Lockdown

What a start to January this year – embracing the implications of the Brexit deal and of the latest lockdown and the mix of worrying information on infection levels for Covid and encouraging information on the rollout of the vaccine.  Against this backdrop, I wonder what the January outlook is like for you, at work and beyond.

Across the business community and beyond, we’ve embraced so many changes and challenges in recent months, and energies for many are at a low ebb at present – there’s a bit of hunkering down going on, with careful choice of where we focus available energy.  There’s lots “out there” that’s painful and heart-stretching, that we can’t control and that’s uncertain.  All of this gives a real incentive to go deeper in the practices which sustain us, so that we have enough spaciousness to respond creatively to the emerging picture this year.

Our January lunchtime Meditation session, led by Chris Whittington, allowed precisely this space – an oasis at the heart of the working day.  And there was a sense of people “diving in” to the space that was offered and finding welcome refreshment there, leaving at the end of the lunch hour with a renewed sense of perspective and a lighter heart.  In this season where people are shouldering so much anxiety and more, the trusted space of meditation is invaluable.  This simple form of silent prayer involves a healing process of radical decluttering, unhooking from anxieties and fears, distractions and diversions, from all that makes for a turbulent surface mind, and forming the best relationship with all that life offers us, or throws at us.  The wisdom and healing processes of the practice help us to respond to the needs and suffering of others, as well as take care of ourselves.

Meditation is supremely about relationships – being present for the gift of our life, and being present-with and present-for each other.  As Martin Laird says, in his book, “An Ocean of Light”, “The mystery of God in Christ seems to bring himself to others through us… Contemplation and the lifestyle leading to it and flowing from it asks but a single question, ‘What does kindness look like at any given moment?’”

If you’d like an opportunity to reset, to return, to begin again, to find stability – so that you can be more fully present to your deepest self and to others – you may like to listen to the recording of this session below or via our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/GlgNWki4JPo

Participants’ feedback confirmed that they appreciated: “The space to learn about and practice meditation” and “Chris’ knowledge and his calm and friendly delivery of this” and “having the time in the middle of the day to stop and just be”.  

Do you want to build on this experience of Meditation in the Christian tradition? If so, you may be glad to join our Saturday morning weekly Practice Group, from 8:30am for half an hour, to help you to become more fully present to the gift of our life, each other and God. Each session involves a short talk by Chris Whittington and a period of silent meditation practice and you are welcome to stay for a further 15 minutes (between 9-9.15am) to share questions and conversation. Zoom Call (Meeting ID: 845 1319 7079, Password: Peace): book in here 

Here’s the link to the newly-launched School of Contemplative Life website https://schoolofcontemplativelife.com/, which includes some great resources like podcasts and practice guides.

And as always, if you’d like to follow up with a 1:1 conversation about anything that’s come up from this Meditation, you are welcome to contact me (sarah.thorpe@chaplaincyplus.org.uk or 0798 224 8949) or Chris Whittington (chris@schoolofcontemplativelife.com or 07952 917995).