So You Think You Can Meditate by Lori Baker

How a group of martial artists turned into loyal meditation practitioners

When one thinks about meditation, they typically conjure up an image of serene locations, mala beads, zafus, zabutons, Tibetan bowls and well clad meditators. And that may be a reality for some.

Our group of meditation students look much different from that image, and our space is anything but serene or beautiful. We sit on outdoor furniture cushions on the cement, and there are no Tibetan bowls. There’s no specific meditation attire and nobody wears beads. So the question is … “does it matter?” To our group, the answer is absolutely not.

I lead a meditation every week for a group of martial artists in a garage studio, no matter what the temperature is (it’s 110 degrees now). I asked the guys last night if they thought it was too hot to mediate and they unanimously declared “no!”; “we love our meditation”; “it relaxes us.”

Meditation really does help to de-excite the nervous system and assists with focus and concentration. The students are able to get greater benefit out of their training when they are more alert, calm and focused.

So what started out as just practice for me to get my Path Teacher Training Certificate turned into a weekly guided meditation that both the guys and I look forward to each week. We have been meditating together for 10 months now.