I remember arriving at a meditation center 10 years ago, I quickly found an empty spot on the floor and someone greeted the room in his calm voice. He told us to sit comfortably, close our eyes, and focus on our breaths. Perhaps it was my first time meditating and I didn’t even know what it was really about. I found it rather challenging to concentrate, I felt my mind keep bouncing back and forth between a million different things. For a few minutes, I felt my brain quieting down, my breath slowing down, and then the session was over. I had thought that reaching a relaxed state of mind would be easy, that it would automatically change once my eyes were closed, but I completely underestimated the difficulty. As I opened my eyes and slowly oriented myself to the room, my mind gradually went back to where it was and I was kind of disappointed that the meditation session had lasted for such a short time. 

Since that first experience of meditation, I had actively taken on a regular meditation practice. I had enjoyed every second doing my morning and evening meditations, I feel that I got to know myself even better by observing the mind and thoughts coming and going without grasping at them, I became a witness of my thoughts. From my point of view, meditation is what I am, not what I do. I started doing it more regularly and felt freest when I am watching what is happening to different parts of my body. It does not only affect my spiritual health, but it also affects my emotional, physical, and mental state. 

As time went by, I became more distracted with real-life which revolved more around my college at this time, I had tons of exams, assignments, and hung out with my friends more. I did not have time to go to the meditation center routinely, nor did I have time to practice my daily meditation at home. With all these things, I felt stressed, frazzled, and unmotivated. Coping with my negative emotions has been a struggle, considering that I often resort to drinking and smoking as my source of comfort. 

Years later, I got introduced to the Natural Way of Living, at first, I took The Open Heart workshops. When I first arrived at the workshop, I did not know what to expect, I was overwhelmed by how welcoming the people were. There were two or three people who guided us in the room. They told us to gently touch our heart, smile, and I instantly reached into a tranquil state. I felt there’s a sense of electricity throughout my nervous system. I felt more connected with The Creator through my heart. 

Recently, I took The Secrets of Natural Healing workshop. It was held on a Saturday morning. We started the workshop at 8 am and finished at 4 pm. I had a pretty busy weekday and I did not realize that my brain at some point needed to rest. This was my first time joining an online meditation workshop, so then again, I really did not know what to expect. It began with closing our eyes, touching our heart, focusing on our breath, and smiling. Immediately after I started smiling, there’s a huge change in my heart. I experienced an abundance of joy, calmness, peacefulness, and suddenly the burden on my shoulders disappeared. I felt my body become lighter and my mind slowly quieted down.

Then, with the same method, I also learned how to accept and feel blessings from the Creator and throughout every part of my body, realizing the Creator’s love and care. It really helped me to surrender more to the Creator. 

The next day, I practiced by myself on how to surrender more to the Creator. While surrendering completely, with the help of the Creator’s Love, I felt changes in my heart, my brain’s busyness disappeared, letting go of my holdings and limitations.

After the workshop, I did experience a boost in positive feelings and rediscovered my natural connection with joy. This workshop really helped me to reconnect with my true self, enable forgiveness, let go of whatever holds me back. 

A day after the workshop, I was aware of some positive changes in the brain and immune system response. Before this workshop, I used to experience sneezing and a runny nose in the morning, but after this workshop and consistently practicing what I learned from it every day, my condition got better and I felt an improvement in my immune system. 

I really recommend this workshop to everyone, especially for those who are busy, packed with tight schedules because sometimes we need to hibernate our brain and relax more. For everyone who struggles with managing his/her emotions, this workshop can help you manage your emotions, which will enhance your connection with other living beings. As a bonus, all these benefits will translate to better physical health as well.

Written by:

Tania Wibisono