Meditate…Anywhere, Anytime

I had nothing to read during my pedicure* so I closed my eyes to meditate. In Andrew Harvey’s Son of Man he talks about imagining Jesus with you as you say the Our Father
so I chose this time to do that. I saw Jesus immediately and trying to look inconspicuous in the nail salon I laid my hands on the chair’s arm rests and closed my eyes as the pedicurist began her work. Jesus told me to put my hands in prayer position so I folded them on my lap. He told me, “No” and I saw that He wanted my fingers extended with the tips touching so I did that. I kept my hands down low still not wanting to be seen. Jesus asked me if I was embarrassed…of course I was. There were 4 women sitting to my left along with a pedicurist working on each of them but Jesus insisted I raise my hands to my chin in prayer position, which I relented to. I closed my eyes before I could see if anyone was watching. So positioned, Jesus began to silently say the Our Father with me. When we got to the third sentence, “Hallowed be thy name” Jesus explained to me that it meant God’s name has a powerful energy. It has the power to transform us when said with reverence. Great! I never understood what that meant and I have been saying this prayer since I was 5 years old and at 53 I was finally taught the meaning of those 4 little words. I never got to finish the prayer as Jesus told me after this that I was done. I guess He figured I had enough humiliation for one day.

Humiliation aside, once it was over I found no one was looking anyway. Everyone was absorbed either in his or her magazine or the television. Then it occurred to me that this was yet another venue for the Everyday Mystic. Could you imagine if everyone instead of flipping through a magazine or watching television was meditating, praying or having a mystical experience as I had just had? I had 20 minutes in a nail salon. I didn’t have a mountaintop in Bhutan or Nepal. So, meditate while getting a manicure or while waiting to pick up your children from soccer. Come back from lunch 10 minutes early and mediate at your desk. Close your eyes and meditate on the train, bus or while you are waiting for your flight to take off. You would be surprised at how many 5-10 minute slots during the day you have available to you if you choose to use them to connect with your higher self or with the Divine. Can you imagine the energy that would be created by a row of 5 of us meditating during our pedicures? How about a subway full of meditating commuters? Start to imagine these things. As Einstein said, “imagination is everything, it is a preview of life’s coming attractions”.

God doesn’t ask that each of us sit on a mountaintop and chant. Some will be asked to devote his or her life to silence or to God but most of us are asked to live life. We have children, husbands, wives, friends, lovers, pets, ex-husbands, ex-wives and ex-lovers. It gets complicated out here. We are asked to love God and to love life. We are not meant to just be ordinary and leave the mystical to those with a special calling. God is talking to everyone but you can only hear him when you stop the chatter in your head and listen to Him.  That is what the mystics do – they listen. Live and Listen. Get your nails done and Listen. And I don’t mean this tritely. I mean abandon all your senses at the nail salon and go to a place where you meet with God alone and listen to Him. When you are there it doesn’t matter what is going on around you. You do not need candles and incense burning. You don’t need music playing. It is nice to have those things and if you need them to get started use them. But once you get the hang of it know that you can connect with God anywhere, anytime. He is never too busy. He is always ready for you. And please note that the mystical experience doesn’t have to be something profound for the benefit of the world. It could be something that is just for you like what Jesus taught me.

Oh, and if you are not familiar with meditating and that sounds too Eastern for your taste than use contemplative prayer where you say a line of a prayer that you know and then become silent.

Happy First Day of Spring to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere! 

*Lest you start jumping to conclusions here let me explain that I get maybe 3 pedicures a year – it is not something I spend a lot of time on. However, if you happen to be someone who gets weekly manicures/pedicures even better…start a trend at your nail salon!