One of the most interesting classes I took while at Burning Man was a meditation and beats class.
A young, shaggy haired fellow, wearing loose, oversized clothing sat at the front of the group—maybe 30 of us, all lined up in a Tetris format with some sitting in lotus, some upright in chairs, and some laying down diagonally with hands folded across their chest—and guided us through a meditation with a banana mic.
Yes, a mic that was dressed as a banana.
…When at Burning Man, eh?
For the first 30 minutes, he got us to relax into our bodies, had us do body scans, guided us through breathing exercises, helped us quiet our minds, and spoke about recognizing moments of mindfulness as celebrations.
…It was that last point that I found most interesting.
A moment of mindfulness, he explained, were those particular moments when you noticed your mind has wandered and you came back to the present moment.
This is the moment when many of us, myself included, would normally get most frustrated. Because it’s the moment when you realized you failed to stay present.
But, reframing those moments as celebrations and not frustrations made perfect sense.
Why frustrate over a moment successfully reclaimed? …It should absolutely be seen as a victory! In fact, it’s the very thing that we’d want to reinforce if we want to facilitate more of the same.
…And just as I was making this connection and beginning to practice—our shaggy haired leader suddenly started playing psychedelic music and for the next 30 minutes, it was like a party in my mind.