I always thought that meditation was a solitary activity, until I discovered something called Interpersonal Meditation, a Mindfulness practice, which you could describe as “Meditation in a Conversation”! The fact you can meditate with another human being, and not just sitting in the same room doing your individual practice, was a revelation!
I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to discover it, since I’ve been practising some form of meditation for over 25 years now! I know I don’t look that old! They do say that meditation knocks 10 years off you. Well, it might be working!
Even with this length of time practising, I notice that I still find it bringing my meditation into daily life.
Meditation in a Conversation
Bringing your meditation practice off the cushion is where Interpersonal Meditation comes into it’s own. Basically, it’s a practice of becoming aware of what’s occurring in the moment while interacting with others, things you might not ordinarily pay attention to, especially within yourself.
In meditation of the ordinary sitting variety, well, at least the kind I’ve mainly practised, we are resting in awareness of thought, letting them come and go and simply witnessing them.
In this Mindfulness practice, we’re engaging in a conversation with someone and at the same time noticing what is happening while it is unfolding.
So while we are speaking or listening or simply being in silence, we are also paying attention to what we perceive in the other and internally in terms of sensations in the body, emotions, and even thoughts.
We take level of awareness both inside and out to a whole new dimension, beyond an ordinary everyday conversation.
So far I’ve found it in many guises: for example, Authentic Relating, Circling and Insight Dialogue. They are slightly different flavours, but all are practices of bringing awareness to interpersonal communication.
Google the terms if you’re interested in finding out more.
To give you a taste of the practice… You might like to consider the following question while you’re sitting here reading this:
What’s your experience like in this moment?
What do you notice… where is your attention… what are you aware of… what are the sensations in your body… which emotion is present… what kind of thoughts are you thinking?
Currently, I’m running an in-person relational mindfulness practice circle in Barcelona, if you’d like to join, you can find details of the next one here… look for “Meditation in a Conversation“.
Photo by Alex Green from Pexels
