There is SPINNING and then there is SPINNING.

My friend, Carol, invited me to her spin class.  I tried it once and was hooked.  Thus, since October, my husband and I have been getting up at 5 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to leave the house by 5:30 am, to go to class.  Crazy?  Yes, but it feels so damn good!     

SPINNING, for me, is so hard physically that I can literally think of nothing else while I am doing it.  For those 45 minutes, the physical effort of spinning takes every ounce of  mental focus  I have, yet I leave the class feeling great. 

This has got to be what Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, calls a  "flow experience."   Dr. C (shall we say) is known for his work on flow, characterized by performing an activity with complete focus, full attention, full awareness, full immersion, that is, being totally absorbed.   In this case, we could say, SPINNING is a good thing, right? 

Yet,  why do I meditate?  You got it, that's right, to help my mind to - STOP SPINNING!  

How does that strike you?  I had to laugh! 

When I practice meditation, I am working on developing these same skills - to be able to completely focus, to pay full attention, to have full awareness, to be fully immersed in every moment of my life.  To go with the flow?  yes, indeed. 

Oh, the irony,  sometimes...just gotta go with it. 

---