We meet on Thursdays, the end of the school week, a wonderful time for 9th graders to ponder their week and to clear their heads.
This new group is still evolving; out of the original 15 pupils, one girl left, another boy arrived. There was a scurrying for bean bag chairs as each found a comfortable place in the circle.
After reviewing the rules of the sessions, we practiced Take Five, a short 5 breath meditation, a basic tool for pupils to use in their daily lives.
We took stock of how we felt, how our past week was and
then checked our current level of attention to our surroundings. With closed eyes, what colour was the door to the room, colour of my shirt, colour of their cushions, colour eyes of the person beside them.
We watched a short clip of surfers surfing huge waves, spilling, and trying again. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s quote: “You can’t control the waves, but you can learn how to surf.”
We had our first official teabreak: Green tea with lemon grass.
The Chinese teapot on the white background
We spoke of how during these sessions, unlike any other lessons in school, we were offering ourselves the chance to get to know what’s going on inside ourselves. Our chance to pay attention to our thoughts, feelings, sensations.
They each found a comfortable position and I led them through a body scan. To revive ourselves, to get ready for transitioning to life outside the meditation zone, we did some qigong exercises, and finished with a dry shower to tap our energy back into place.
A What’s App group was created, meant for respectful messages such as reminders of homework (doing Take Five for example).
We parted, they thanked me saying they really enjoyed the session.
This I was happy to hear, since as a new group, they are just beginning to learn to speak only when holding the talking piece, how to allow themselves to be still, not to interrupt someone else.
This week, our area near the Gaza border underwent the noise of rocketfall and counterattacks. I sent instructions for Take Five to the kids via What’sApp.
One student thanked me and said it helped. Others sent messages of giggles and making fun. After observing that trend, I closed the option of their sending messages in our group. (They have alternate ways to communicate).
The next day, I gave them authorization to message the group, but so far, no one’s used the option!
Quiet and peaceful somewhere, at least!
This week, we’re continuing the theme of listening to one another. Slowly, the group will become cohesive, in its own way, in its own time. Fascinating process!
I happened to be in the Grade 9 building, leaving a classroom and there she was! A homeroom teacher came up to me before the first session of Semester Two.
“There are a few boys who registered, and I’m not sure they’re choosing to participate for the right reasons. Just keep in mind that if any discipline problems arise, let us know and we’ll handle it”.
I nodded, commenting that it was fortunate that I had run into her. She assured me that she would have found a way to relate the info. (Serious, I thought)
And there it was. I arrived at the Nofei Habsor Library a little before the lesson and a bunch of boys were there to greet me.
“Hi Judih!”
“Hi boys. Are you waiting for me?”
“Yes” As they popped off the concrete bench at the entrance of the library to come towards me.
“We’re going to begin at the sound of the bell at 13:15. I’ll get the room ready and then come to call you.”
And there I was back in the sunny round room, arranging cushions in a circle and setting up my personal space. The boys had seemed sincere and eager. I wondered which of them were the ones in question. I sprayed some lavender aromatherapy mist around the space and decided to adjust the temperature of the room. I opened the door and there they were, ready for meditation. I guided them to remove their shoes, put away their schoolbags, their phones and to sit quietly.
As the bell rang, two of my favourite participants from the first semester arrived to join in. Hugs and we were in.
I introduced myself and we went over the rules of our sessions – speaking and listening from the heart, keeping what is said within our walls, the one with the talking piece is the one with the right to speak.
I asked them what they thought of when I told them we were going to learn the language of attention, mindfulness. They shared: listening to the environment, listening to others, to themselves. Being a better person.
And we began with Take Five, the easiest way to pay deliberate attention to the breath. “How was that for you?” I asked.
“Relaxing” was the consensus. Only one boy refrained from speaking.
I asked them to document their expectations or wishes for our workshop – through words or illustration. Those who wanted to, shared with the rest. I saw illustrations of sitting in lotus, the circular room, the idea of a sweet, peaceful break in a life of waves of activity. I heard things like: being relaxed, being quiet.
I invited them to find a space, lie down, to avoid touching someone else, and we embarked on a body scan.
That same boy kept looking up, checking out others. Apparently, this was the homeroom teacher’s suspect.
We returned to the circle, did a ‘Dry Shower’ of body tapping to wake ourselves up.
Those who wished, shared their experience. They were respectful and positive.
They agreed to form a What’s App group so that I could offer reminders during the week. Same boy didn’t offer his phone number. I quietly spoke to him: I noticed that you’re not sharing. Are you interested in participating? He shrugged and left quietly.
At the sound of the bell, our session slowly melted away like a magic curtain.
A few boys began to play with a doll, a comfortable wrap-around doll, removing it from the room and immediately incurring the wrath of the librarian in charge of the space. She rushed over to reprimand the boy caught with the contraband doll.
She and I looked at one another – and how at the sound of a bell, presto! magic! return to 3 years old!
Tuesday morning. I had landed back in Israel from Albany/Toronto the day before. Two of my students had landed back home from Mexico a few days before that. We were in a unique physical and mental state of readjustment. Perfect for new insights!
Jill Badonsky’s “The Inner Sanctuary”
The nature of ‘Discovering Inside’ is to observe what is going on within, without judgment. This exercise addresses such an unusual state of being – something slightly off-kilter, something that invites a new approach, and the mind of an investigator.
Our mission: To check out which thoughts cropped up, what feelings, what sensations.
We explored our initial state of being as we gave ourselves a chance to notice 10 breaths.
We spoke of how we were. “Tired”, “tired”, “fine”, “nervous”, “frustrated”,….etc.
We embarked on a few more pointed opportunities to look further: Choose an animal to describe how you feel.
Sloths, cats, giraffes were some of their answers.
“giraffe,sloth and cat”- sticker by RedBubble
As the session continued, I found the students melting into tiredness, while making the effort to observe.
We got tactical and filled out a questionnaire about ourselves
our favourite sounds
our least favourites
our most recent achievement
an incident in which we wished we could have acted differently
our real-life heroes
what makes us unique.
We proceeded to let those questions and answers filter through us as I eased them into their most desired stage: Body Scan.
I requested that if they began to nod off, they were to open their eyes, or I’d be offering them assistance by ringing the Tibetan Bowl close by. Even so, one sweet girl dissolved into rest.
Upon a gentle revival, back to reality, we re-examined our answers to the questionnaire, one by one, and either changed or added details to our answers.
I’ve found myself totally revising a set of initial answers after a meditation session. Getting in touch with one’s inner essence makes it impossible to give stock answers. One comes clean!
Answers were, indeed, changed. And those who wished to share with the group, offered what they’d said.
Only one question stumped many of the students: “What makes you unique?”
“How wonderful,” I said! “You have a glorious mission ahead of you! Find out!”
They kept on talking past the school bell to end the session. And with sincere thanks, we parted ways.
Again, I’m grateful. This group of kids is truly a gift.
In Buddhism, the ‘I’ is something that is transitory. There is no one, firm ‘Self’.
Yet there definitely is something, an inner voice, a compass, that resonates when we act according to its precepts, an inner pearl that we recognize and can nurture.
The question for this first lesson was: what is that thing we call ‘self’?
Does it exist? If so, does it remain steady? Has it changed over the years?
My students are 14. This age is critical. Still protected by Jr. High status, they are not yet expected to be dating queens or fully responsible for a solidified sense of self. They remain free to investigate, to wonder, to dare to make mistakes, in the comfort of our meditation lesson. No one will share what they think or say and they are among friends.
We began.
We did a Take Five breath meditation (With the inhale/exhale we fold back a finger and say “Take 1, Take 2, etc). We shared with a word how we felt that morning. And we moved on to the topic.
When I introduced the idea of masks and what might cause us to wear one, one girl denied that she ever wore one. She was what she was. Always. Another girl claimed that she wore a mask most of the time, just taking it off when she was with friends, with those who wouldn’t label her a ‘dorf’, a kook, a weirdo! They’d know that she was simply being herself, feeling free with them.
Masks. What do they offer us? How might they affect our relationships with others?
One girl mentioned control. She could assert some control on a relationship by using a mask.
As for me, I feel my outer body is a mask. Inside, I still feel youthful (my 9 year old self)and it’s surprising when I realize that I am, indeed, a Senior. In buses, in museums, my mask offers the gift of discounts on entry fees!
With this, we transitioned to a Body Scan meditation to notice how we felt at the moment and to suspend thoughts of anything that related to the outer world.
Our homework was to practice Take Five once a day.
This site is about life and bringing up babies 3 kilometers from the Gazan/Israeli border. There will be Kabbalah lessons and voices from the other side of the border. Hear and share
Class Relax 