Fifth Meditation

For this Meditation, I chose to lie down in my bed and keep myself in complete darkness with no sound to see how it would effect my thoughts. When I was younger I used to be very afraid of the dark because of what might be lurking in the shadows. I realize now its just my thoughts creating these dark images because of terrifying images I've seen of ghosts and monsters. As I sat in the darkness, I let my thoughts start to surface and let them flow, a little while later I began to feel my heartbeat moving very slowly and relaxed. The darkness felt incredibly peaceful to me. I lied down in that position breathing in for 7 and out for 11, only concentrating on the sounds around me such as the faint songs of the movies playing downstairs and the faint voices of my parents talking.

I stayed in this position just breathing in and out for a half an hour even though I was only able to concentrate for 20 minutes. After that it was 11 and I feel asleep almost immediately. In my dreams, I experienced something completely new and it involved my sense of taste. I was in the dark and I could feel myself eating apples. Small pieces of freshly cut, crisp apples as if they were picked from a tree. I could feel the crunchiness in my mouth and the juices bursting with flavor engulfing my tongue with a fresh, cooling sensation that reminds me of a quiet summer afternoon. After the apples were finished, I began munching on something different. It was more salty and it had a distinct buttery taste to it, it was popcorn! I couldn't believe what I was tasting at that moment but I kept calm and just enjoyed the moment because I realized I may never experience something like this again for a long time.

The saltiness and warm buttery flavor of the popcorn really mad me feel at ease, when I was little I used to obsess about getting popcorn for every movie I watched, at home or at the movie theater. Just having that feeling in my dreams brought me back to my childhood. As I woke up, my throat felt dry and my nose was runny. I knew right away I was sick. It was very sad because all of those sensations that came from eating the apples and popcorn and feeling the flavor of every bite was all an illusion created by my dreams. I know I made some progress with my meditation and I hope I can go even deeper next time to experience something beyond my imagination.