My Overall Life: Wednesday

Sound meditation on the beach at sunset sounds pretty cool, so I gave it a whirl last week.

We have a very sincere, down-to-earth, certified, guaranteed to have a spirit animal woo-woo master that I instinctively trust because she is so freaking real. She starts by having each of the 30-odd people gathered with yoga mats or beach blankets and pillows introduce themselves and what their intention is. Now, this is breezy public beach so I can only hear responses from the maybe six people. But she's mic'd so I hear her clearly - and every response is kind and with a welcoming sense of humor.

When she came to me, I used my best on-stage voice to project my name and was surprised at her stopping to ask: "Why are you here?" and my lukewarm "I thought I'd give this a try" answer seemed a little outside the other "let go of stress, anxiety, knot of worry" responses I heard.

After everyone had a chance to speak, she reviewed the process.

"Set your intentions of what you want to let go, and focus on that. First I'm going to play these glass bowls - hear that?" There are six different tones that ring and mix with the crying gulls and some boat motors. The sounds are calming as I check out the way the sand feels and watch the birds hunting for their final meal before sunset. I'm doing my best to stay open, present and keep my skepticism in check.

"Then I'll start with the drum - now this was given to me by my shaman and I'm so honored to have received it. It means a lot that he gave it to me." She demonstrates the hand-held drum that looks kind of like a tambourine and produce

s a steady, driving beat.

"I'll come to each of you, drum around your body from head to toe, then right over your face. The only thing I ask is that you don't open your eyes, cause that will freak me out," she said with a laugh, but meant it. "Ok, let's get started - lay down with your feet pointed away from the instruments. That would be so disrespectful!"

So, I lay down, close my eyes, dig out my mindfulness meditation lessons and focus on my breath. The breeze on my face. Relax my body. The Florida sand. The light sound of waves and then the ringing bowls. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself and how I can stay present. In my first meditation course, my thoughts would bounce like a ping-pong ball. Now, I come back to my breath; feel a curiosity and kindness when my thoughts stray or a place on my face burns because it wants to be itched so bad. The ringing of the glass bowls becomes the beat of the drum. I try to track it as she moves to each person, back and forth - the breeze playing tricks with the sound. Then, the sound is beside me: bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom. At my head. By my feet and back - then on my face BOM BOM BOM BOM and HOLY SHIT! I feel cells of my body lifting away to the drum over my face. The space between me and the beating drum fill with vibration and my shock at the intensity.

Thank god it doesn't last that long. So much for my zen-like, comfortable meditation. She and the beating drum drift away, I'm still in a bit of shock.

Even now, a week later, I'm trying to figure out what I learned. I can only come up with a sincere admiration for what a powerful tool drums and their vibrations are.

Would I do it again? I think so. I get so much peace from the meditation and I sure don't have whatever it takes to do meditation on my own. And, I'm curious what my reaction will be knowing what's coming. But, the cost of another trip to the Florida beach may be too much.