C H A P T E R • 42
I was not in a great mood to lead a meditation on calming the mind. And they were not loving me at the 28th Precinct, where I got to be the interruption to some of them going home.
Obie told them the 30-minute training session at 3:30 would include meditation. And they didn’t have to stay or come early for it. I had about six, sitting on chairs. And a few wandering in and out.
“You know me. I’m Lt. Summer Knight. I play a cop in the movies in my other life. I also teach meditation.”
“I know some of you have a martial arts practice and already know that in order to be a complete martial artist you need to know your mind as well as your body. But knowing your body as a tool is different from knowing your body as home. That self-awareness will help us find calm and compassion, including for ourselves.”
“That’s the WHAT of what we’re doing.”
“The WHY of this experience is that stress is the mind killer. This is a stress reduction exercise. When stress lands in your belly and chest and neck, it will travel with you to the next experience or the next person you meet, and it will follow you home. But you know that.”
“That brings us to the HOW of what we’re doing here.”
“On the street, you’re always aware of what’s happening around you. And just for this moment, I invite you to turn that incredible awareness inside. Fold your attention into your body. Breathe. I’ll walk you through what I do and you can join me. Try it. See what happens when awareness touches your body. Where it lands. How it changes.”
I rang the bell.
“Hearing. How did that feel? Don’t say it out loud. Just be with the feeling. Hearing the sound of the bell landing and touching your ear.”
“I’m sleepy,” somebody said. Somebody else laughed.
I gave them and me a moment of silence.
“How does sleepy feel? No judgement.”
I heard a deep sigh.
“Just breathe. Know the in-breath and the out-breath. Don’t think about it. Be aware of how the breath feels entering your nose and traveling down the body to the belly.”
I took them through a body scan from the top of the head, the face, jaw, shoulders, arms and hands, front and back upper body, belly, and only got a laugh when we got to the butt.
“Shhh,” somebody said to whoever was chuckling.
We made it through the 20 minutes. I rang the bell.
“How was that?”
“It was nice. It felt good. But it doesn’t have anything to do with me. Maybe if I was somewhere else. Not here in this precinct.”
“He’s right. It’s not real,” another one said.
“Can you imagine anything more real than us sitting here right now? Everything else is not happening yet or it happened already. We’re just left thinking about it right now. Our thoughts are with us. Our thoughts are in the present. So is the breath. So are our feelings, the sensations touching our body. They come, they go, they’re not permanent. And they’re not who we are.”
“Can you recommend any books?”
“I’ll send a list.”
“Are you coming back?”
I looked over at Obie who had walked in and was standing in the back.
He told them, “Not right away. But I want to know how that landed for you. I’ll talk to any of you who want to talk about it over the next few days.”
Afterwards, one of my meditators came up and thanked me. He called Obie “Captain.” Another one just called him “Bailey.”
Disrespect. Interesting. Obsidian’s jaw tightened and he walked away from us.