Some thoughts on Relaxation and Meditation

These are my things, carefully placed in a tranquil locker as I prepare to be de-stressed. My plan as I set these things in their temporary place was that I would meditate on some spiritual matters that had been at the front of my mind and sitting on my heart. John had given me the day (quite literally; he took the whole day off, and gave me the order to go to the spa-his company had gifted me a full day's treatment which I had very dutifully avoided-who on earth has a WHOLE DAY to relax?! WHO WANTS ONE? I'm not joking when I ask that, who does?)
This is me, standing in the spa bathrobe (I give it a 6, not as soft as some I've enjoyed) and the spa shoes they give you to slip on and off between treatments...At this point I had thoughfully considered my plan. As my muscles were de-knotted and my skin made smooth I would commune with Heaven and consider my spiritual quandries. The topics I had wanted to ponder were at the forfront of my mind, my heart prepared to hear resonate with truths to be unfolded as I pondered.

Then they started the massage. This is where the soul searching basically ended and the sleeping began.

The body scrub was next. Women dressed in black uniforms put nice smelling lotions and oils all over me, and sometimes stuck their hands in my face so I could be more fully entoxicated with the aromas (this was kind of nice with my eyes closed, but to be honest, I opened my eyes at one point to see a person towering over me with her hand 2 centemeters from my nose and it kind of unnerved me.)

Lunch followed, delivered to you in a "common room" where all the spa goers hang out between their treatments. Music that included the sounds of forest animals and running water was playing through the entire experience.

At the end of the day my body did feel relaxed. That spot between my shoulder blades that sometimes causes me excrutiating pain felt less troublesome, and my toes were beautifully painted a rosy red. I was pleasantly fragrant, my skin had been scrubbed and my face was refreshed. My body had been tended to.

But in the day of relaxation I learned such a valuable lesson. See, The world we live in tells us to take time to relax, to rejuvinate and that by doing so our souls will be lifted too. But my experience was quite the contrary-when my body was being concentrated on, even in a tranquil setting, it was hard for me to connect, to commune with heaven, when I was so occupied with my physical self. That isn't to say I haven't had wonderfully spiritual experiences when I've been enjoying physical activity. My triathlon experience was both a physical and spiritual accomplishment, but it was definitely true that when my body was so distracted with relaxation my spirit could not as easily connect.

This doesn't mean I didnt' have a great day, or that it was TOO much of a waste of time. It just means that I learned one very important thing. If I want to rejuvinate my body, I'll go to the spa. But if I want to fill my soul, to ponder the truths of God or ask Him for answers to my ponderings I'll need to chose a better place.

In honor of the Nie, who is hopefully awakening, spiritual enlightenment here.