The sickest I have ever been was when I stopped drinking, smoking and eating meat, all at the same time. That was thirty years ago, but I remember it as though it was yesterday.
I became so unwell, I had to stop my full time job and my full time study course, (yes, maybe I was overdoing it a bit!) and stay in bed most of the time. My body just refused to co-operate. It turned out I had glandular fever and eventually I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (before it was a well known condition).
In my endeavor to dig myself out of this big black hole, I enrolled in a weekend meditation course. What could go wrong, right? Meditation was good for you. I certainly couldn't feel any worse. Or so I thought.
I nearly left the course when I found out they would only feed me until noon (breakfast and lunch). Lucky I took my emergency supply of chocolate. And then there was 'Noble Silence', ie no speaking. AT ALL. Strangely, I found I loved it. Meditation gave me space where I needed it - inside my own head.
So, believing in the theory that if a little bit is good, a lot must be better, I enrolled for a ten day course. Except this one was different. We rose at the romantic time of 4am (not) for our first meditation sit for an hour, followed by chanting for another hour, then breakfast. Apart from walking to and from the meditation hall, I sat ALL day, until 9 pm. It was excruciating. I thought my back must be broken, and two knee replacements were inevitable. My feet went numb regularly (probably MS) and my head ached with a ferocity I was sure could only be relieved by chocolate. As I diagnosed my way through the days (brain tumour on day 2, degenerative nerve condition on day 3) I realised I needed a way of stretching out all the muscles that were seizing up. Soon after I found yoga, and - well - I've never looked back!
I became so unwell, I had to stop my full time job and my full time study course, (yes, maybe I was overdoing it a bit!) and stay in bed most of the time. My body just refused to co-operate. It turned out I had glandular fever and eventually I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (before it was a well known condition).
In my endeavor to dig myself out of this big black hole, I enrolled in a weekend meditation course. What could go wrong, right? Meditation was good for you. I certainly couldn't feel any worse. Or so I thought.
I nearly left the course when I found out they would only feed me until noon (breakfast and lunch). Lucky I took my emergency supply of chocolate. And then there was 'Noble Silence', ie no speaking. AT ALL. Strangely, I found I loved it. Meditation gave me space where I needed it - inside my own head.
So, believing in the theory that if a little bit is good, a lot must be better, I enrolled for a ten day course. Except this one was different. We rose at the romantic time of 4am (not) for our first meditation sit for an hour, followed by chanting for another hour, then breakfast. Apart from walking to and from the meditation hall, I sat ALL day, until 9 pm. It was excruciating. I thought my back must be broken, and two knee replacements were inevitable. My feet went numb regularly (probably MS) and my head ached with a ferocity I was sure could only be relieved by chocolate. As I diagnosed my way through the days (brain tumour on day 2, degenerative nerve condition on day 3) I realised I needed a way of stretching out all the muscles that were seizing up. Soon after I found yoga, and - well - I've never looked back!
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