“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every while in a while, you could miss it.” Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?

After a hectic two weeks of workshops and travel, I was swimming in a bottomless abyss of emails. Rather than continue to tread water, I hopped out of the endless pool of email to take a chill pill. Quite literally, at Chill Meditation + Massage in River North. The studio opened in Chicago about a year ago and hosts yoga as well as mediation classes that offer a bit of stillness in an urban oasis just down the street from the Merchandise Mart.

I’ve always been one to fight stillness – with the mindset that stillness means you’re not moving forward, progressing, driving towards your purpose. So needless to say, meditation was not my jam and even the thought made me a bit twitchy with anxiety. But, I’m also a big believer that the most uncomfortable situations offers the biggest opportunity for growth. So, here goes nothing with this meditation massage studio.

Given my angst about mediation, I chose to do a combo yoga + meditation class so I could at least flow through some of the jitters before sitting in silence. When I entered the studio, I was immediately welcomed and offered some relaxing tea to enjoy before class. Once I was settled, Darrell, the general manager, gave me a tour of the space, which included the retail space upfront filled with reads about finding calm and fun swinging chairs, a tranquility room with loungers and a flowing fountain for relaxation pre/post class, a dimly lit yet airy yoga room with mats and head rests already laid out, as well as a few curtained spaces for chair or table massages.

I enjoyed a bit of peppermint tea while I waited and since I’m a bit challenged to just do nothing, I chatted a bit with Darrell. I mentioned my meditation angst and that I couldn’t fathom completely shutting off my brain. He had some helpful advice that meditation isn’t about stopping. It’s about pausing to take in the moment. Your brain is like a spring, so it’s near impossible to just stop, but we can slow down the vibrations, allowing thoughts to flow in and out of our mindset. When we choose to rejoin the rhythm, we enter back into the story with intention – whether that be an intention to be more present, calm, understanding, loving, etc. I thought to myself, “pausing, I can do”.

The yoga plus meditation class was 30 minutes of restorative yoga, followed by 20 minutes of guided meditation and 10 minutes of, basically savasana. Rajni, the instructor, led us through something similar to sun salutations to warm up our bodies and build awareness of the present moment and how our bodies were feeling. As she phrased it, “we build heat from within so we can purge our bodies of everything that is unnecessary.” It was just the right amount of movement to feel worked and open to the next stage of stillness.

During the guided meditation, we sat upright on pillows with eyes closed as Rajni shared some mantras about breath and accepting the fact that stories might flow in and out of our mindset, but to let them pass through. I breathed a mental sigh of relief. I wasn’t the only one who was fluttering between restful meditation and my to-do list. It was more restful vs to-do’s though. The time flew by – though my feet did start to fall asleep towards the end. I was sitting cross-legged, so perhaps I’ll try another pose next time.

Following the class, I indulged in a quick 20-minute chair massage. The meditation massage studio offers an express recharge package for $50 that includes 1 class plus a 20-minute massage. Jose, my massage therapist, was fantastic. Despite the fact that we were in a curtained area vs separate room, I really didn’t notice my surroundings. And it was just the right amount of time to loosen up the constant stress that I hold in my shoulders.

While I feel like I “cheated” a bit by taking the yoga + meditation class, I left feeling much more grounded and open to the idea of taking a full 30-minute meditation class when I come back. Notice the phrasing “when I come back”. It’s active language like this that sets you motion to act. While I’ll always be an action-oriented person, I hope that I’ll have a little less angst, and a little more patience, next time I’m behind a slow-walker on the sidewalk.

Happy National Meditation Month. Take some time to accept the pause, knowing that it’s not setting you back, it’s clearing away the obstructions so you can run that much faster in the direction you choose.

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