Journey #86 – Iceland

Reykjavík yoga

Reykjavík yoga is one of the most famous yoga studios in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. I was invited to teach a mindfulness and meditation session with the topic “healthy relationship”. I shared that a healthy relationship is based on the direction of love … Once we can learn to love ourselves, we will develop unconditional love to share with anyone. People who practice meditation also develop more compassion that will allow us to forget negative things in others and focus more on the positivity. Meditation went very well although there were some distractions from outside. After 40 minutes, many people didn’t feel the time and space. Some experienced heat from within. Others felt peace, calmness and felt as if meditation was shorter than it really was. People got also interest in the monk’s life and question about my goal of living in the monkhood.

Om Setrið

Om Setrið or “Om center” is a warm and peaceful place situated on the shore of Klefavík. They organised two sessions for me because one wasn’t enough for the number of registrations. I was asked to give a talk on “how to find happiness with mindfulness and meditation”. I explained that a clouded mind will not be able appreciate the values of people, places, objects or situations and will be on an endless quest for better and more profound happiness. The stillness of the mind will allow us, on the other hand, feel another kind of happiness from inner peace. Many participants have probably found that! After 40 minutes of the meditation, some felt heat from the body while some felt tingling sensations.
Some felt as if they were not here, as if they had no body. Some could even reach the state before the guiding voice. Of course, these experiences sound strange but gave them profound contentment as if there was no time, no distance, no space.

Klefavík

In Klefavík, I was invited to teach mindfulness and meditation at Já.is organised by Sigurður Þorsteinsson whom we met in Canada. Sigurður invited his colleagues, friends and people who are interested in meditation practice. Within a week or so, he managed to gather 54 people in a very short period of time. The acoustic of the place is nice so we managed to have a very peaceful meditation session there. We meditated for an usual period of 40 minutes and people had nice experience. Many didn’t feel the time. Some felt half asleep but they were very sure that they were still awake and not sleeping. Some felt like falling. Some saw beautiful green light during meditation. People were interested so we talked about active brain waves and how meditation affect the brain waves in different kinds of activities. As a conclusion, I shared that mindfulness and meditation is about returning the mind to its pure nature, which is clean and organised environment both inside and outside.

CULTURE CENTRE IÐNÓ

I went to teach meditation and presented about stress management in a cultural centre IÐNÓ in Reykjavík, Iceland. I shared with people that stress isn’t something to be afraid of if we learn how to befriend with our stressors. Then I facilitated a meditation session for 40 minutes. There were around 80 people who came both Icelanders and international people alike. Many enjoyed it and felt that they could meditate a bit longer with contentment. They didn’t feel the time. Many felt that their body was light and flying. One lady said that meditating today helped her went very deep that she couldn’t do it on her own easily. The guiding voice helped her a lot especially the mantra. I concluded that when the mind is clear and peaceful we can see our stressors differently and won’t get burnt out easily in our daily life.

Heilsan Min and Yoga Shala

I also went to teach mindfulness and meditation at “Heilsan Min” in a small town Akranes and “Yoga Shala” as well as a creative centre “Sólsetrið” in Reykjavík in Iceland.

People enjoyed the session and their meditation experiences were very nice. Some said she saw purple color. Some experienced a motion from side to side. Some said to feel the energy flowing through the body. One girl said she felt like she was falling from the sky 3 times. Many asked about the mantra “Samma Arahang” and wanted to use it later on.

A visually impaired gentleman who meditated in Sólsetrið was surprised to learn how meditating in a short time is so effective. He felt like his body was very light and he was flying in the air. He also enjoyed it so much he came again in the next session.