Meditation opens my mind to colorful dreams

For about six months, I've been meeting with a group of women on Thursday nights for some mind-bending exploration.

That sounds so much like the wild, psychedelic 60s. But in this 'Eat, Pray, Love' 2010, our weekly gatherings are much more innocent.

We meditate.

Every Thursday evening, we gather at a friend's office. There are nine or 10 of us, but most Thursday nights six or seven can make it.

We usually listen to one of several guided meditations. Sometimes we sit quietly listening to sounds, Native American music, harp, bells.

Many in our group meditate daily. Or they try to. They fit a daily meditation in with exercise and getting kids to school.

I don't meditate formally at all during the week, except for Thursday evenings.

But these Thursday guided meditations with this group of kind-spirited women blow my mind.

Wait. We'll get to that.

The coolest impact is that every day, any day if something starts to make me feel a little stressed or distracted or irritated, I can refocus quickly. I can put myself pretty quickly into a very short meditative state that will help make all that irritating stuff evaporate .. or at least make it shrink very small and send it to the corner.

But that's not the mind-blowing part. Almost every Friday morning after meditation I wake up remembering really vivid, colorful dreams. More vivid and more colorful than usual. Some weeks, I'll dream like that for a couple of nights.

I used to dream a lot about being able to fly. Especially when I was a kid. I'd fly through the house, kind of like swimming underwater. But as an adult my dreams have been more of the I-showed-up-for-the-Spanish-final-but-haven't-been-to-any-classes type of dream.

I guess these new dreams, these Thursday night dreams, are more like the childlike me.

I'm sure there is an explanation. Probably something about my third eye being activated. (I really don't even know what I just said. That just sounds like something my meditation mates would say.)

Whatever is going on, meditation is working. I've got a little more serenity. I've got the vivid dreams.

It really is pretty mind-blowing.


Robin J. Phillips, Tempe