- So I'll share a few ideas with you
and see what resonates with you.
One idea to help the process,
other than just biting your tongue (laughs),
is
to actually listen to guided meditations
from people you revere
who
have long silences,
so that you kind of have that as an example
that you can draw from.
There's one teacher in particular I always think of
when I think of like having long silences.
His name is Norman Fischer,
who is a highly revered
Zen master
slash
Jewish humorist (laughs).
Really interesting guy.
But he has really long pauses,
and I always think of him.
So that's one idea is to listen to guided meditations,
to have an example.
You can
try
sort of remembering
that some people
will
really delight in that silence.
Sometimes I'll think maybe 1/3 of you or 1/2 of you,
maybe more will really, really, really, really relish that.
And one thing that helps me is to actually hear
a few people say,
"I really was able to drop in, or I was really able to
"access
"that mindfulness
"more
"in the longer pause."
And so
asking for feedback,
and kind of hoping someone will say
something positive about it,
and kind of like
remembering that.
It's going to be super valuable for
a significant percentage of people
who you guide a meditation for.
You can also relish in the opportunity
to
pause and really kinda practice yourself
as a practitioner
and kinda drop the teacher role
for
five minutes, 10 minutes, 45 minutes,
and just practice with them,
with the intention to then come back to guidance later.
So it can be a wonderful opportunity
to practice with them and to relish in that opportunity.
Two of my favorite all-time teachers also like to pause
during teachings.
So during a talk portion of a teaching,
they'll pause for minutes on end, just randomly.
And it's a wonderful practice to notice
if any sense of awkwardness comes up,
even just as a student.
And it can be so out of the norm (laughs)
that it can be very striking,
and for me, inspiring.
One of the teachers I was thinking of,
can't find him anywhere online,
but the one teacher you can, his name is Anam Thubten,
A-N-A-M T-H-U-B-T-E-N.
He has kind of a Tibetan background,
but he's not dogmatic by any means.
He's very accessible.
But he has, he builds in a lot of,
well, he doesn't build it in,
but he just naturally has these periods of silence
in his teachings that I personally find very,
very nice to rest in.