The Quiet Within

Testimonial of an inmate from a prison in central Israel

In my first mediation group sessions I was skeptical. I was too focused on myself and the non-stop thoughts prevented me from opening up to the group. The fact that I am a rational person also played a role. I couldn’t accept the idea that breathing can help my emotional state and my ability to calm my nagging thoughts about the future and how bad my situation was. I slowly tried to open up to the group. I told myself that I might as well try, now that I’m here. Initially the effects were minor during class, the thoughts were calmer and I succeeded in clearing my head. Slowly the calming of my mind increased until I achieved the point that by the end of the group session the nagging thoughts were gone, I reached a level of calm and could disconnect myself and concentrate only on the here and now, through my breathing and calmness.