When we first walk into the Meditation Minyan, we take off our shoes, put on a tallit, and sit quietly in a circle. As we are walking in, we listen to quiet, calming music and watch a candle flicker in the centre of the circle while the lights are turned off. We begin by taking deep breaths to remind us that God gave us the first breaths of life. Next, we sing the Mode Ani while inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. After Mode Ani, we stand up and perform movements to express Birkat Hashahar.
During the Amidah, we slowly take three steps forwards and three steps back while we sing the prayer. We take a minute to stand firmly and think about things that we believe in. While we stand, Moreh Greg comes around and lightly gives each of us a gentle push to see how strong our belief is. After that we sit down and sing the Shema. We let our ears take control and we don’t think about which words to sing. When we do this we all feel relaxed, calm, and we feel like we have a stronger connection to God.
Keren says, “My favourite part about the Meditation Minyan is singing the Mode Ani, because it challenges me to breath deeper and to really feel close to God.” Eden says, “My favourite part is the Amidah because it can be hard to think of one thing that I believe in. It really helps me be calm.” Ava says, “Meditation makes me feel calmer for the rest of the day, especially when I have a test that day.”
We all feel that meditation is a great thing to incorporate in tefillah.
Written by Eden, Keren & Sophie (Grade 6)
