Sacred Silence - POST CHALLENGE!

And with that, six weeks of "Sacred Silence" have come to an official close! With a survival rate of two meditators, one might think the challenge isn't all too good for one's health. However, one would be jumping to conclusions if they did not consider compiling a success rate too. For that, we have reflections our challenge participants fill with their experience and takeaways, the sixth week's being the most comprehensive. Without further ado, here are the post-challenge thoughts of Troy and myself.

How has your meditation practice evolved?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "When I started this challenge I had never practiced any form of meditation. However, over the past 6 six weeks I have learned and gained so much knowledge about meditation and the fact its not the only way to destress or ground oneself. I have attempted yoga (wasn't for me), breathing exercises (also did not really work for me) as well as listening to calming, 'quieter' music (best of the three listed). I found that learning about your mind, your body and yourself as a whole, meditation can be tailored to help you better. By week four, I had found a nice routine for my sessions (establish a quiet setting, put on calming music, meditate with proper breathing for x minutes and then a bit of breathing exercises). Overall, I feel like my mediation practice has evolved for the better and will greatly aid me in stressful situations in the future."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "A lot less intense. It’s kind of funny, how I almost came at mindfulness and meditation too seriously. Yes, I felt happy after my practices, but it was like I only felt that way because I had meditated - something “good.” I was bent on sitting on the floor, and on no disruptions. When I was interrupted, I sometimes felt helpless frustration. Over time, I learned to embrace the bumps as part of the practice. Now meditation is much more casual and natural. People barging in is just a test to my preparation for life outside the meditation bubble. And my practice isn’t chained to the floor. I can now meditate on transit!"

How would you describe the last six weeks in a nutshell?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "A learning process. I learned about myself and different destressing and meditative processes that exist. I felt like the first three weeks were slow as I was starting to get into a groove, however by week four I had the hang of things with an established routine that made time go a little faster."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "Busy! The entire year I was nonchalantly encouraging younger grades, promising them Grade 11 is not at all busy unless you procrastinate. The last few weeks proved me blatantly wrong. Assignments, culminatings, tests jumping out of nowhere. Daily meditation was the one thing that didn’t show or go on me. The thrill of working and studying, and the peace Sacred Silence gifted me with, kept the last six weeks from being boring while keeping it breathable."

Do you think the last six weeks of your life might have been significantly different had you not partaken in this challenge?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "Yes it would have been significantly different. The main reason being that I would not meditate or devote some time to exert stress. As well, on top of this, if I did not have a way to destress, I believe I would procrastinate even more than I do now which would not be good for my time management or work ethic (if I even have one :D)."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "Not quite. I’m not saying it wasn’t worth it. I think the point of meditation is that it’s effects are more nuance than obvious. With or without “Sacred Silence,” the last six weeks would have been hectic. But the stress I experienced bore a little more awareness, and I am able to find gratitude and insight a little more easily looking back. It was not a significant difference, but the difference is significant in hindsight. If that makes any sense at all."

Will you continue meditating post-challenge? If so, what will you maintain and what modifications might you make?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "I am planning on meditating post-challenge. However without having the challenge there as a drive to keep me going, it will most likely be less constant. I will try every day to mediate but will mostly meditate whenever my nightly schedule has a free space. This is because its culminating/summative season so I will be working to complete those on time. Something that I will do while meditating is keep it between 15-20 minutes as I felt those had left the best results for myself."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "I definitely will try, especially because meditation itself has become something I know and love. I might not meditate for 20 minutes a day, more like ten, because I think that works best for me, scheduling wise, while still providing clear benefits. I want to spread my meditation throughout the day too. Maybe spend some of the fifteen minutes during lunch where I’m not eating or talking or cramming, meditating."

What is one thing you learned from this challenge?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "Now this may sound a little sappy, but I learned the importance of self-love and knowing what good for yourself. These past six weeks have let me get to know myself as well as which destressing technique are best suited for myself."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "Ten or twenty minutes wasted on procrastination, or even spent on genuine work or entertainment or enjoyment, is nothing in hindsight. On the other hand, silence, meditation, and mindfulness have effects that last."

Does the concept "sacred silence" mean anything to you?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "At the beginning of this challenge I had no idea what it had in store or what "sacred silence" even meant. Nonetheless, I now know that this term can mean different things depending on who's defining it. For me, it means that you should never forget to take time for yourself, just to focus on yourself and slow life down. This mentality is something that helped me to continuously persevere through this challenge. Furthermore, silence doesn't mean complete silence to me but rather just quieter and calmer with no loud noises, no interruptions and no stressors."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): When I was first designing this challenge, I was disappointed because “Sacred Silence,” which was as good as I could brainstorm, didn’t click as nicely as "Bed by 11.". After actually meditating, however, my practices led me to much peace and enlightenment, and I realize there could not be a more perfect challenge title.
If you close your eyes and breathe in silence, you understand something beautiful. Our world is so full of sound but we - our minds, bodies, souls - are blank slates. In their purest form, we find eternal emptiness. Sacred silence. Silent because no song has been set to play. Sacred because the song is ours yet to choose. Meditation reminds me every time, as I fade out of and back into our world, that we choose what to fill and what not to fill our world with. "

How did your expectations relate to your reality?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "In week four I pointed out that I tended to be quite distracted mentally, though I feel like I have overcome this. One way I did this was listening to music. I am quite happy that I actually put in the commitment into fitting in time to meditate and wind down. I say this because for many other "Make or Break" habits I tend to give up or lose interest in developing the habit fully. My expectations in terms of finishing the challenge was greatly surpassed. My expectation for the outcome is that I would have less stress build up, more restful sleep and procrastinate less. I for sure noticed that the stress build up within has decreased on average compared to before the challenge. As for sleep, I do fall asleep quicker because my brain has less thoughts going around and 'shuts down' faster. However for procrastination, this has changed a little but not lots. This tells me that that are other underlying problems to this that I just have to overcome in other ways!"

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "I expected finding time and reason to meditate to be an issue. On the contrary, in face of the unexpected (but not unwanted, I am not complaining!) twists and turns the last weeks exposed me to, I turned to meditation, readily, openly, compassionately. I guess I realized it was the one good, safe place to transcend time and space."

Would you recommend daily meditation to others?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "Not exactly. These days I realize that many people have jam-packed schedules and tons of work to do. Nevertheless, I would strongly suggest that adding at least 10 minutes of meditation to one's schedule can change one's mental little by little. Overall, its just a create grounder and destressing technique."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "Only if they desperately need it or are asking for a recommendation/motivation. Otherwise, I’m open to having them discover it for themselves on their own time, and feel glad for and good about themselves that they did."

Will you meditate today?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "Of course, after going through this challenge, not meditating just cause it ends seems quite pointless. I completed this challenge to learn about mediating and what works for me to destress, and I gained so much."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "You bet:)"

What are you doing this weekend?

Troy Saldanha-Martins (Grade 10): "This weekend I may be volunteering for the Willowdale NDP, working on culminating(s)/ summative(s)."

Misheel Batkhuu (Grade 11): "Enjoying life:) it’ll be sunny and warm out, but if I’m not out, I’ll be enjoying finding my way with vectors, challenging my systems’ capacities with bio, connecting with yoga, and revitalizing with some sacred silence."

And there we have it! The choice is yours as to how to perceive our journey, just as it was our choice to fill our last six weeks with sacred silence. We hope we were able to inspire you, if not now, for sometime in the distant or not so distant future. À la prochaine!

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