Montessori Meditation

Dr. Maria Montessori is a big inspiration in my work. For this writing meditation, I have chosen 4 key words from her original works for us to reflect on. I'll first just mention the word for open associations and after that I will ask some questions belonging with each word. Feel free to pause the recording if you need to write down more.

Transcript

We'll start by picking up a comfortably seated position.

Gently closing our eyes just for the moment.

Make sure your pen and paper is within reach for you to pick up later when I tell you to.

You also have the choice to make mental notes.

I do encourage you to make actual notes,

But it helps with retention of the information.

However,

If you don't feel like it,

Just let the thoughts come and go.

And I named this meditation the Montessori meditation,

Honoring the life and work of Maria Montessori.

And my link with Maria Montessori is that I work with her philosophy,

For people living with dementia and everyone who cares for them.

I've had the pleasure of reading some of her original work,

In Italian,

The translated version.

And for today's meditation,

I've chosen four words that are at the core of her philosophy.

This is what we'll do.

Firstly,

I'll mention the first word.

And I'd like you to first freely associate with this word.

What does this word,

When you hear it,

What does it mean to you?

What does it trigger in you?

And as always,

With our writing meditation,

Please note what comes to mind first,

Before you even have the opportunity to start thinking.

After I've given you a brief moment for the free association,

I'll ask some questions for each word to go a little bit deeper.

As you may notice,

I'm not using any music today.

Where usually we would like to distract our mind from thinking.

This meditation is all about following your thoughts,

Observing what's happening,

What comes to mind,

How you respond to that in turn.

It's like having a conversation with yourself.

Take free conscious breaths in and out,

Just in preparation.

Make any changes that you would like to make.

And then smooth out your forehead.

All the wrinkles and worries,

Tension,

Just release it.

Push your scalp backwards,

Back of the hand,

Behind the ears,

To the face.

Relax all the small muscles in your face.

Don't squeeze your eyes.

Relax your cheeks,

Especially your jaw.

Let's let it drop open slightly.

And let this relaxation flow down through the body,

Through the neck and throat,

Shoulders,

Upper body,

Front and back.

Simultaneously through the upper arm,

Lower body,

Back,

Lower arms and hands and fingers,

Hip and pelvic area.

Just release any tension,

Just visualize relaxing.

And if you can't,

If you feel a lack of sensation,

If you're unsure what to do,

That's fine too.

You don't need to do anything.

Just change anything that you feel you want to change.

Further down through the buttocks,

Legs,

Knees,

Lower legs,

And out through the feet and toes.

When you're ready,

Gently open the eyes.

If you have chosen to make mental notes,

You can remain seated with your eyes closed.

If you'd like to write,

Now is the time to take pen and papers.

And the first word that I will throw at you,

And I'll just briefly remind you that the first thing to do is just freely associate whatever comes up in your mind when you hear the words.

The first word is meaning.

Meaning.

If nothing comes to mind,

If you're unsure what I mean by meaning,

Just wait.

My first question for meaning is,

What is the purpose of your work or your other daily activities?

Why do you do what you do?

Notice what your brain does.

Notice any judgments,

Especially if you don't know the answer immediately.

It's fine.

I'm not making it easy on you.

And I'll ask a question that even goes further.

What is the meaning of life?

Try to catch what your mind immediately comes up with.

And then you start thinking about it.

You may choose the general meaning of life,

Or the meaning of your life in particular.

Maybe fragments come to you.

It does not have to be a coherent story.

Please start finishing up your notes.

Put each word in the questions.

If you're listening to the recording,

Feel free to pause for a moment and write more.

And here's the second word.

Freedom.

What comes to mind when I say freedom?

My first question would be,

What does freedom mean to you?

When are you free?

Think as big and small as you like.

Freedom of person and activity,

A way of life,

Nice sunny weather.

And from what it means in theory to you,

We'll now go to how you're experiencing it at this moment in your life.

The next question is,

How do you experience freedom in life?

And then the opposite.

Where do you feel you lack freedom?

Or more positively stated.

Where would you like to gain some freedom?

Any time you're finished before I continue,

Feel free to close your eyes.

Focus on your breath.

And we set before the next word and set of questions.

What comes to mind when I say freedom?

What needs to come to you will still come to you at another moment.

And not only can you note what your mind says in response to the words,

Maybe you feel kind of a general feeling as a response.

Joy,

Anxiety,

Awkwardness.

My first question for the word silence is how do you relate to silence?

Is it something you welcome,

Something you avoid?

Coming out from our own relation with silence.

Is silence generally perceived in your society?

Zooming back in on you.

If ever,

In what situations do you avoid silence?

Silence can be a short or long list.

And again,

The opposite.

When does silence serve you?

And again,

If you don't have an answer come to you,

Or possibly the answer is never,

It doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong.

This is your reality.

No need to compare with anyone else.

And the last word is more of a sentence,

Taking from the adapted Montessori method for people with dementia,

Where we boldly state,

There is no right and wrong.

What does this sentence trigger in you?

There is no right and wrong.

Feel free,

Call me nuts,

Because this frequently requires a longer explanation than just the one sentence.

Release yourself for the last set of possibly confronting questions.

What is right in your life?

Don't hold back.

This is only for you.

No need to share with anyone else,

Unless you choose to.

And just to play with the concept of right and wrong a little bit.

When does wrong become right?

Or how?

Or when would your right become wrong?

And the last question for the last sentence.

Last word.

Well,

It has an A and a B.

Who knows what is right and wrong?

And why them?

Who would be your compass if you want to test what is right and wrong?

When you have finished writing,

Please take your time.

When you are finished,

Put aside a pen and paper.

Sit back.

Close your eyes.

And keep observing your brain.

So many questions.

Not an easy way out.

The answers may be confronting.

A lack of answers may be confronting.

This is the purpose of this meditation.

Only when we dig deep,

When we are truly honest with ourselves,

Are we able to make any changes that we would like to make.

Which brings me to my final set of questions.

No need to write anything down.

Just really be in a lingering state of mind where the thoughts come and go.

After everything you have just written down,

If anything,

What would you benefit from in life?

More meaning?

More freedom?

More silence?

Or less convention?

More room for there is no right and wrong?

Or if you like,

Redefining right and wrong?

Maybe one of the four clearly stands out to you.

Maybe it's a mix.

Maybe something completely different came to mind.

Whatever came to your mind is what you can focus on.

Think about what it would look like,

For example,

If you would create more silence in your life.

What would this require you to do?

What do you need to change?

And let that question linger in the back of your mind.

After completing this meditation,

If you feel there's more to write,

Please do.

Don't think about it too much.

Just let it flow.

If you're going from one thing to the other,

It doesn't matter.

You can always look back at it later and discover a deeper meaning.

Or maybe it's just still all these random thoughts that all have meaning in themselves.

For the moment now,

Just let go of all the questions,

The answers.

Bring your attention to your breath,

Noticing the air flowing in and out of the nose.

Or the gentle rise and fall,

The body with the breath.

Notice how you're sitting.

Notice how you're feeling.

Notice if anything changed since we started.

I encourage you to remain seated just for a little while longer.

If you do need to go,

Gently open your eyes as I say goodbye and Namaste.

Reviews

Great questions ... love Maria Montessori's methods. My two daughters went to Montessori schools, one through grade 8.