Poi as Meditation

REPOSTED FROM THE TRANS-SCEND BLOG 2014

​I tend to do my best meditation through some sort of movement. I switch between many forms, a few of my favorites at the moment are poi, juggling, yo-yo and kendama. All of these are not normally seen as a form of meditation I know but for me they work. There are times when sitting outside with my eyes closed and listening to the birds work, listening to guided meditation, doing Qi Gong/Tai Chi or just sitting down and coloring/drawing/or some sort of creative project works but generally if my ego is very talkative I have to be in moving in some fashion. I wrote a short thing about why poi helped me out and it applies to all of the activities I use and might help you think of your own as well…

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Why Poi?

It could have been any number of things really but I have been interested in poi for many years but have only recently renewed my practice of it. At the same time I have been looking for different ways to try and increase my awareness of the present moment in everyday activities. I have been meditating on and off now for a few years as my pursuit of my higher purpose has been at the forefront of my mind, however meditation has always been hard for me.
 
I have tried many different forms of meditation and have even taken classes in different forms of it. I have participated in several different types of what I would call "movement" meditation, everything from a few different martial arts to Qigong to yoga. All of which have worked for a time and I continue to use them periodically but as we move through our journey one method doesn’t always work for all of us and at times one just seems to stop working for a time and I have to change tactics.
 
Probably close to ten years ago a good friend of mine started spinning poi. I was fascinated by it and wanted her to teach me, which she tried to. I soon gave up though for various reasons, most of which was the fact that I wanted to be "instantly" good at it. At the time I was not actively pursuing my spirituality and so I had no understanding of why I gave up on it other than it was just "too hard" or "I don't have time" or whatever other reason I can think of.
 
Now, I realize that our egos tend to try and push us away from things that would actually be beneficial to us. While poi might be right for some people it seems to be, so far anyway, much like juggling is for me (I've been juggling 3 balls without learning much more in the way of tricks or anything since high school). While I haven't explored going past the 3 ball juggle in all this time it is still an activity that can calm my inner voice (ego) when I allow it to. In essence it can be viewed as a "movement" meditation for me.
 
Now, while I am speaking of learning Poi I want to point out that my intention lies more in the meditative spiritual aspect of this and not in the Poi ability itself. In fact I am not even that "good" of a Poi spinner in terms of the actual activity, however I have found via the web demonstrated poi movements that will enhance my meditation because they are easy to do and keep my mind still.
 
I believe that the more we practice our meditation in everyday activities the easier it will come for us to embody it. Poi meditation is just a variation of being in the present moment and one that will help us achieve our meditative and spiritual goals in fun and creative fashion.