An Interesting Experience

It was a busy morning.

Mysore in the AM, and then I had to scoot downtown to have a cavity filled (my first in years - not cavity, but filling one). I went to the dentist, sat in the chair and closed my eyes. I thought to myself, "huh, this might be cool. To practice mindfulness and breath control while they are working on my mouth." It might not be meditation, but it is using the powers of meditation for an applied purpose.

So I lay there and observed anxiety arising. I counted my breaths to ten and went back down to one.

I noticed my feet getting tense and softened them, as well as my thighs, my hands and my bum.

And then it was all over. "Not too bad", I thought to myself.

I stood up and went to the receptionist to pay and started to feel a little light headed and woozy. So, I went to grab a seat while she was bringing up my file. My head started to feel really light and funny, so I brought my head down to my lap. Feeling a little better, but still a little weird.

The receptionist calls me up to the counter to pay. I give her my debit card, and before I even punched anything into the machine I say:

"I feel a little dizzy. Is this norma -"

Before I even finished the sentence, I feel my legs collapsing and people grabbing me to hold me up. I hear people asking "Are you okay? Are you okay?" And someone answered "I'm okay. I'm okay" That must have been me.

I feel my body dragged into the other room and lay down on the floor. I see black and it actually feels like something is leaving my body. Like I (who is this I that I am writing of?) was observing. And I actually had the thought "Oh. I guess I must be dying now."

But as soon as I was on the cold tile floor, I felt better. I was coming to. I could form full sentences. The Dentist sent someone to get my juice and after about 20 minutes or so, I was back on my feet.

Mindful fainting.

I have never fainted before, so it was actually really interesting to be observing my body as it was happening and to be able to use the breath while I lay on the concrete floor to calm my mind and my body down and move out of shock.