What I learned by preparing to lead a study group

As I was preparing to lead the new Ananda study and meditation group we've started in Monroe, I realized something I want to share. I think I've written about this somewhere before, but not here and not recently. Here's what I realized and want to share.

The best way to learn something is to give a class in the material you want to master!

To prepare for the group, I had to go back through the book we're using: How to Awaken Your True Potential by Paramhansa Yogananda. I had to read it more slowly because I would be asking the people who came to the group to discuss the material. I had to read and digest it in a different way than when I was reading it only for myself. I took notes to help clarify my thinking and to help me keep the group discussion on track. All of this caused me to learn the material better than I had before.

What teaching a class or leading a discussion group does is imprint the material more deeply because it heightens our attention and ability to remember something. If you want to learn something, prepare to give a class in it. Even if you never give the class, you'll learn the material so much better!

In other news, I'm sleeping normally again and waking up automatically at my usual time. Some folks I know who love their CPAP machines think me a bit odd if not downright crazy. For me, it only proves once again that we're all different - and how wonderful it is to celebrate and honor those differences instead of letting them divide us. Now if only we could get some other people to embrace this concept of honoring our differences. Someday it will happen. I just know it will.