January 15, 2010
Accident leads to meditation practice
When Chuck St. Romain was granted a new lease on life, he also received a new view of how to live that renewed opportunity more fully.
A hunting accident came perilously close to killing St. Romain, but his traumatic journey through that experience led to an appreciation of meditation and a spiritual awakening.
“I was duck hunting south of here,” St. Romain said. “I slipped, heard a bang, got shot and was bleeding from my head. At first, I was terrified. Then that shifted into sadness, and I told those with me to tell (wife) Barb and (daughter) Claire that I love them, because I didn’t think I’d see them again.
“Then I shifted into this incredible awareness of my breath. I was so present with my breath, so connected. My terror had eased dramatically.”
The surgeon at the hospital in Cameron Parish told St. Romain that if the bullet had been a half-inch from where it was, he would have died instead of suffering a frightening scalp wound.
“I wanted to understand,” said St. Romain, a licensed clinical social worker.
“It was no accident that it happened. I was overwhelmed. I wanted to let the universe teach me. I decided to go investigate meditation.”
St. Romain has been practicing meditation for 14 years now. He has translated that discovery into Spirit Path Meditation and Spiritual Enrichment Center in Lafayette, which provides weekly meditation sittings, frequent retreats and book study for clients.
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