"Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mall ..." (With apologies to The Beatles)

Youre sitting in the middle of Southgate Mall at lunchtime, right next to the clock tower, and youre told to close your eyes, take a deep breath and focus on yourself, allowing all the noise to pass through your mind.

Meanwhile, shoppers stream past talking loudly on their phones or with each other, ordering coffee, pretzels or smoothies, shushing crying babies, scraping chair legs as they sit down or stand up from tables at the nearby cafe.

One child blows up a balloon, releasing the air with a high-pitched squeal. Then he does it again and again.

Its a good thing meditation doesnt require you to tune all that out completely.

To meditate you need no concentration, Laura Bender said. Thats the beauty of it.

Bender, who is certified as a personal trainer and a meditation teacher, combines the two at her downtown studio, Bodies by Bender.

Monday, she partnered with the Boys and Girls Club and Red Willow Learning Center to host the Mindful Mall Meditation, giving people a chance to relax and be in the moment during the turbulent start to 2017.

Though Bender and Nic Wilson, with the Boys and Girls Club, made sure to say there was no political bent to the event rather the opposite the two wanted peoples minds to be elsewhere for a while.

We want to take a step back a little bit and use peace and quiet rather than loud and angry, Wilson said. Just be thankful a little bit more than thinking about all the chaos.

And so a little after 1 p.m., Bender plonked herself down cross-legged in the center of a semi-circle of chairs, Himalayan singing bowl on the floor in front of her.

Bender led the group of about 15 people through a mindful meditation, starting with hands in lap, feet flat on the ground, eyes closed. First she told them to take in the surrounding noise, before taking a few deep breaths and focusing instead on their bodies where their feet touched the floor, their thighs touched the chair, all the way up to their heads.

Some meditators sat perfectly still, while others crossed and uncrossed their legs, took sips of water, or opened their eyes and glanced around.

Passerby gave curious glances, conversations halting between pairs of friends carrying shopping bags as they both watched the group sit slack-faced and quiet. None opted to join, though a few stopped and observed.

I was surprised that I was actually able to really feel centered in that moment, one of the participants, Sonia McLain said. 'Cause I was skeptical with all the noise at first.

It almost felt more peaceful than when I was in a completely silent room trying to meditate.

Her friend Christopher Morucci agreed, saying the point of mindfulness meditation is not to ignore noise, but acknowledge it as part of the brains distractions.

After about 10 minutes, Bender rang her singing bowl and told the group to slowly open their eyes. Some smiled, some stretched, rubbing their eyes like theyd just taken a nap.

Wasnt that fun? she said.

Bender has taught meditation for about eight years and is certified by the Chopra Center and the center's David Ji. She called the idea of a meditation flash mob hilarious, but not pointless.

Were in a community thats full of wonderful, loving people and we want to celebrate community, Bender said. Its really powerful when you get a group of us together.

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Taking a moment to meditate in Southgate Mall - The Missoulian