Meditation - Day 2

Today i decided to sit after my morning shower again.  I wanted to focus on an object so i lit a candle and set the timer for 5 minutes.  I sat with good posture on the edge of the couch and stared at the flame.  

The moments in between two thoughts is the sweet spot.  It's quite normal to have one thought after another arise but if we pay attention we can start to notice the gaps.  "Mind the gap" they say.  Eventually, we seek to lengthen the amount of time we spend in the gap.

Anyway, i stared at the flame but began to notice my mind drifting elsewhere, including wondering how much time was left and whether or not the timer was broken. (it wasn't)  Instead of getting discouraged i simply reminded myself to go back to the flame, so that's what i did.

Meditation - Day 1

Today i sat for 5 minutes this morning after my shower and before my breakfast.   I set the timer on my oven so i didn't have to worry about tracking the time.

I sat down cross-legged on a pillow and tried to keep my spine as straight as comfortable.  I began by silently counting backwards from 27.  Breathing in through my nose 27, breathing out through my mouth 27.  Breathing in 26, breathing out 26, breathing in 25, breathing out 25, and so on.  I lost track around 20 so i simply decided to follow my breath in and out for the duration of the 5 minutes.

About half way through, i found myself anticipating the alarm going off.  These thoughts and distractions will naturally arise.  It's important to simply recognize them as distractions and go back to what you were doing.  Do not become discouraged.  

It's amazing how quickly 5 minutes goes by throughout the busy day but how slowly it seems to pass while sitting and trying to silence the mind.

I'll try different methods of meditating to see which ones i like best and report on it as i did here in subsequent posts.  

*I also found myself stopping to concentrate on my breath throughout the day, such as while waiting at the copying machine.  Every little bit helps!

Meditation - Intro

Meditation.  I have been on and off with meditation for probably over 5 years now.  My interest in it started when i took a Buddhism class at Cleveland State University.  From there, i took a relaxation training course.  After graduation i moved to Asheville and started to dabble some more by going to a group meditation once a week.  I have also tried yoga.  None of these things has led to a daily practice, though.

That's why i'm doing this challenge.  For the next 21 days i will attempt to meditate each day for a minimum of 5 minutes.  5 minutes might not seem like a long time but for a beginning meditator it can feel like an eternity.  Therefore, I'll aim for 5 minutes total instead of 5 minutes at once.  I'll most likely do it in one sitting for 5 minutes but i'll also have the option to do 5 one-minute meditations or some other combination.  I want to keep my options open and turn it into a habit so i want to make the challenge as easy as possible.  I also won't limit sitting to only 5 minutes if i feel like i should continue. 

Do you meditate on a regular basis?  Any tips or suggestions to help me out along the way?