Well week 1 is in the bag. Woo! I’m feeling pretty good about it.
I’ve done a little write up on the meditation style I’ve used every day over at my 30 day challenge project page so if you’d like the finer details then go check that out ——-> HERE.
Here’s the summarised version for you:
What I’ve noticed
1. Mostly I meditate sitting up in bed as I find this most comfortable. I like the pillows behind me to support my back.
2. The Simply Being app is pretty good. I find it works best if I feel like I’m going to have trouble getting into it as it gives me something to focus on. It is also great if I’m time limited as I don’t need to sit there and wonder if 10 mins is up yet. I was inspired by Jen’s challenge update on her blog (it’s great – go check it out!) during the week and tried the stream sounds and find I like them the best.
3. It’s actually pretty easy to put aside 10 mins per day to meditate although I do need to actively remind myself to do it. I have a reminder set in my phone that comes up at around 6am (just in case I have time to do it before monkey is awake – so far hasn’t happened). And then if I miss that opp then it is usually nap time in the middle of the day for me. I try to make it my first nap time task so I don’t feel rushed.
4. If I don’t sit down and do it when I get the first chance then time gets away from me and I find it more difficult. For example I came home from the gym on Thursday and sat down to my computer to start some study when I really felt like meditating. I should have just done it then as it probably would have helped me to better focus on my studies and writing for the day.
Lesson: knock it on the head early. And the earlier the better as it seems to set me up well for the day.
5. I seem to be more calm in general. I have had a couple of grouchy days this week (hence this post and that post) but found I dealt with it better. Normally on those days I would feel quite overwhelmed and as a result lose complete patience with my almost 2 year old. We’d end up having words over poor behaviour, I might yell at him or give him a little smack. But I’ve managed to keep a lid on it this week and it hasn’t even felt hard. I think the meditation is helping my overall wellbeing which in turn is making me less irrational when the going gets tough. THIS is great and a big reason behind making this a part of my life.
Can’t say I’d find sitting in the middle of the road that calming but whatever works…
So there you have it. The wrap up for the week. Hardly earth shattering so far but point 5 above makes it all worth it. I’ve had a bit of an interesting week emotionally. I had some anxiety in the evening of days 2 and 3 and that was followed by the usual period of depression for a few days after that. I did notice that it wasn’t as bad as it has been in the past so perhaps that is linked? While I definitely felt flat I was still able to get things done (like study and blog posts). I also wasn’t falling asleep really early because of it which would normally be the case for me.
Anyone else out there taken on the challenge at all? Let me know how your week is going if you’ve been giving it a go. I’ll update you again next week.
~MFS~
