Taking the first step is usually the hardest part about a commitment to an idea. I decided to take my mind out and just do it. This is meditation. There is no danger. I can meditate anywhere. I have virtually no excuse. In the past, I used time or a mood to persuade me from stopping and taking a breath from my busy life. I am just as busy but I'm in need of a little mental organization. I have an efficient mental process. Meditation has the potential of making that process more efficient. My research and personal practice suggests I will accomplish as much... just have to commit. So commit I did.
Set up with, what I affectionately call the Cone of Silence - a loud air conditioning unit that blows heavily in my room, I ensure audio distraction is minimal. For an extra boost, I also use my iPhone to play a soundtrack by Peter Samuels. It's a Thunderstorm track that is 21:17. Since most of my meditations have to last at least that long (and I usually have my iPhone with me), I put the song on repeat and put my headphones in. Before hitting play, I wanted to make sure I did not get uncomfortable in the middle of my session. I surrounded myself with pillows and crossed my legs into a relaxed Lotus position. I turned off the light but left my door open so that some light could peer in during my mental journey. There are a few things I'm thinking about for the future days. I will eventually need to meditate in bright areas with no shade. I will not always have pillows for comfort. And I will be in environments that even my ear buds will not be able to tune out. For today, I have control over those things. So I will start in my controlled environment.
I started my stop watch, I pushed play on my Thunderstorm track and I closed my eyes... Breathe...
It all starts with the breath. As humans, we can feel a little better if we just take a moment to breathe in some life. So, I took in breath. (There is a song by Sia called Breathe Me, amazing)
There are many theories on the proper way to breathe. Today, I just went with what was comfortable. In the future, I will link some Yogi techniques that you can try on your own. I alternated between breathing through just my nose, in through the nose out through the mouth, just the mouth and then a technique I've been working on; breathing in and out through both at the same time. It's tricky and involves tongue work. Air rushes in but releases much slower than choosing just one path - same could be said of life. Many guided meditations will instruct to focus on one thing, like a river, letting thoughts flow down and away from your consciousness. To be free of thought. I was not free of thought. I would picture a clear river with various vessel-sized 'logs' that were supposed to float down stream and away from me, yet just sat in my thought process as if to say, "Should we start paddling?" ...I had a lot on my mind.
In my meditative state, I thought about my work a lot. I'm one of those work is a life choice, kind of people. Regardless of industry, you know our drive. My mind is always thinking about the next move whether I'm conscious or not. I was hoping meditation would relax that process more, but... it didn't. I am happy to say that it wasn't a waste of time though. In that state, my mind was able to wrap itself around new approaches to problem solving. One could say that I'm remembering the things I haven't thought of while in meditation, but you'd have to subscribe to the idea that your memory has no chronological order. I've heard some good arguments. I'm still skeptical. Still, while breathing, eyes closed, music on and the intent on staying so for 20 minutes, I came up with some pretty cool ideas. Maybe it was because I was forcing myself to have minimal thought processes at a time, like a computer only running one application instead of seventeen. Maybe it was because I really need to get work done, my body knows it and is helping in alternative fashions. Maybe sometimes we need to just stop and breathe...
Total time in meditation was 33 minutes and 47 seconds.
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