Day 8 – Grace

I knew it would eventually happen. But it doesn't make it any easier. I started off fairly focused today. But being tired, keeping the monkey brain at bay was a challenge. Entire thoughts made it through before I was able to return focus. And then... I woke up. Yep, I fell asleep. As time is... Continue Reading →

Day 7 — Return

I tried a couple of new things today. I added some quiet background music (Enya, of course). I tried something new in how I brought myself back to focus. But first the challenges for today's meditation. Today was a rather stressful day all day long. At work, I found out that the connection to the... Continue Reading →

Day 6 – 17 minutes

Things went very differently today. I don't know if the changes were from the fact that I increased by another two minutes or something else. I should clarify—from the knowledge that today's meditation would be two minutes later. The changes were there from the very beginning, not just in the last few minutes. I only... Continue Reading →

Day 5 – Catatonic

Day 5 Today's 15 minutes fell into three distinct time blocks. I have no idea if they were or were not of equal length. First block—the same pattern of attaining focus, losing focus, regaining focus. Again the time to detect the loss of focus felt quicker and the duration of the times of focus seemed... Continue Reading →

Sunday 1 – Fatigue

Sunday 1 I put off meditation today until rather late. It had been a mentally stressing day (dining table stuff). It had been a long day. And I was tired. As with the last time I was tired going into meditation, the monkey brain was a little more active than yesterday. The first thing of... Continue Reading →

Day 4 – 15 Minutes

Day 4 I increased my time to 15 minutes today. I started out fairly strong—keeping focus on my breathing and keeping the extraneous thoughts vying for my attention at bay. But that only lasted a few minutes. Valerie didn't realize I was doing my new daily practice and asked me a direct question. That tripped... Continue Reading →

Day 3 – Externals

Day 3 Today brought a new challenge — external conversation. Paul came home for the evening. Although I moved myself to a "remote" part of the house, hearing he and Valerie talk was unavoidable. The challenge was to note the conversation while not mentally inserting myself into it. It probably goes without saying that the... Continue Reading →

Day 2 – 12 minutes

Day 2 Today, I worked 14.5 hours, got home at 11:15, had dinner, spent a bit of time chatting with Valerie, and then sat down to do my daily meditation. I was exhausted going into it. I was a little nervous that I might fall asleep. But that was not the case. Rather than falling... Continue Reading →

Day 1 – 10 minutes

Day 1 Over the last few months, I have read "The Man on the Mountainside" by Susan Trott, "10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works," by Dan Harris, and now "The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions," by... Continue Reading →

Clearing the Path

The bright yellow caught my eye and changed my plans. I decided I could use a distraction. Someone had left a yellow gerbera daisy  in a small vase at the center of the labyrinth. So I stopped and decided to walk the labyrinth, something I haven’t done in a while.  But I wasn’t 2 steps onto... Continue Reading →

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