8 Minute Meditation--Weeks 1 and 2

So, I started meditating.  It's part of a class I'm taking.  I've never meditated before.  In fact, I've kind of avoided it.  When I do yoga, I skip the meditation section.  Any time it comes up in a cool down from a work out video, I fast forward.  I've never understood it.  I still don't understand it, but I'm giving it a try.

The book for the class is 8 Minute Meditation by Victor Davich.  His idea is to slowly introduce you to meditation.  He says everyone should be able to find 8 minutes a day to meditate.  He helps prepare you for the process and gives all the right instructions.  Too bad his writing style is a little choppy.  He teaches a different technique every week for eight weeks and by the end you should be ready to pick the one that works best for you and move on to longer, deeper meditations. 

I've been journal-ing my experience.

Week 1--Just 1 Breath
During this week my anchor point was my breathing.  Any time I had a thought I noticed it and returned to my anchor point--at least that was supposed to happen. 

Ignore my messy meditating space.  I try to find someplace
quiet.  While on vacation I meditated in the bathroom.

6/25 First time.  Funny--I felt like I was still watching my breathing while my thoughts wondered--two thoughts at once.  My thoughts didn't wander as much as I thought, but that catch and release was great--I was able to quickly return to my breathing.  I did have several thoughts about when it would be over and I wasn't very comfortable--stiff.

6/29  I feel like I'm getting worse--but that's not really fair--roving mind will always be there, but I've been forgetting to release the thought.  One of the hardest things is that I can be aware of my breathing and a thought at the same time. I'm probably equally aware, but as soon as I try to focus on just breathing I get another thought--usually about breathing.  Today I wasn't even wanting to meditate, but I committed to do it every day for 8 minutes for 8 weeks.

Week 2--Naked Sound
My anchor point for this week was sounds, but just hearing the sound--not identifying or judging the sound.

7/2 Camping provides a lot of sounds.  It is hard for me to not identify the sounds--what Pooh character is that?  I found it easier to control my thoughts--focusing on sounds is easier than focusing on breath, but is it calmer?

7/4  It's hard when the only sound is the hum of my ceiling fan and an occasional ac  blowing.   There is no rise, fall with a constant sound.  I like when new sounds come, but I also like to identify them.

7/7 Not all sounds have a rise and fall!  There's got to be another way to focus on the sounds.  I also find it hard not to name the sounds--they are all so familiar that it is automatic.  I thought I would like this one better because I liked the "result" of it.  I can't wait until the next type!