8 Minute Meditation--Weeks 7 and 8

this picture doesn't have much to do with my post,
but I thought it was funny

Week 7--Loving Kindness
This week was a little weird, but the idea was nice.  It was a technique to "nurture a richer and more accepting relationship between you and your heart."  It included a chant  that was to be repeated over and over for the entire 8 minutes:  May I be happy.  May I have ease of being.  My all beings be happy.  May all beings have ease of being. 

8/7 I love that I can lay down for this one.  Saying something really helps me focus, except that by the end it is really boring and I start to wander. 
8/9 I feel so silly with this one.  It makes me laugh.  I find it's easier for me to focus when i say it out loud, but that probably isn't what he had in mind--he wants me to practice releasing my thoughts, not avoiding them. 

Week 8--Combination Platter
This technique combined several other techniques.  It is supposed to be a more advanced technique, but I think it was my favorite.  Anytime a thought, body sensation, sound or visual image in came into my mind, I was to label it and move on. 

8/13  I changed my  labels from just "talk" to "thought" and "sound".  It was easier for me to separate them that way.

Sunday was the last day of my 8 week meditation series.  Should I continue?  For a majority of the nights, I felt negative about the experience.  I rarely felt like I was getting anything out of meditation.  I couldn't wait until I was finished with what I committed to do.  Monday night I didn't meditate and felt a little guilty about it.  Today I finished reading the book and have decided to continue.  The first line of the last chapter reads, "The ultimate goal of 8 Minute Mediation is to empower you with a way of being--not for just 8 minutes a day sitting on a chair, but the millions of other minutes that comprise your life." 

My goal at the beginning was to find peace and to enjoy the moment.  I find that I never focus on what I'm doing, but think about all the other stuff that needs to be done.  I need to be present.  I think what sold me, though, was the Loving Kindness extension.  Meditating and chanting for other people to help me feel differently toward them.  Something that I could use right now.  I'll keep you posted on my experiences. 

8 Minute Meditation--Weeks 5 and 6

Week 5--Gracious Declining
This week's technique gave me more practice in "refraining from engaging unwanted, frivolous, and negative thoughts."  I pretended that each thought was a door-to-door salesman that kept trying to get my attention.  My job was to first focus on my breath, then open the door, look at each thought, and then decline to let it in. 

7/23  For the past 3 weeks I have been wanting to focus on my breath again and now that I am, I don't like it.  I'm just not "getting" it.  I know he was that the only bad meditation is no mediation.  I'm not sure that is true.  I started out doing this because it was part of the class with a slight hope that it would do something, but now I'm just doing it because I said I would do it for 8 weeks.  I grudgingly set my alarm and get into position.  I thought that my attitude would change over time.  I am trying and I will keep trying and hoping for 4 more weeks.

7/24  better. . .for a little in the middle. . .gotta remember to return to the anchor point

7/26  how am I supposed to "get" anything out of meditation if I keep turning away my thoughts?  I can't have an "a-ha" moment.  I think I need to go back and read the beginning about the benefits and reason for meditation. 

Week 6 Private Screening
During this week, I brought my attention to my "mind screen"--the place in my thoughts where my visual images seem to be projected.  When thoughts arose, I would notice them and then return to my "mind screen". 

7/30  Oooh!  I might like this one.  :)  But almost every image provoked a thought and vise-versa.

8/1  No images today--only thoughts.  I kept trying to go back to the screen, but was blank. 

8/4  I changed my mind--I don't like this one--thoughts and images are too closely related.  Plus I saw a scary image tonight.  It caused me to stop, open my eyes, pray and hum a hymn. 

8 Minute Meditation--Weeks 3 and 4

Week 3--Noting Body Sensations
The anchor point for this week was the constant motion throughout my body.  I didn't need to find or name the exact location of the main body sensation, just note it and direct my awareness to it. 

7/9 I "ping-ponged" to different aches and pains in my body.

7/10 At lease with breathing I had something "solid" to anchor to.  I'm not sure if I'm noting my body right--I bounce from one ache to another.  Nothing "lights" up.  Maybe I'm just noticing the different sensations and focusing too early and not giving anything a chance to "light up".

7/13  I tried something different t for a few  minutes--I tried to "find" each body part.  It was the best part of my 8 minutes but it didn't last very long and doing it twice didn't work.  I'll have to try slower next time. 

7/14 Noting body sensations has made me aware of how achy and stiff my bod is--this isn't a favorite.  :)

(Side note--In the next chapter I learned about a monk who had the inability to accept his discomforts.  That was my problem during week 3--I made judgement about my sensations.)

Week 4--This Magic Moment
This week's technique was about being present in the moment.  It was about being here now instead of elsewhere or elsewhen.  I was supposed to label my thoughts "past" or "future", release it and notice the space around it.  That space is the present. 

7/16 My type 2 nature wants more details, but I hear my husband say "don't make it harder."  I want to know how to surrender, how not to resist thoughts, how to allow things.

7/18  There are about 2 minutes when I might be feeling "present".  I am able to release my thought and I feel like I'm swinging in the space between past and future.  I have to label the thought--think "past" or "future", then think "release" then say to myself "enjoy the space left behind".  That helps.

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!