28-Day Challenge, Day 1
Today was a new beginning for me. A commitment to start a daily practice. 21 days to start a habit. 7 more days to help make it stick.
I began my meditation with a food and incense offering to the Buddha. I set the timer on my iPhone for 20 minutes and put a guided meditation of sorts on the computer. (note to self, listen to the guided meditation before you intend to use it). I didn’t really care for the guided portion, but will probably try a different one at some point.
I am glad a brought some water in with me, because the incense I lit seem to have a direct route up my nose and to the back of my throat. I found myself in a few coughing fits during the guided part. I think I will skip that part from now on. I love to smell it, but goodness I could do without the choking! The guide I used was Zazen from the Quiet Mind book/cd. It was just too much “instruction” for me and I found myself focusing more on what he was saying than actually meditating. That portion last 10 minutes and 27 seconds.
I still had 9 1/2 minutes left for my quiet meditation, which was the best part for me. I have been reading “Chanting From the Heart” by Thich Nhat Hanh and follwed his advice:
“…inhale through your nostrils, and notice your abdomen expand. Then, as you exhale, notice your abdomen return to normal size. One way to help maintain awareness of breathing is to recite a gatha*. When you breathe in, say silently, “in”. As you breathe out, say silently “out”. After doing this for a while, you might like to try a guided meditation.”
This is not directing your breath, telling it what to do, but more noticing what it is doing and naming it. It helped me focus. With naming my breaths, I found it much more difficult for my mind to wander on to other things. When it did, I just silently said “thinking” and brought my focus back to my breath.
All in all it was a good first day. I was astonished at how quickly the 20 minutes passed. A few times I wanted to look at the timer and only gave in once. I was shocked to see there was only 28 seconds left! It was a good thing for me, too that my darling husband was home and able to watch out for the kiddos. I now feel calmer and more peaceful and more centered.
I want to thank Jan again for starting me down this path, She was just the little nudge I needed to get me moving in the right direction! Please go here to read about Jan’s day one experience. I hope you will join me tomorrow for day two. If you participated today, please leave me a comment and let me know how it was for you!
Til tommorw,
*Gatha- a Sanskrit term meaning “verse” or “hymn”
Hello,
Thank you for commenting on my blog a while back — I have been enjoying my visit to yours. I love that you’re using your iPhone to time your meditation. Me too.
Many blessings,
Stacy
I’m going to try, April. I may be a couple of days behind you as I need some sleep after 9 days of heavy work. Um, maybe meditation is just what I need. Going to take some headache meds now and a quit rest and then back to *read* more on this… Thanks for posting.
Holly,
You’ve called upon some really great resources to support you in this Challenge. The Thich Nhat Hanh book is one of my faves. Breathe on with ease!
I’m going to give this a try too! I’m not very good at being consistent, so this will be a double challenge for me. But meditation is a practice I would really love to get into. Thanks for the tips.