Wandering

That lovely woman. She doesn’t realize it. She came out of our yoga class last night and as she was putting her shoes on mentioned quietly... if not guiltily... that she never focuses during the meditation sections of the class. The whole changing room glanced up. And then gave a communal sigh of agreement.

It’s hard work. And I’ve let my morning 10-min meditation slip for that very reason.

So, a problem shared being a problem solved, tomorrow's the day to keep trying.  Ever heard of the 'flower meditation'?  Ten minutes, one flower, concentrated appreciation:

 



Shouldn't be too hard, should it?

Route 66

Experimenting with my morning routine calls for some serious background reading... bring on perfectly timed, inspiring book present:



No – it’s not what you’re thinking - no discussions on the top three tree poses; it's about the basic ideology behind yoga. I really took a lot from The Freedom of Discipline chapter which looks at, among other things, being able to live in the pause between longing (for a feeling of freedom) and actually reacting to that longing. Oh yeah, that requires discipline alright.

It takes 66 days to form a habit, according to Psyblog. So, theoretically speaking, any routine should be well and truly ingrained by December 2010…

The phases of the journey towards forming a positive habit can be found here. I’m particularly appreciating the ‘Be OK with the awkward phase’ and ‘Create systems to make yourself more efficient’ tips.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening, a great night's sleep and enjoy getting up tomorrow, as I'm sure I will.

Reflect

Meditate (intransitive verb): to think about something deeply.


To be really honest, it’s the NOT thinking that I was kind of hoping for… being at peace… a quiet moment… for 10 minutes... every day. I realize that there are many who have spent lifetimes trying to achieve this.

Interestingly, at dinner last night, one of our lovely guests was talking about the best way to start ‘meditating’. Her take on it was just to sit still and allow thoughts to enter and leave your head; the trick apparently is to observe these thoughts as they come and go, and to acknowledge them without trying to alter or force their patterns or appearance in any way.

The 10mins have been surpirsingly long so far, but I am learning more about my current frame of mind. And getting to know yourself better can only be a good thing, right?