Beginnings

I have had a meditation practice off and on for the past 30 years.  Sometimes I was consistent for months, but I always wandered away from it for no particular reason.  Then there would be long periods without meditation.

I've read about meditation and tried various methods.  The main problem I had was that I would completely forget I was meditating and get up and do something.  Several minutes later I would remember but it was already too late.

For two or three years now I've been a fan of a blog called, "Zen Habits," written by a guy from Guam named Leo who has tried all kinds of things to change his habits to have a simpler, healthier life.  He has six kids so simplicity has got to be a challenge.  When he succeeds in changing something, he writes about how he did it.

Since changing my habits has always been a huge trial for me, I've been fascinated with what he says.  I'm probably not the only one since he has thousands of followers for the blog.  I've tried some of his ideas and they've really worked.  So, this year when he offered a $10 a month "change your habits, one every month" class, I signed up.

The first month was just on choosing something as your most important task for the day and committing to doing it even if for only 2 minutes.  The second month was increasing the quality of your nutrition.  I chose to have a smoothie every morning that contained my day's quota of fruit and vegetables.  The third month was establishing a habit of daily meditation. 

Each time we start a new month and work toward establishing a new habit, we start very small.  With meditation - 5 minutes the first week, 10 minutes the second week, 15 minutes the third week, and 20 minutes the fourth week.

Each month I've had a struggle but eventually got into the swing.  In March I missed one day because I was traveling and completely forgot.  But that was the only day I've missed.  In April (which was establishing the habit of exercising every day) I didn't miss a single day of meditation.  Yay!

Luckily I've read not to expect anything in particular to happen in the 20 minutes of meditation.  I know my mind will wander and to just bring it back into focus as soon as I notice it.  Sometimes it wanders for quite awhile before I notice it, but I don't worry about it. 

I settled on one concept for sitting:  Sitting in the presence of God, asking for guidance, and listening.  I usually begin by repeating an affirmation I learned from a book by Stephen Levine:  "May I be free from suffering; may I be at peace."  Sometimes I count to ten over and over to help myself stay focused.

Every day is a different experience.  It occurred to me that a log of each day's experience would be helpful to me and maybe someone else as well.  So, today at the beginning of my second full month of 20 minutes a day of meditation, I am logging what happens to my mind in that 20 minutes as well as anything else that happens in my life that seems to be related to meditation.