I Don't Like the Spot Where I Meditate

I don't like the spot where I meditate.  It's just a cushion randomly put on the floor.  It feels unimportant and unserious.

Today I was at physical therapy and they use a TENS unit and a heating pad before I start working.  So I had my ten minutes of meditating there and used the time to visualize what I wanted my meditation spot to look like. 

Just Focus

Today I just focused on what it meant to me to meditate and why I resist it. I decided that I meditate in order to have a quiet mind, to be familiar with my thinking and to do my part to have conscious contact with God.

I also noticed that I don't like the place where I meditate.  It doesn't feel right to me, so I decided to fix it.  I don't know exactly how but now it's a goal.

I'm Loving Listening

Today I did another 10 minutes meditation - this time in my kitchen chair.  I just listened and the thought that came was to fix myself some good, healthy food.

Listening

Today I just did my best to focus on listening.  When thoughts came to me, I wrote them down.  It's interesting to me that when I listen, the thoughts that come to me are about caring for living things.  I have some plants that need attention today.

Listening

So today I did ten minutes of meditation and just used counting to ten over and over as my method.  I was also just being aware of my thoughts as possible guidance for my day.  It's possible that my guidance was to plant my birthday plants today.

Resume

Having the time to have a meditation practice is a privilege and sometimes I forget that.  I missed my meditation time yesterday because I was afraid to take the time.  I had a lot to do.  That was dumb.

I've shortened the time to ten minutes.  How hard is that?  Ten minutes of peace.

Practice

What's missing is focus.  I knew that, but today I really got it.  It's called a meditation practice because I'm practicing. 

I'm counting on the practicing making a difference in how well I can focus.  Today I just sat. Very little focus although that was my goal.

Shorter, Easier

Got up late yesterday and didn't do meditation.  Then today I remembered that if I'm short on time I can meditate for 2 minutes, do mindfulness meditation while I do something else.  So, from today, I will do my best to not use lack of time as an excuse.

Today I went back to counting my breath.  I forgot to get started that way and found myself thinking about who I could find to date a friend of mine who is suffering from loneliness.  Hmmm. 

Let's Face It, I'm a Bad Meditator

Yesterday I woke up so late all I had time for was to run to the store for something to take to a gathering at 1:30, come home and fix it, dress and head out.  No meditation at all. 

I really stink at this deal.  I know not to expect results so quickly but...  So today I changed my position and sat on the floor on a pillow for just 10 minutes.  I liked that better. 

I'm not giving up, so there!

Resuming

After having visitors and preparing for visitors and resting after visitors, I stopped my practice for way too many days.  So, I definitely need a plan for what to do when I'm interrupted.

The thing that seems the simplest is to just reduce the amount of time.  So for the next few days I'm going to meditate for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 in the evening and see how that goes.

Interrupting my practice immediately leads back to no practice at all.  I am amazed by how quickly that happened.

Sitting in Peace

After almost a week off I resumed my practice today.  I didn't try to do anything with my mind.  I just sat and found myself in peace.

I skipped a week of practice because I had company.  I think a better way would have been to simply shorten the time.