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60 Days of 60 Minutes of Meditation - Let's Not Do Anything Together

MTF

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Do you feel overwhelmed by the incessant mind chatter? Do you struggle to focus? Do desires rule your life? Are you dealing with recurring mental issues like anxiety, feelings of guilt, shame, fear, inadequacy, stress, etc.? Do you find it impossible to just stop and relax?

As entrepreneurs, we're all about taking action. We may mask our inner issues with endless hustle. We may tell ourselves that we can't afford to take a break because our competitors will get ahead. We may use solutions that address the symptom but not the core reason. For example, we may use technology to block sites that distract us. While we won't be able to access them, our desire to check them will be back once the obstacle is gone—or we'll find another, perhaps even worse outlet to meet the underlying need.

As entrepreneurs, we often ignore our mental health. We may even tell ourselves that our mental struggles are, in a twisted way, good for us.

Stress? That's a normal part of life, isn't it?

Anxiety? It's good for me as it keeps me alert.

Incessant mind chatter? This means I have a ton of ideas.

Deep down, we may know that there's something wrong if...

...we can't sit down with our friends and family and just enjoy being with them because we're constantly thinking of our business...

...we regularly feel anxious for an unknown reason...

...we can't focus on a single thing for more than a few minutes...

...we're stuck in an endless cycle of trying one thing, only to try another to then give it up and try yet another, never going anywhere...

...we have no clarity when making decisions...

...we're wasting time arguing over politics or anything else that is beyond our control.

And yet, despite all these worrying signs, we keep ignoring our mental health.

The last year has been very difficult for me. Grief, anxiety, stress, fear, rumination, inability to focus for more than a few minutes, judgment, and lack of acceptance have been ruling my life. I'm slowly going crazy, losing control over my mind.

I started seeking solutions to get myself out of this disquieting state. Which brings me to the topic of meditation.

I'll use the words of Naval Ravikant, a very successful entrepreneur, investor, and a brilliant philosopher, to explain the why and how:

For your entire life, things have been happening to you. Some good, some bad, most of which you have processed and dissolved, but a few stuck with you. Over time, more and more stuck with you, and they almost became like these barnacles stuck to you.

You lost your childhood sense of wonder and of being present and happy. You lost your inner happiness because you built up this personality of unresolved pain, errors, fears, and desires that glommed onto you like a bunch of barnacles.

How do you get those barnacles off you? What happens in meditation is you’re sitting there and not resisting your mind. These things will start bubbling up. It’s like a giant inbox of unanswered emails, going back to your childhood. They will come out one by one, and you will be forced to deal with them.

You will be forced to resolve them. Resolving them doesn’t take any work—you just observe them. Now you’re an adult with some distance, time, and space from previous events, and you can just resolve them. You can be much more objective about how you view them.

Over time, you will resolve a lot of these deep-seated unresolved things you have in your mind. Once they’re resolved, there will come a day when you sit down to meditate, and you’ll hit a mental “inbox zero.” When you open your mental “email” and there are none, that is a pretty amazing feeling.

It’s a state of joy and bliss and peace. Once you have it, you don’t want to give it up. If you can get a free hour of bliss every morning just by sitting and closing your eyes, that is worth its weight in gold. It will change your life.

source: Jorgenson, Eric. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness.

If you prefer it in audio, here it is:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2kgZ1Puye8&feature=youtu.be


Naval Ravikant recommends the following practice:

I recommend meditating one hour each morning because anything less is not enough time to really get deep into it. I would recommend if you really want to try meditation, try sixty days of one hour a day, first thing in the morning. After about sixty days, you will be tired of listening to your own mind. You will have resolved a lot of issues, or you have heard them enough to see through those fears and issues.

I decided to follow his suggestion. And then I thought: why not get some support and do it (or rather, "not do") with fellow Fastlaners.

The rules are simple:

1. You meditate one hour a day for 60 days, ideally in the morning. You sit down and do nothing (don't use any apps or guided meditation). Naval's suggested method is:

If thoughts come, thoughts come. I’m not going to fight them. I’m not going to embrace them. I’m not going to think harder about them. I’m not going to reject them. I’m just going to sit here for an hour with my eyes closed, and I’m going to do nothing.

No focus, no mantra, no dharma, no chakras, no Buddhas, no gurus, no gratitude, no scripture, no temple, no music, no gadgets, no apps.


2. You meditate every day. If you skip a day, you go back to day 1. We want to prioritize our mental health, build momentum and turn it into a daily practice. This is akin to a workout for your mind. It won't work well if you start and stop.

3. It needs to be at least an hour (use a timer). You can't do two 30-minute sessions or four 15-minute sessions. Once you start, you keep sitting until 60 minutes pass.

To give everyone a few days to prepare, we can start on Monday, December 14. Who's in?


----

Update after finishing the challenge on February 11th, 2021. Read my thoughts here:
 
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MTF

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Thoughts and Observations After 60 Days of Meditating 60 Minutes a Day

General Observations

1. Meditation is just a tool, not an end in itself. I started working with Michael A. Singer's stuff roughly 2-3 weeks after I started this challenge. And that's when I realized that by itself, meditation, while useful, is missing a huge piece of the puzzle. And that piece is the fact that meditation is a tool to help us:
  • notice what's inside of us (few people ever get to stop to watch the chaos in their heads),
  • learn that we don't have to follow/act on the thoughts/emotions that we think/feel (the act of watching them is essentially what the meditative practice is about),
  • most importantly: that we aren't our minds. We're the consciousness that happens to be observing the mind. Just like you aren't your leg, so you aren't your mind (which is very, very hard to understand and I'm still struggling with this concept; yet know deep down that it's true). The mind is a computer that was fed certain data (stuff that happened to us) and so now behaves a certain way. As Michael beautifully puts it: "Take a computer, fill it with certain data and then ask it a question. It'll come up with a certain answer. Don't change the data but keep asking the question. You're getting the same answer. Because it's the only data it has. Change its data, you'll get totally different answers. That's how you look at every human being you meet from now on."
2. Coupled with the above, meditation is an extremely powerful tool to improve your emotional control. You cease to be reactive and impulsive (which is the cause of most problems in life). I used to struggle with anger attacks, sometimes for really silly reasons - for example, when I hit my head against something.

Meditation helped me, figuratively, increase the time that passes between the first sign of an emotion (say, anger) and the time when it's impossible not to express it. The magic happens in between - when you observe the emotion as it grows and you decide to just watch it, not feeding it. It's amazing how these emotions melt away when you simply choose to watch them. Note that you don't fight with them in any way. You're just focusing on being okay feeling them but not taking any action whatsoever.

For example, recently I had a language class during which I struggled to repeat a sound correctly. I noticed growing frustration inside me. I realized that my entire body was getting tense and I was about to react to it. I kept observing the emotion, consciously relaxed my body and it went away. I use the same technique almost every day whenever something/someone provokes a negative reaction in me.

3. Meditation and mindfulness will change every aspect of your life. I could have written several seperate points about different areas of life, but ultimately it's such a powerful meta-habit it makes no sense to list them all. I'll just give a few real life examples.
  • When you meditate, you focus on what's going on in your head. With practice, you learn to notice when your thoughts drift away, when you refocus, and when something distracts you again. This skill is incredibly useful in conversations. When I talk with people now, I focus 100% on what they're saying. Thanks to meditation, whenever I feel my thoughts drifting away, I can quickly refocus and not lose focus on the other person. In a world with so many people who easily get distracted, this is an immensely powerful skill.
  • As you meditate more, it gets easier and easier to focus. You no longer need a distraction to let your mind rest. You don't have to switch from one task to another. For example, as I was watching a movie with my girlfriend (The Soul, which is a pretty good movie for anyone into mindfulness), she asked to take a break so she could "distract" herself a little (she wanted to check her podcast performance so she's excused LOL). Usually I'd check social media during such a break. This time I simply sat and pondered on the movie. I didn't need to switch my focus to something else to relax.
  • Practicing meditation and mindfulness slightly slows down the pace at which the life around you unfolds. Or so it feels. A second feels a little longer than a second. You start noticing beautiful things you haven't seen before. Someone's brief smile. The way dust particles float in your living room when the sun is shining outside. Or more practically, the bad position of your wrist when performing a certain exercise or your reaction time to something potentially dangerous happening while you drive.
  • You become more peaceful and content. This is particularly influenced by Michael A. Singer's work. Since this is not a thread about spirituality but about meditation in itself, I'll just say that meditation shows you that you can be 100% okay without any external stimuli. In other words, you don't need ANYTHING to feel great. Naval once said (I think in an interview with Tim Ferriss) that morning meditation is his best time of the day. The outer world has little to offer if the act of sitting still (something available to everyone for free) is your greatest mood booster.
4. 60 hours is nothing. While of course that's 60 hours more than zero, in meditation we always want to cultivate the beginner's mind as @Olimac21 pointed out. Being arrogant about one's meditation/mindfulness practices is antithetical to spirituality. Arrogance is the ego/the judgmental mind, which is the thing we want to stop confusing with ourselves.

As for the hours of practice and potential effects, consider the following: @Mutant once cited data from this site:

Note: these have been taken from meditation studies, personal experiences, conversations and interviews with long-term meditators, and consistent reports from various books and online forums.

100 Hours
  • Less stress and anxiety
  • Less fear
  • Fewer feelings of loneliness
  • Increased optimism
  • Increased self-esteem
  • Increased focus
  • Improved immune system and energy
1000 Hours
  • Almost superhuman focus compared to coworkers
  • Sense of being driven, aware, intuitive
  • Will have experienced deep, psychedelic states
  • Increased capacity to experience love
  • Reduced need for sleep
  • Increased physical and emotional sensitivity
  • Much sharper in anything that requires intense concentration
  • Significantly higher tolerance for pain
5000 Hours
  • Very little attachment to any point of view
  • Much of your ego will dissolve
  • Won’t obsess over emotions, if something comes up you’ll be able to drop it pretty much instantly
  • Deep feelings of peace will pop up unexpectedly and stay for unpredictable amounts of time
  • Much more control over automatic reactions, so things like worries, fears, anger, hatred will not stay around long enough to impact you
  • Boredom won’t occur
  • Monkey mind will not disappear, but will be calm and can be seen with complete clarity

While 100 hours is just 40 days more for us (and I'm already seeing many of the mentioned benefits), 500 hours, with one hour of practice a day, is almost a year and a half. And 1000 hours is almost three years of daily practice. I won't even mention 5,000 hours or the incredible 12,000 to 62,000 lifetime hours of practice for world-class meditators.

In other words, this is a lifetime practice, not something you learn once and know well forever.

5. Meditation is a gateway drug. Meditation directed me toward Michael A. Singer's work (mentioned on this forum repeatedly, particularly by @MJ DeMarco) and now I can't see the world in the same way as before.

It will reorganize your entire life, change your priorities, and make you realize that the stuff you're looking for is actually not outside but inside.

Meditation/mindfulness also greatly complements entrepreneurship as it's impossible not to succeed if you're extremely conscious, focused, and approach the world from the position of an honest giver.

Technical Observations

A few technical observations for meditation in itself:

1. There's no "bad" meditation, just like there's no "bad" practice where you repeat the same thing over and over again. But you'll be tempted to call many of your sessions "bad." Out of my 60 sessions so far, I'd say that I had maybe 5-10 really exceptional sessions, defined as sessions when I entered a deep state. Then there were roughly 20-30 sessions that were just okay and the rest was either bad or terrible, defined as struggling to control my mind and failing at it.

But in reality, every session is useful. Because it's not about whether your mind is empty or not, but about the practice of watching your mind in itself.

2. Your position matters a lot. If you're uncomfortable, you won't be able to relax and focus on what's going on inside. Experienced meditators probably can meditate while hanging upside down, but we newbies can't.

So don't force yourself into some weird position. I can't sit with my back straight for a full hour without any support. After trial and error, now I sit on a sofa, with my back against the cushions and my legs either outstretched, resting on a cushion placed on a coffee table in front of me, or simply on the ground.

Again, to reiterate: if you aren't comfortable, this will be a terrible experience. So find a way to really relax your body. Don't sit in a cross-legged position if it doesn't work for you. This isn't about some sexy exotic positions reserved for meditators.

I think that meditating in a float tank would be best as it's as relaxed as you can get but this is obviously impractical for most people, particularly to do it daily. If I lived in a house, I'd probably invest in one. Perhaps one day.

3. What you ate the day before will impact your session the next morning. You'll be surprised how in tune you'll be with whatever your body is digesting as you meditate. Including all the delicious sounds, smells, etc. LOL

4. Your sleep quality will influence your sessions, too. I had at least 10 sessions (probably more) where being half-awake was an issue. I had to focus on not falling asleep vs on watching my mind.

5. Set two two timers - an alarm clock and a timer. This way you'll get rid of the anxiety, wondering if you set the timer. Perhaps with time you won't need it (I now more or less know when the session is about to end), but I found it very comforting.
 

SteveO

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I've been meditating 4-5 days a week for years. I am currently loaded down with projects and don't feel I could commit the time.

One nice thing is that in this overload, I am dealing with this all in relative peace.

Earlier in my life, I felt like all these things happened to me. I was a victim of events and other people's actions.

Not so much anymore.

There are feelings associated with each of these incidents that may happen 20 to 30 times a day. When I feel emotions, especially ones that feel negative, I focus on them for a few moments.

The goal for me is to recognize the actual emotion (anger, fear, frustration, etc), feel it to its fullest, and then release it with an audible sound. This may sound silly but it works for me. Less pent up energy, etc.

I love that example of the barnacles. I use one about shrines. We latch on to feelings and beliefs and develop strong belief systems around them. In these, we continually add items and trinkets to our shrines. We bolster our feelings around these by glomming on to others that feel the same way.

I use meditation in two ways. To listen to my inner self and to help dismantle these shrines. It involves a lot of reevaluating our belief systems that are so ingrained in our being. We cannot have no belief systems while in this life but we can certainly minimize them.

I plan to follow this thread and all your results. Hopefully, I will have time in the future to try this.

This is a big deal to many people. Thanks for addressing it!
 
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MJ DeMarco

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@MJ DeMarco im curious if your a spiritual dude? I saw vegan on one of your bio’s. what are your thoughts on the spiritual aspects of life?

Not sure what constitutes a "spiritual dude" but I can tell you without question, I am NOT religious. I gave up on organized religion (essentially humans coveting a chosen theology, usually based on tradition or geography) many years ago. For years, I was a practicing Christian but soon left that ideology the more I studied alternate philosophies, and the more I realized that no religion could be the "truth" because humanity itself is run by the ego ... essentially corruption, or as a Christian would say, "sin". (A whole another story.)

But I do meditate, or at least, I try. I'm also a curious study (not quite a discipline yet) in Zen and Buddhism.

And since you mention being vegan, that is for mostly humanitarian reasons. I refuse to participate in the killing of animals who are as intelligent and emotional, and in many cases, more so, than my family dog. Since I can't kill a cow or a chicken or a pig, I refuse to pay someone to do it behind closed doors. Like most of the world, I don't live in the Alaskan bush and need to hunt for my dinner. I see the murder of animals in the name of entertainment and sensual pleasures an genocidal atrocity ... a Script so to speak.

BTW, I went vegan in 2017 at the same time I wrote Unscripted . I was researching "scripts" and carnism was one I uncovered. The more I looked into it, the more I was disgusted. Despite a lot of resistance from my taste buds and my traditional desires for flavor, I couldn't reconcile the continued practice of eating meat. Ultimately, I determined that the mass genocide of various species was the biggest "script" in the world, even more so than "go to school, get a job, and work for 50 years" script. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but then it became easy ... once I realized that the practice resonated with my soul, I don't even think about it anymore.

That said, I've never been happier in my life, and more at peace... even with all the BS that is going on in the world.
 

MTF

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Guys, just wanted to say what a pleasure it's been these last three weeks to discuss this with you together and explore this new world. I'm very grateful for the ability to find like-minded people to talk about and experience peculiar stuff like that.

:clap:::clap:::clap::
 

MJ DeMarco

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In the Untethered Soul, Michael Singer calls it your crazy neurotic roommate.

Not sure if it was Singer or Tolle, but what struck me was the notion that if your inner voice was a friend who was always with you, like an invisible Siamese twin, would it be your friend? A good friend? Or would you punch him/her in the face?

When you recognize this inner voice's neurosis, you begin to move toward awareness.

I would suggest reading "The Surrender Experiment" by Michael Singer. It's one of my favorite books and is what got me started with meditation in the first place. Plus as a bonus he ends up building a billion dollar software company in the process which I'm guessing would appeal to the fastlane crowd here :D His other book which MTF mentioned (untethered soul) is really good too along with his online lectures and courses.

The Surrender Experiment was eye-opening -- not just for the "surrender" aspects, but because it was very entrepreneurial related, specifically, watching a productocracy go from nothing to billions. Several times. Not sure if anyone caught that.

However The Untethered Soul is what I consider to be a biblical type of work, something I've listened to hundreds of times. It is something you need to listen to over and over to make it part of your life. One read is like dropping a seed and hoping. Several reads is dropping the seed and adding water and sunshine.
 

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What do you mean by intention?
The one question you are talking about is an intention. Anything can be. And yes, you set your intention and then forget about it. As you say "be a witness".

I started with am intention of learning how to communicate with myself. My answers came in a visual form in my mind. Symbols mostly. So I focused on visual.

Another thing that I learned since then is that physical feelings and sensations play a big role in my communications. Don't want to go into a great deal of detail here as I might be deemed a lunatic.

All in all, your meditation should be open and flowing. You should not be directing it once you begin.
 

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Day 60 done!!

I cannot believe its already done, it went by really fast.

I think it didnt feel too hard for me because I already had the habit, but some extra benefits of sticking for 1 hour a day for 60 days:

-Much more clarity.
-I started to push myself in other areas of my life.
-I took action on something personal that I wanted to for a long time, but didnt have the guts to do it.
-Emotional resilience for these strange times.
-More acceptance towards people around me.
-Started to communicate more effectively.

For anyone thinking about starting the challenge, just do it. At the beginning it will be hard because you are not used to it but after 2-3 weeks it will get better.

@MTF Thank you for suggesting this exercise!! It is very cool to go through this without feeling I am the only person in the world attempting it lol any advices on how should I celebrate getting to the end of the challenge?
 

MJ DeMarco

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Amazing thread, and now that people winding up to their 60th day, time to go GOLD.
 
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I'm impressed with everyone's efforts here.

There seems to be a lot of discussion around difficulties quieting the mind. It is not a big deal. Let the thoughts flow if they want.

Some of you are talking about focusing on breathing. That is one great way to help slow the thoughts if this is the desire.

I personally like to place a screen in my internal vision. Then place an object in that screen that slowly spins in a pattern. The visual helps me more than sound.

Letting the mind wander is great as long as you are not directing it though.

Great job everyone!
 
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SteveO

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One other method I use is my own personal landscape. I have a scene that has green grass in front, mountain with a defined path on the right, and a lake on the left. To get to the lake, I have to pass through trees and shrubs.

There is a buffalo that I pass on the way. I watch the actions of the buffalo to determine my own state of mind. Sometimes calm, sometimes agitated, or many other moods in between. This tells me what to pay attention to.

Sometimes I watch to see what is coming down the path.

I also use a beach scene. In front is blue and serene. To the left is fog. The other direction is clear. Move to the right the create my own adventure, to the left will be an adventure. I expect to learn something if I move into the fog.

The opportunities are endless. Create your own landscapes and play off of them.
 

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You can go into these sessions with the idea of total mind clearing as a goal or you can set an intent.

If you choose to set an intent you simply tell yourself what that will be prior to the session.

It can be simple or complex. Like, "show me what blocks I have to overcome in my business". Or, "how can I get more from meditation?". Anything you want to focus on. Let your inner self tell you.

It's not always simple to decipher but you will tell yourself through one or more of your senses.

Works the same way with dreams. Set an intent or ask yourself a question before you fall asleep. Also ask to remember the key parts of your dreams.

Of course you can keep it simple and just clear your mind. There are many ways to meditate.
 

MTF

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What is the biggest benefit you experienced from the daily Meditation till now?

This will sound a little weird but well...

More awareness of my thoughts and emotions throughout the day and more distance between them and the real me. The real me is the consciousness observing them, since the whole point of meditation is to learn that you aren't your thoughts/emotions and then to practice not paying attention to your "personal" mind.

So, for example, something triggers me (or rather, my mind) and provokes anger. Previously, I'd immediately identify with this feeling and get angry.

Now, I have a second or two during which I can realize that I don't have to express or suppress that emotion. I can simply be aware of it and let it run its course without shoving it down (only to explode later) or without expressing it just because an external event triggered some inner garbage inside me and made me angry.
 

MTF

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Day 32 completed.

Went very well and felt super short. I was very deep, dealt with some obvious blockages, and had some strange visions (cut short by the alarm). It's interesting how I always get hot and tingly (particularly in my fingers) when I'm deep.

As an example of how meditation/mindfulness/Michael A. Singer stuff helps me, yesterday someone said to me something to me I didn't agree with, and she said it in an aggressive tone. Usually I'd probably get annoyed and either respond with anger or suppress the emotion while inside resenting the person (and not talking to her as a "punishment").

This time I noticed the anger inside me and simply observed it, working (it literally felt like work) to relax my body into it and let it pass. Roughly 30 seconds later the emotion dissipated with no other action on my part. This is a simple application of the work we're doing here to dramatically improve the quality of life.
 
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Day 3

Today was the worst one in that I had the least silence, but the best in that i could make observations about my thoughts more easily. My mind went on a lot of tangents, but I'm starting to see a pattern in what they're about.

Most thoughts have an emotional flavour attached to them. The more intense the emotion (positive OR negative) - the more I hold on.

Also, so many of these thoughts are just the ego thrashing about. I'm proving someone wrong, I'm putting someone in their place, I'm having some argument... always manufacturing scenarios where I can get some kind of payback/revenge.

That's a nasty thing to find out about yourself... and if that is something that bubbles up to the surface after only 3 days of meditating... then I really need meditation more than I thought.
 
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Finished Day 60! What a ride!

It's left me feeling all sleepy tonight, will write up thoughts tomorrow.

Really excited for everyone that has started and completed! Cheers!
 

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Thoughts 60 Days Later… it feels so good!

Literally! There’s a visceral difference between my start and finish that’s not contained to the mind.

You know those moments when you’ve noticed a slight smile on your face and have no idea how long it’s been there?

Or the times where you turn your head and look around for the reason or beauty that has you feeling awe and wrapped in enjoyment?

Or you sense a vibration of good energy spooling out from you?

It feels like those times for most of the day.

As far as the time aspects that @MTF and others have mentioned, I definitely agree. Seconds seem longer and my days feel shorter. Days shorter in the sense of how fast holiday or vacation time goes by and less like the short days of sunlight in these mountain wintry months. : )

My reaction time has slowed as well. I feel more of a pause. For instance, in working to allow others to complete full thoughts and take a few seconds before responding. I’ve also put more awareness into jumps to correct or match the other persons tone or level if it isn't positive. Every moment is a win here as I hold communication near the top for goals in life, and I’m far from a master!

I’ve also not kept a structured routine for when or where to meditate. This isn’t something I would necessarily recommend as it adds risk to start back at day 1. Had more evening meditations than I expected going in. This was in part to keep it convenient for my love and his morning routine as well! It worked well for us!

Before the 60 days I was pretty new to meditation, still a novice now, and likely to be for a long time! Incredibly thankful to be able to learn and practice!

To continue, I haven’t read Michael Singer’s books so I purchased them yesterday. Can't wait!

I’m not sure where meditation or mindfulness will take me… and that’s even more exciting.
 

metallon

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DAY 3 completed.

I am doing this practice for past three days. I set alarm for 4.55 AM in the morning, wake up to the first alarm sound, brush and meditate for an hour. My plan - Initially, I start with focusing on my breath then I just try to notice my thoughts and whatever.

WHY AM I DOING THIS?

I was meditating with the Waking up app (10min) earlier. But in the past three months, since I started working on my idea, I couldn't able to meditate because I was anxious and think about the idea all the time. Usually, I wake in the middle of the night and not able to sleep for hours because of my mind chattering and fearing the future.

Today when I was working on my web design, I was laser-focused like never before. I didn't even think about taking a break or surfing Fb. I was also able to get hold of my negative emotions.

HOW WAS THE EXPERIENCE?

I sit and meditate in a cross-legged position. Here in India, most of the sages meditate cross-legged and Indians are habituated from childhood to sit cross-legged. Initially, My mind would resist and urge me to do something else. As time passes, the mind will gradually become quiet and one hour time files quickly.

Whenever a feeling of discomfort or pain comes, I watch that feeling and the mind's attempt to make me move or quit (chattering). After a few moments, they stop bothering.

Big Thanks to @MTF for starting this thread. Reading your first post, I got convinced to try it out. Consistency is what I need now.
 

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Day 27 completed.

Wow. The first 20 minutes of this session (or so, I never look at the timer during meditation) I was as close to an empty mind as never before.

I don't know why. I just started meditating and immediately entered a deeply peaceful, natural state where I had few to no thoughts. And even if any thoughts appeared, they melted quickly and without any resistance. It was blissful. I could have sat like that for hours and it would still be great.

It was somewhat close to the feeling you get when you're falling asleep after a tiring, but very satisfying day. You're so tired your mind is empty and physically you're kind of "melting" in the bed. Only during meditation I was very awake (not like the previous days half-awake).

After 20 minutes more thoughts appeared and it was less peaceful but still way more peaceful than pretty much any previous session. I was surprised how quickly the hour went by.
 
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I was wondering how do you guys deal with your "shadow"/dark side? Sometimes I just see myself having some dark/revenge kind of thoughts out of the blue haha at this point I think I have acknowledge this and also some dark traits of mine, but there is still room for improvement ofc.

There are no dark traits or dark side. It's just things from the past you stored inside of you that you didn't let go of. For example, revenge thoughts is nothing else but storing inside you the negative emotions an event in the past caused you. Since you're keeping them inside, they keep bothering you. The only solution is to let go of them, to find a way to finally say: "I'm done letting this stuff from x years ago affect my life today."

Michael A. Singer:

Anytime anything creates disturbance, it's your friend, not your foe. Because it's showing you where you're still blocked. "What do I do if I start to get disturbed?" You let go. It has to do with you being willing to let go instead of struggle. You relax your heart, release your shoulders, and you don't invest your energy where it used to go. And over time, and it does take time, this stuff will go, and you will start to become who you are, which is an extremely beautiful being who needs nothing from anybody but has the natural tendency to give. When you're whole and complete, all you do is give.

Your heart will open to everything and everyone, no matter what they do to you, no matter what they say, nothing will close you anymore. Why? If you don't need anything, then nothing can bother you. Things bother you because you have a need and they interfere with your ability to get it. If you don't need, nothing bothers you. This is what it means to transcend.

Every day, a piece will wanna come up. You'll feel a lacking, a disturbance, you feel something bothering you. That's the piece that needs to let go today. Relax and release through it. Over time you become the most beautiful thing there is on this Earth. A whole being. You have a psyche that's not bothering you.
 
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@Olimac21 great work! I'm very glad to be able to contribute by starting this thread and providing accountability and support.

any advices on how should I celebrate getting to the end of the challenge?

Meditate for 10 hours.

LOL. Just kidding.

I'm not good at celebrating achievements myself so I'm not sure what to do. Considering the reason for why we meditate, I think it would be a bad idea to celebrate it with some kind of a material reward. So perhaps it would be better to contribute to a cause you believe in, help someone out, or let your creativity express itself in a way that feels good?
 

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I will complete Day 59 today.

The sessions have easily been a favorite part of my days! The timer at 60 minutes is a jolt.. I literally jump. After these 60 days, will find a different setting or to come out more naturally to save my spooked heart racing away.

Does anyone else find that - & this is all with the eyelids closed - that if you're looking/focused right in front of you, like just a few inches out, it helps you concentrate?

This seems to describe where my focus is as well @Mutant! It has turned into a huge glowing orb that hangs out where some will describe the third eye. I've been reading in part on healing meditations and the bright glow is what I'll use for that crazy fun.

To those that are considering their own 60 days and not in need of true counseling or therapies, highly recommend it! You can make it happen. If you remain unsure, what if you think of it as a gift to those in your life? A meditating, emotionally stronger, and less stressed you, for them.
 

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Amazing thread, and now that people winding up to their 60th day, time to go GOLD.

Awesome, thank you for that.

I'll write a longer post tomorrow with my observations after finishing my 60th day.
 

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Day 60 completed.

It was an average session. Some distractions, some focus, so practice as usual.

This is actually a very fitting final day of this challenge showing that I'm nowhere near "done" (it's preposterous to even say that considering a mere 60 hours of practice of such a difficult skill).

I'll post my observations after the completed challenge in a separate post later.
 
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I've been meditating 4-5 days a week for years. I am currently loaded down with projects and don't feel I could commit the time.

I get that. I'm saying this jokingly, not to call you out as I'm pretty sure you could serve as a role model for meditation, but it reminds me of this:

Meditate for an hour every day unless you are too busy. In that case meditate for two hours.

Again, I get that you can't commit. Just a funny Zen saying I like that I remembered when I read the quoted part.

This is a big deal to many people. Thanks for addressing it!

Thank you for sharing your experiences! That's very valuable.
 
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SteveO

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So, I'm no expert here but have done this for a while.

I do the same thing everytime to get into the proper mode. Anybody can use any technique they desire, this just works for me.

Regardless of which direction, image or landscape, I go in the same way.

Picture the inside of a cabin with as much detail as possible. Have a door that goes to a basement with 4 steps down. Each step down takes me deeper into a trance. Each one is letting go of thoughts and distractions. I count down backwards on the decent. Your mind should be clear by the final step. There is a door at the bottom which exits outside into the landscape or scene of your choice.
 

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Hello guys,
In the past 21 days, i found out a lot about my self. I always have a journal by my side before i start. When I'm done, i jot down whatever comes to me. In the process, i found out a lot about myself and my problems. Some of which are, my "ADHD", my addiction to the internet, and my insensitivity to others. At the core of it, Technology....my phone mostly. I'm deep into the bossom of consumerism. It's an addiction no one is talking about. Then i discovered a post by @Andyblack . He suggested that why don't we be producers, rather than consumers and gave some examples. It struck me,

-"The things we own end up owning us".

I'm taking a 30 day hiatus from the forum and the internet to clear my thoughts, and to "not consume, but produce" i.e no reading any self help book, no blog posts, no movies e.t.c. I'd just create things, and do things myself, rather than browse everything that challenges me. I won't buy or use anything that's not essential--Stoicism. I'd still continue the meditation, I'll use a journal to log my progress instead, I'll post after thirty days about my experience. I've been able to keep up with the meditation because of the forum. In the process, i formed an habit of waking up 4am. Which i haven't been able to do in forever. It feels good. I'll continue in that spirit.
 

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MTF

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Where do your eyes focus (even if closed) when you meditate?

I meditate with my eyes closed. I think usually I look a little up, as if trying to look back at the "real" me in the back of my head. But it probably depends on the day and my body position as well. Sometimes when I go deep I curl my body and then look down.

Correction: I focused on my eyes while I meditated today and actually I mostly look down.

Actually the reason why many people don't have 8-9 figure bank accounts is simply because it's too hard, and the effort is no longer worth it for them. They have a decent enough life with 7-figures in the bank account. Why work 100-hour weeks to move from 7-figures to 9-figures? They're now looking to solve other non-monetary needs.

100%. And ironically, as you learn this and move on to non-monetary needs, often they affect your financial life positively (as Michael A. Singer's or Tony Robbins' example shows). You become more selfless, provide more value to the world, and operate out of higher emotions fully concentrated on just helping out instead of making a situation good only for yourself (as many "unconscious", thankfully not many on this forum, do).
 
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Day 1

done. I am happy that I found this thread. Thank you @MTF! I've had the feeling for a long time that I should meditate more.

It was difficult to meditate for such a long time. After 40 minutes I was checking my phone how much time is still left.
I've been meditating for a long time usually 10 to 15 minutes before I go to sleep. I rarely reach a meditative state, where I rise to a kind of higher level. I hope to get into a meditative state more often by meditating for longer time period.

Meditation( even the short one) has been very powerful thing for me. It is helping me somehow to "find" myself. I started to read The Untethered Soul some days ago, so I have something to thing about and to observe myself a bit.
 

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