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

[Sheens]

Today was pretty fun!

Used a few techniques for refocusing and feeling things in the present.

Had all the tingles come back too! Then I think of the different hormone and neurotransmitter cocktails that create it... geesh... will improve turning that thinking off and just enjoy.

60 minutes done. was a mish mash of garbled thoughts while trying to decide if i wanted to go back to sleep.
blah. not been my most motivated last few days. just going through the motions.

You're extraordinary. What 3 things are you going to do for your motivation? ; )

 

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[Olimac21]

Day 10 completed

All good, just a bit anxious at the end. I spent the majority of the time thinking about a decision I have to make to it was super useful.

 

[Matua]

Day 5

Oh boy, I learned something about myself from meditating today. Whenever I get around or less than 6.5 hours of sleep, my mind goes crazy active. This is something that I've known for some time, but to actually be aware of my mind in this phase is a different story.

I like to think I can just flip an internal switch to let go of my thoughts and focusing on the present, but it became difficult today because of thought after thought after thought, and visual thought/imagery as well!

It's as if my mind was telling me it wasn't happy about the lack of sleep and it made a big fuss about it LOL.

Wow guys Im impressed!! Really pleased to see this community effort going on and all of you supporting and motivating each other. It’s very inspiring and motivating, and we’re already gathering a ton of experience about meditation.

Unfortunately this has been a period that caught me on the wrong foot, so I haven’t joined yet, but I may start late and go a bit longer than you guys do.

Awesome! We'll be waiting

Tommorow i fly back home for hollydays. I will need there of more discipline and organisation as the house will be full of people... lets see how it turns out.

I wish you a safe flight back home! It won't be easy to meditate in a place crowded by other people, but you can definitely make it work!

I'll also be with people, my family, during the holidays. So I'll have to get up early in the morning, or seclude myself in an isolated room, or even outside on the balcony and meditate in the cold weather-- which will be an interesting experience!

 

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[ZCP]

@MTF so you are saying i should have focused intently on / in the massage and be really centered on the connection? that is what i normally do during a massage.

i heard from this thread (probably incorrectly) to 'let the thoughts come and go' as they please. knowing the deviousness of my own mind was my resistance to doing so.

@MTF @Sheens redirect me here...... so massage begins.
1. focus intently on 'nothingness'
2. focus intently on the massage
3. anti focus and let the lord of flies take hold
4. something else entirely

 

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[Sheens]

@MTF @Sheens redirect me here...... so massage begins.

I'd say 2. Focus intently on the massage. (even if focus is a debatable word there)

When I sit to 'do nothing', it's to be in the present, not actively giving attention to prior or future happenings. Those thoughts pop up on their own. I try not to let it go further. So let's say I'm in a moment of mind quiet and a thought comes up on which workout is planned for the day. That's where I try to leave the thought. I don't think of the time, shower, .. or anything more than just let the thought go away.

If I meditate for another reason, it might be to focus on something. Say a business solution, I don't want to think of much else other than that situation. My focus may not exactly be on my breath or current sounds, it will be on observing the solution with inputs/outputs .. but I want my attention to stay on the subject and not splinter off into the abyss.

There are things we do that take zero effort to be immersed in... like some love time with a SO. Those are the times where (hopefully) it would take effort to lose your attention. That's a power of being in the moment.

 

[Matua]

Day 6

Due to little to no sound in my environment, my mind immediately worked to fill up the silence with chatter.
They were mainly thoughts about: I gotta stop changing positions a lot so I can meditate properly, I really liked watching that specific YouTube video yesterday, Hmmm I wonder if I can create a video about chatterbox meditation that'd be cool.

Whenever I have any thoughts, I'd stop myself with silence or I would say to myself something like, "Okay that thought was interesting, so what's going on now (present)?" And then drift into silence, until the mind starts wandering on its own again.

I don't consider my meditation worse than yesterday, but it was slightly a bit more chattery. So, I don't waste any energy trying to stop thoughts. It's like trying to withhold an expression of yourself, and it will come out inevitably. I only stop them after I get a sense or feeling of them taking up too much time in the present.

For me, I let the thought tire itself out and let the mind become occupied by the environment and sounds that it won't generate as many thoughts.

It's hard to flip an internal switch when your mind wants to express itself, but only when it loses its substance and energy is when you can get back into that present state of mind.

It's 4:00 where i am, and i just finished Day 1.

Day 1 done

I NEEED this!
My mind has been so stressed out. It needs the rest. And this will be the break I could use.

Going to reward myself at day ten. And each consecutive milestone. Something small but a celebration none the less. Possibly a new seat cover for my truck!

Im really excited for this! I have plenty of meditations!!!!

Congratulations you two! Will wait for your Day 2

 

[MTF]

@MTF so you are saying i should have focused intently on / in the massage and be really centered on the connection? that is what i normally do during a massage.

i heard from this thread (probably incorrectly) to 'let the thoughts come and go' as they please. knowing the deviousness of my own mind was my resistance to doing so.

@MTF @Sheens redirect me here...... so massage begins.
1. focus intently on 'nothingness'
2. focus intently on the massage
3. anti focus and let the lord of flies take hold
4. something else entirely

I'd go with two which is actually, in a way, a variation of meditation. Same with, say, taking with a friend. You want to experience it as it happens so you focus on the conversation, not random thoughts, something else entirely, or nothingness.

"Stereotypical" meditation sometimes called "formal practice" should be a separate activity done sitting somewhere alone in silence. Also, @Black_Dragon43 explained it well. It's a tricky thing to understand for me, let alone for a person with an engineering approach to life but it's just not 100% rational and can only be assimilated through practice.

To everyone else engaging in this thread - thank you! Glad to see it growing on its own with people exchanging their experiences.

 

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[S.Y.]

I hope that makes a bit more sense. So the idea is to be openly aware of your mind, without interfering. So I don't think "focus" is the right word, because "focus" to me suggests you're trying to take control of your mind. So if you "focus" on the massage, that suggests to me you will try to not allow any thoughts into your mind that don't have to do with the massage, and I don't think that's the goal of meditation.

At the same time, "anti-focus" isn't it either, because you don't want to be day-dreaming or falling asleep, ie becoming unconscious or unaware. You need to be intensely aware of the passing and going of thoughts, without following them, without giving more energy to them. Think of the way you'd observe a game of tennis if you're really into it. You'd be absorbed watching the movement of the ball from one person to another, but you wouldn't be interfering with it. You just watch. The idea is to do the same only that turned inwards. Instead of watching something outside of you, you watch your mind inside of you.

Another good way of thinking about is going to a restaurant - well pre-covid.

There is background noise. It is there all the time, sometimes the volume increases, sometimes it decreases. You know it is there, but you don't pay attention to it. You don't try to focus, you don't try to shut it down.

If there is a loud noise, like glass that falls and shatters, then your attention gets focused on that. There is still the background noise that is there and that you don't notice. But then, everything goes back to what it was, all background noise.

 

[MTF]

Meditation is not emptying your mind. This is a myth. In fact, aiming to clear your mind is the opposite of what meditation is.

It is truly about being a witness to your own thoughts. They come and go. You notice them and let them go. With time you will have more space between thoughts where nothing comes through. Sort of moments of actual silence. In the 80/20 philosophy, those moments of silence are the 4% that give 90%+ of the results.

Maybe you can try to set an intention before starting. Just acknowledge to yourself that you will have thoughts, and you will get distracted. And that's is ok.

After I posted my post I considered editing it as I was aware that it might have been interpreted wrongly. I meant that during a bad session I'm unable to witness the thoughts as something separate. I let them completely drive my focus away. I'm not trying to completely erase thoughts as I know this doesn't work. But still appreciate your insights!

 

[Sheens]

Days 8 completed.

The first week went fast!

The 60 min are so different from each other day to day. Goal is to be like @SteveO by the end where my mind has it's own consistent way to go and then can choose a version of nothing, or a white room (partial to that right now), or a landscape and walk.. visualizations, mindfulness, meditation.. any and all could be the best for that hour.

 

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[Olimac21]

Day 14 completed.

The best one so far, very calm and I did some mental image work with beach landscape + self affirmations. Feeling super fresh today.

 

[MetalGear]

Does anyone here use Insight Timer?

Great app for guided meditations

 

[S.Y.]

Day 9

Today was generally okay for me, not good but not bad either. It was mostly because I threw off my sleeping schedule by sleeping early and set an alarm (which I never do). Because of that, my mind wasn't happy about that lol. My meditation was the same as yesterday's, I focused on a bit of everything-- thoughts coming and going, accepting bits and pieces here and there.

I'll have to retry the visual meditation again tomorrow and find that "go-to world" for my mind to relax as @S.Y. said. We'll see.

Go for it.

I just want to mention that I have "built" that world over few years and throughout I have anchored specific feelings to it. And it is completely imaginary. In fact, to get in there, I have to visualize myself getting outside of the earth, getting into space, and going through a light portal. Some very unusual stuff. It helps a lot that I have a visual mind.

A good way to start practicing that is memory palaces.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIbz_gKw0XY

 

[Mutant]

Does anyone here use Insight Timer?

Great app for guided meditations

I use it just as a timer.
I like that I can pick sounds & interval sounds.
I also like that it tracks total time - I'm going to crack 1000 minutes today!
Looking forward to having this challenge help me rack up a chunk of my next goal of 6000 minutes. Found this, & found it very motivating (don't know how true it is, but even if I only ever get the 100 hours benefits - I'll take it!):

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

Found here: A Ph.D. in Happiness: What 10,000 Hours of Meditation Actually Does to Your Brain

 

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[MTF]

Here's a pretty good video on how meditating every day helps:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Zyj2P6sig


As far as I know he's been doing it for nine years already.

 

[Barracuda]

Day 3 completed.
I had to wake early. So i had a fuzzy one. Naval said you shouldn't expect anything special to happen soon. To just let go completely and you'd know when it comes. So I'm zen at the moment

 

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[Barracuda]

Day 5 completed.
Today was really fast. Like when a pilot went through the Bermuda triangle and couldn't give an account of how fast he travelled. Almost like he "teleported". That's how today was for me. Has anyone experienced this?

 

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[MTF]

Fascinating article:

How 7,000 hours of meditation changed my life - Live and Dare

My open account of the 10 ways how meditation changed my life. More fearlessness, willpower, self-control, wellness. The benefits of meditation are many!

liveanddare.com

 

[Pard]

I’d like to say I’ve done day seven now but I have not.
So I think I’m out.
But I will continue trying meditation but only thirty minutes a day.
Perhaps not as beneficial but better than zero.

 

[Ma.Gico]

Hey all.
Im still doing it eventhough havent posted for couple of days. Im just on vacations and dont always have internet.

I keep enjoing it. And everyday there is something like an eureka where i think i have discovered that trick to dominate completely my mind. And finding out the next day it doesnt work anymore.

I usualy have more trouble slowing down that chatter inside then the pictures.
So yesterday after 30 min of really annoying session i started to breath in like usually and then breathing out with a minimal noise of mmmmm vibration. That way the vibration was cutting that noise.
That was the most focused half hour since day 1.
Today will be day 10 and hope that it will work again )

Have a nice day.

 

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[Matua]

Day 10

I had a good sleep, so it was mostly calm for me. I researched sitting positions for meditation, because it was uncomfortable for me to lay against the wall and switch my legs 3-4 times. I found out that you should be using a cushion for sitting, so that your hips are higher than your legs. This definitely improved my quality of meditation since I only switched my legs 2 times and I didn't rely on resting my back against the wall.

I tried doing some form of visual meditation, but it didn't work out-- plus I felt as if I'm forcing myself to visualize instead of relaxing and letting things be. Once that happens, visualization comes naturally for me and meditation is starting to grow on me.

 

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[Barracuda]

Day 7 completed.

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.

I tried this. I went in with a simple intent. I just asked one question, and made sure the question didn't distract me. I focused on my breath, i wasn't thinking at all to find the answer to my question. They just came to me effortlessly. I had to write them down after i finished.
There's a quote....“Learning is finding out what you already know. ...”
Here's a video from sadhguru on it:

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=al0B8qUkayw

 

[Matua]

Day 14

I probably fidgeted too much during my meditation and it definitely felt long, but I managed to complete it.
I had to keep reminding myself to let go of holding on to time, otherwise that would defeat the whole point of meditating. Trusting in my ability to set that timer and forget about anything is still kind of tough for me when my thoughts get anxious if I set the timer, or if the alarm doesn't go off.

46 more days to go!

 

[ZCP]

@ZCP

been tipping toes in and out ......... still not consistent. will schedule 1 per week and look to increase the frequency .....

 

[MTF]

I tried it. Fell asleep in 30 minutes. Not sure I can let my mind float for 60 and stay awake.

Was it in the morning after you properly woke up or in the evening or right after waking up when you were still groggy?

been tipping toes in and out ......... still not consistent. will schedule 1 per week and look to increase the frequency .....

Not specifically just for you, but in general: isn't it weird how hard it is for so many people to simply sit still for one hour?

 

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[EatMan]

@MTF Just finished Day 5! I've noticed something others might relate to: A lot of the grudges that my mind had gathered up over time seems to relate to people reacting in ways that I don't want. A coworker doing something harmful to me, arguing with the boss about differing values, friends doing things you didn't expect, etc.

From this, I realized that because these actions are products of their environment (how that person was raised, random things that happened which set their mood for the day), getting mad at people for acting the way they do is similar to getting mad at a rock for falling when you let it go. After realizing this, I can feel myself slowly letting go of a lot of "barnacles" and it feels good.

Question: After addressing a lot of the pent up anger / resentment, I've noticed my mind just thinks about random things that have not happened (going on a date with a friend, swimming in a black pond, etc). I'd like to observe more "barnacles" and remove them, but I also don't want to FORCE my brain to think about something during meditation. Is this a problem?

 

[Olimac21]

Day 20 done.

One of the best so far, it went by fast and had some moments of complete silence. Perfect to start the week.

 

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[Mutant]

@Mutant?

Still chugging along.

My main thing from the last few days is I've been letting the time I do this creep later, & it's affecting my practice. I do it in the evenings because I love natural light, & spending an hour of daylight with my eyes closed seems like a waste - especially when darkness starts so early at the moment. Doing it before sunrise seems like a recipe for falling asleep for me, so evenings it is. However too late in the evenings & it's also a recipe for falling asleep, so yeah, need to work on bringing it earlier.

 

[Olimac21]

Day 21 done.

One of my favorites so far, almost not wanting it to end lol I was visualizing the beach and going through some stuff I read yesterday.

I was wondering, since we are entering 2021 soon, what kind of habits do you have to "center" yourself? Do you do things like visualization or journaling besides meditation?

 

[redshift]

Philosophy and spiritual cool! Which books are your favorites in those categories?

If anyone is more interested in learning about the spiritual path, 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 His other book which MTF mentioned (untethered soul) is really good too along with his online lectures and courses.