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

[Formless]

Day 5

Pretty much immediate entry into stillness. Very enjoyable session.

 

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[Madame Peccato]

Day 43
Okay session.

 

[Andreas]

Day 18 Complete

Not a good session. I kept getting sucked into negative thought loops and feeding them all the time. I hardly found any peace during this session. Not a very good day today overall. I was feeling stressed for no good reason if I am honest and I had suicidal thoughts out of nowhere. At some point I gave myself a mental slap on the face and listened to some good music instead of feeling bad for no reason.

I guess, it's the bad days that make this count. If this was all smooth sailing, it wouldn't be interesting in the end. Plus I might be able to give some solid advice to people who are experiencing the same problems as I do, in the future.

 

[MTF]

I guess, it's the bad days that make this count. If this was all smooth sailing, it wouldn't be interesting in the end. Plus I might be able to give some solid advice to people who are experiencing the same problems as I do, in the future.

There are no bad days. I meditated in between bouts of diarrhea. I meditated when I had thoughts of revenge. I meditated when I was constantly falling asleep. I meditated when I didn't have time for it. I meditated when I was sure I would throw up in a second. All of this was still practice.

When you exercise, you do your best regardless of your energy levels. You do the same with meditation. It's practice. It doesn't matter how it goes because what matters is the practice in itself.

“One lesson I’ve learned is that if the job I do were easy, I wouldn’t derive so much satisfaction from it. The thrill of winning is in direct proportion to the effort I put in before. I also know, from long experience, that if you make an effort in training when you don’t especially feel like making it, the payoff is that you will win games when you are not feeling your best. That is how you win championships, that is what separates the great player from the merely good player. The difference lies in how well you’ve prepared.”

— Rafael Nadal in Rafa (p. 287)

(quote shared recently in the Farnam Street newsletter)

 

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[Madame Peccato]

The only bad days are the ones you skip

 

[Formless]

Day 6

Noticed my body a bit more than usual today

 

[Madame Peccato]

Day 44
Had a big "let go" moment of an old memory. Great session!

 

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[MarkSabier89]

1 day

I constantly break down and cannot stop the thought flow. I only managed to meditate for twenty minutes

 

[MTF]

I constantly break down and cannot stop the thought flow. I only managed to meditate for twenty minutes

Don't stop it. You can't stop it. As Michael A. Singer says, you don't need to stop the mind. You need to stop listening to the mind. Then it'll stop by itself (and not when you force it to). So just notice the thought flow but don't engage in it. It's 100% okay if you constantly get distracted as long as you return to your breath or whatever you're consciously focusing on.

By the way, welcome to the challenge

 

[Andreas]

Day 19 Complete

I kept the lights on a little bit more bright and that caused more tension on my face. Even when I turned them down a bit, I still felt tension from squinting. I was afraid I would be sleepy, but that wasn't the case. Next time, I might turn a candle on and use essential oils from fruit. It makes the session more pleasant.

I felt a little less agitation in my body this time.

Overall, I am trying to reserve me expectations as much as possible, because the benefits or leaps in progress show up when I least expect it.

And once again, thanks for the people who are cheering for my progress.

 

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[Formless]

Day 7

Was really tough to switch my head off this time around

 

[Madame Peccato]

Day 45
Ok session.

 

[Andreas]

Day 20 Complete

I lost sleep last night, I didn't recover any sleep during the afternoon and went for a session anyway. I thought I was going to sleep halfway through, but I didn't.

I have a experienced just a few moments of lightness and feeling I was almost about to enter into bliss. Not yet fully. But just getting a small taste of the very early stage is encouraging enough. I can see why monks like to meditate so much.

I also didn't feel sleepy for the rest of the afternoon and until the moment I went to sleep. Plus I felt even fewer moments of agitation, and in particular, the feeling of wanting to get up and check the time. I am guilty of checking time once in almost every session, so not doing it with little effort this time was a nice bonus.

Forehead muscles are easier to relax and the now it's time for the muscles around the mouth to start relaxing a bit as well and the cycle will go on, until I get rid of most of the stored trauma. I will visit an expert for the tension in my shoulders, back and the rest of my body, at some point in the future though.

 

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[MTF]

I lost sleep last night, I didn't recover any sleep during the afternoon and went for a session anyway. I thought I was going to sleep halfway through, but I didn't.

And do you remember this?

Haven't managed to do 60 minutes yet. There is always something that gets in my way like a sudden change in temperature (gets hot suddenly) or feeling sleepy. I get drowsy on every session I have. Do you guys have any of those things come up? How many actually stay still for a whole hour without stretching or feeling some seriously uncomfortable sensations like heat and drowsiness?

Great to see it's really making a difference in your life.

 

[Formless]

Day 8

Good session, really helped me calm down after a stressful day

 

[Dora Wi]

Yesterday was my Day 1 - fell off the wagon some time ago, so I'm starting again.
I haven't figured out yet what time of day is best for meditating. I did it right after waking up yesterday. It is a nice way to start the day - it makes me think "I need to wake up so I can meditate" instead of "I need to wake up because I have a lot of things to do". It felt a little superficial though, and I need a coffee beforehand, otherwise I'll just fall asleep sitting.
Today I'll try what it's like at night.

 

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[Formless]

Day 9

Good session.

 

[Madame Peccato]

Day 46

Another ok session. It's getting progressively easier to refocus on my breath during thoughts.

 

[Andreas]

And do you remember this?



Great to see it's really making a difference in your life.

What do you mean? I was fully aware that I was awake, because my mind was riding on a rocky road as usual. If I had slept, I would have been startled by the alarm.

 

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[MTF]

What do you mean? I was fully aware that I was awake, because my mind was riding on a rocky road as usual. If I had slept, I would have been startled by the alarm.

I meant to show your progress. At first you couldn't do it even for 20 minutes. Now you can meditate for an hour even when you're not 100% physically.

 

[Madame Peccato]

Day 47
Poor sleep and also poor effort from my part today but that's okay. Mediocre session.

 

[Andreas]

Day 21 and 22 Complete

On day 21 my session was pretty much non-existent because I kept feeling itchy and all over my body. On top of that I kept feeling some weird hot and cold sensations all over my body. I can't remember the last time this happened to me if this ever happened if I'm honest, but it was awful....so I just did a proper session on the next day (21) and then another one on the same day.

I might start doing my sessions without a pillow, because I feel a lot of pain on my neck, especially during the last few days. It's probably from bad habits, but it's also strange how the pain all of a sudden started popping up. I also get more tension on my face, even though I don't get as many muscle spasms as before.

My body is either trying to remove a lot of stored trauma very quickly, or I my recent efforts to change some aspects of my life is causing unwanted tension.

 

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[Formless]

Day 10

The victory today was in showing up.

 

[MTF]

On day 21 my session was pretty much non-existent because I kept feeling itchy and all over my body. On top of that I kept feeling some weird hot and cold sensations all over my body. I can't remember the last time this happened to me if this ever happened if I'm honest, but it was awful....so I just did a proper session on the next day (21) and then another one on the same day.

But did you finish the itchy 21st day? I mean, did you still meditate for an hour?

 

[Madame Peccato]

Day 48
Okay session.

 

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[Andreas]

But did you finish the itchy 21st day? I mean, did you still meditate for an hour?

An hour passed, but since I kept moving, and by moving I mean, tossing, turning round and scratching different body parts all while feeling the hot and cold 'spots' on my body. There is a difference between discomfort and extreme frustration. In short, the session was ruined. Hence, why I did two sessions the next day.

 

[Bora.s]

Day 32, the one hour feels every day differently long. Sometimes I am surprised how fast it is over and on other days it gets longer and longer and longer. I have become more patient, I just sit down and slow down while meditating, as I can't let the hour go by any faster.

 

[Andreas]

Day 23 Complete
I ditched the pillow, because the neck pain was unbearable. My body was more relaxed than ever, with zero muscle spasms this time. I feel dizzy, probably because of the blood flow in my head. Even though the body was happily relaxed, the head was buzzing and pulsing the whole time.

I put a hypnosis tape for relaxation alone and it helped, but I should have only played the track once instead of putting it on loop.

I still had a constant stream of thoughts flowing, which is kind of disheartening, but then again I'm only a third of the way of the challenge and only now I'm starting to find more relaxing ways to meditate.

Not sure what to do about the pillow situation, but I noticed that when I sleep on my belly (like I always do), I sleep better without it.

 

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[Formless]

Day 11

Decent session today.

 

[Madame Peccato]

Day 49
The first half of the session was extremely peaceful, while I was easily distracted in the second half.