My Journey With Meditation
In the early days of COVID-19 lockdown, I found myself alone in my room for hours on end with nothing in particular to do. My schoolwork at the time was easy; I would finish it quickly, leaving the rest of the day available for whatever I desired. As a generally busy person, I had always imagined that if only I had more free time, I could be content and happy — with ample free time during lockdown, I realized this was not the case. Succumbing to levels of boredom unprecedented to me, I took on new projects: the TV show Stranger Things, the acoustic guitar, and, what would become the most important, meditation.
My introduction to meditation was through the simple practice of closely observing my breath. At first, it seemed trivial. What was the point of this? I had heard about all the potential benefits of meditation — reduced stress, increased ability to concentrate, improved sleep, and the list goes on — but it was hard to imagine how such a simple exercise could produce these profound effects. I persevered for a while but eventually gave up the practice. Over the next couple of years until now, I have returned periodically to meditation but have never sustained any long-term practice.
I began this site with hopes of assisting anyone interested in beginning a consistent meditation practice — this includes myself. Personally, through the process, I have been exposed to different types of meditations, including open monitoring and Loving-Kindness meditation. Most importantly, for the first time, I have been able to sustain a consistent mindfulness meditation practice.
For the past three months, I have begun each day by meditating for five minutes on my breath. At the start of the semester, the practice was incredibly difficult, and I often became so lost in thought that I forgot I was meditating in the first place. Because of my failures, it was tempting to give up the practice altogether.
As the semester progressed and the daily five-minute sessions slowly accrued, my ability to perceive my mind as it wandered dramatically improved. While I certainly still have plenty of thoughts, the time that it takes me to notice when a thought appears and recenter my attention on the breath is a brief couple of seconds.
I've noticed that since I began my meditation practice, the time I am caught up in negative thoughts or negative emotions is very short. When a negative emotion like anger arises inside me, I am able to redirect my attention, either to the physical sensations of the emotion or to my breath. By doing so, the negative emotion more often than not soon subsides. When a negative thought arises, I am able to see it for what it is: just a thought.
I don't have to accept my thoughts as true or base my actions upon them. Spending less time in negative emotion and thought, I have more energy to use towards productive and fulfilling ends, whether it be pursuing a hobby like the guitar or spending time with my friends.
My hope in creating this site is that others can reap their own benefits from a consistent mindfulness meditation practice by becoming more aware of the tendencies of the mind. Thank you for visiting.
Click here to begin your own journey.
