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.
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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.
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​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.
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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.
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Click here to begin your own journey.