Meditation - Day 1

Today I started meditating. My goal is 10 minutes a day. I figured since I practice yoga and have been practicing mindfulness, that this wouldn't be that hard. I wasn't right, but I wasn't totally wrong.

I grabbed my iPhone and wandered off to my yoga space. I sat on a bolster in a comfortable cross legged position and set a timer for 10 minutes.

My experience today: At first I was quite fidgety. I found myself shifting positions a bit, finally moved myself to the floor. Much better. I started simply breathing, in and out. As I found my mind wandering I switched to 3 part breathing. Today that didn't do the trick so I simply counted my inhalations and exhalations. I, intentionally, felt the temperature of the room, became aware of the sounds inside and outside, and felt the floor beneath me.

I meditated for 7 minutes, not quite achieving my goal. With that being said, I did notice a decrease in my heart rate, a decrease in my breathing rate, and a general sense of calming which I definitely needed. No rush of energy as I had hoped, however hopefully that comes in time.

Lessons learned: Mute my work computer which is in the other room as part of the reason I only got in 7 minutes was I kept hearing emails arrive and people pining me on IM. Also, I prefer to sit on the floor, not a bolster. Maybe I'll try sitting on a block or laying down tomorrow.

-Desk Dwelling Yogi