One week on from Will Williams meditation course. I’m pleased to say that I have managed to fit in two 20 minute meditation sessions each day.
At first, I thought this was going to be a challenge. How could I fit in the 20 minute meditation and a gym session in the morning before work plus an evening meditation when I had plans to go out straight after work. I managed to navigate these issues throughout the week through small changes to my routine and it’s has been a real learning experience.
The first 4 months are known as the research phase and I can see why. This past week there have been new times of the day, new locations, new obstacles to overcome and new feelings from each meditation.
As with the weekend course, each meditation has been a different experience and especially this week. I altered my journey to the gym some mornings to meditated on the tube, surprisingly this was easier than i first thought and with a bit more practice will no doubt become more natural. The days that i had plans to meet friends and go straight out after work I took a slightly later lunch and found a bench in the park to sit quietly and meditate. It has been all about pre planning and thoughtful with my time, something that doesn’t come naturally to me.
My 3 top learnings from this week:
1. Plan ahead – this may mean getting up 20 minutes early, taking a different train to work or getting out at lunchtime. Each small change to fit in meditation is worth it. I’ve had more energy this week so getting up earlier isn’t a problem and getting out at lunchtime has not only been refreshing due to the meditation but I got to go and walk in the park.
2. Embrace your surroundings – you’re not always going to have optimal conditions for meditation but this is why transcendental meditation is so good. You can do it pretty much anywhere that you can sit comfortably.
3. Wear sunglasses – early morning tube meditation is great as it looks as if I’m asleep when my eyes are closed but doing this on a park bench is a different story. Sunglasses are perfect for a lunchtime meditation to shield the world from the closed eyes behind the lense.
In all honesty I’m still a little sceptical with meditation and if I’m doing it right or if it’s ‘working but i can’t deny it’s positive impact on my lifestyle so far. Taking two 20 minute breaks in my day to close my eyes and stop is never going to be a bad thing. Planning ahead and making small tweaks to my day is outweighed by the positive benefits i’ve felt so far.
