Meditation - #4

So... I lied. This latest experiment did not involve talking to strangers, because it turns out talking to strangers is really freaking easy, or at least it has been for me lately. Not sure what caused that subconscious switch and I'm not sure how to find out. (Any suggestions, let me know; any insights and I'll keep you posted.)

But we're in luck, 'cause this new topic is even cooler.

Meditation.

Oh, yeah.

Format: Fortnight experiment (because "fortnight" is cooler than "2-week")

Goal: Meditate regularly (every day to every other day). Develop some degree of proficiency at stepping away from my thoughts and reaching mindlessness.

Goal met? Booyah. 'Nuff said.

Terms you should know:

Meditation - A mental discipline by which the practitioner attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.

So here’s what happened:

I walked into the first day of my World Religions class (which, by the by, is fascinating) and my professor said that we were going to meditate for five minutes before the start of each class and could earn extra credit by meditating regularly. Talk about painless homework. I'm taking him up on it. We have to do five five-minute meditations, 10 10-minutes and 20-20 minutes. For the 20 minute ones, we also have the option of going to the meditation group he runs which usually comes to about 20 minutes explanation, questions and techniques and 10 minutes meditation, though we're going to work up to longer.

Since then, I've been meditating two days a week in class, two days a week in meditation group and then here and there on my own when I have a few minutes or especially need it.

The meditation is a sitting meditation where one focuses on the breath. The idea is not to stop thinking (or worse, to think incessantly about not thinking) but to step back and observe your thoughts. My professor uses the metaphor of watching horses grazing but not saddling up or riding off on any of them, and I also find it useful to think of them as clouds going by or fishes swimming downstream.

Sometimes I go places in my meditations --- a small island in the middle of a stream in a canyon, a cliff overlooking the ocean, a mesa at sunset --- and sometimes I just let thoughts and images come and go as they will. Either way is effective and I usually go with whatever comes first. It's all very fluid.

Straight from my recent notes:

5 min. - Hypnagogic imagery! This seems to happen more easily when I'm tired. It's very cool. [Hypnagogic imagery: the bright changing colors and patterns you see sometimes just before you fall asleep. For me, it's like watching bursts of colored light on the inside of my eyelids.]

10 min. - Meditation was nice. I just focused on the breathing and eventually got to a place where the breath was the only thing I paid attention to. 

20 min. - [We did a remembering meditation which basically entailed thinking of our blessings.] I thought almost exclusively about people (and not on purpose). Some of it was too emotional so I was happy to let it pass and walk away. Kept popping out of meditativeness into inner freaking out over my to-do list, then guided myself back. 

20 min. - [Did a loving meditation where we focused on groups of people --- first loved ones, then neutrals (like the people in Haiti), then people we have a hard time with --- and sent love energy to them.] I found that as I thought of people I felt very strongly what roles they play in my life. I'd think of someone and their image would immediately sort to the right (loved ones), middle (neutrals) or left (problems). Unusual --- I don't normally recognize my feelings about people this strongly. 

All in all, it's been very rewarding and I'm looking forward to more.

Try this:

1. Make the time. This is the hardest part, but meditating is worthwhile worth taking time out for. You will have 10-minute blocks if you look for them. Your to-do list can wait --- sit down and use that time to step back.

2. Let whatever happens happen. Meditation should be a very guiltless experience, if not an easy one. If you get on a thought train and find yourself somewhere else, just bring your attention back to the breath. It's not a big deal and it'll happen less the more you practice.

3. Try counting. It usually takes me a while to settle into a meditative state (around seven minutes on a good day) and counting 1-2-3-4 on the inhale and 1-2-3-4 on the exhale over and over really helps.

4. Practice, practice, practice. You'll want to after you start to get a hint of the calm, quiet, empty space meditation can provide. Just keep breathing and being quiet until you find it. It's amazing.

Final notes:

I love love love love love (love) love meditation. I've done it casually for years, but never made a concerted daily effort. This experiment has taught me that it makes a huge difference. Out of everything I've played with so far on this blog, the one I'd encourage you to take up the most is meditating. Maybe you'll get something different out of it than what I got, but I feel confident that you will get something. You can't help it in the middle of all that calm.

Next challenge: No idea, actually. Any suggestions?

images by oddsock and alicepopkorn

Decluttering - #3

Format: As-long-as-it-takes exercise

Goal: Get rid of stuff. Toss stuff I don’t love.

Goal met? For now.

Terms you should know:

Come on, it’s throwing stuff away. Elementary, my dear Watson.

So here’s what happened:

I recently moved back to school. It was the perfect time to throw junk away, so I did. Sort of.

The first day, I got nothing done. Fail. Day two, though, was infinitely better. I got a lot done, including getting rid of a garbage bag full of clothes. This is a big deal—I have a hard time getting rid of clothes. I don’t necessarily love everything I own, but I like it or it’s something I wear all the time.

The goal at this point became to get rid of a garbage bag per day of stuff I didn’t want, but that fell by the wayside as I realized I had about three days to go through everything I own. At that point, the day one/day two stuff fell by the wayside, as did regular showers, healthy meals and conversation with the world outside.

I have a lot of stuff.

In the end, I threw away three garbage bags full to bursting with paper, decrepit shoes and miscellaneous broken things and four bags of thrift store stuff. A fair bit of the Goodwill stuff, I’m happy to say, was in reasonable condition but just didn’t give off a vibe I liked. I also gave a bunch of cute stuff to my sister (she’s much better at cute than I am) and returned a lot of random things that had ended up in my storage boxes to their rightful owners.

Having said that, I still have a lot of stuff.

The thing is, though, I like having a lot of stuff. When I go globetrotting in a few years I won’t mind leaving it all behind and travelling with a single backpack, but as long as I’m here I want to be surrounded by things I enjoy. I tend toward mid-extremes in all areas of life, and if I’m not a minimalist traveler I’d rather have too many clothes.

Getting rid of stuff I don’t actually like, though, feels fantastic. Keeping stuff I love feels fantastic. Keeping stuff I’m lukewarm on feels utilitarian and, well, lukewarm, but I always regret it when I throw out the lukewarm stuff just because most of it is so practical. (Insight: I don’t love utilitarian things, but I have a lot of them because they feel expendable. I don’t like having things I love around too much because I’m always worried they’re going to get broken or lost. I think this is a scarcity mindset, but it’s also really, really practical when you’re hopping back and forth from chaotic home to generally clueless apartments. Creepy insight: I feel this way about people, too. Ick.)

Try this:

1. Make decluttering a mentality, not a job. Once “pack light” becomes a part of you, it’s a lot easier to toss stuff. Keeping it a part of you, however, appears to be more than a weeklong process.

2. Play the consequences game. What will happen if you got rid of ______? Think about it. Imagine the consequences. Most of the time “Nothing whatsoever” is the answer. Other times it’s “I’ll have an excuse to go get one I actually like!” and occasionally it’s “I’ll really miss it and wish I had it back.” Forecasting your feelings about getting rid of an item can both encourage you to toss stuff and to avoid getting rid of things you’ll regret later.

3. Realize that it’s just stuff. You can get it again. Everything in life is transient, and if you create a vacuum things will flow into it. (I’d actually like to try tossing everything but journals and heirlooms sometime and see what happens. The only problem with this is that society expects you to wear clothes and cooking things without pans is difficult…)

Next challenge: Talking to Strangers

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography.

Moving in

Moving into my new/old apartment right now. It's the place where I was just about as happy as a person can get longterm, but this semester... well, let's just say I'm going to be keeping myself busy.

Anyway, I'll be posting on the decluttering exercise tomorrow. Till then... wish me luck (and back atcha).