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| via giphy.com |
“Meditation
is surprisingly straightforward. It’s our expectations and preconceptions of it
that make it complicated.” – Andy Puddicombe
I was recently chatting to a friend about wanting to get into meditation, but I was afraid that it was something I would never be any good at. He recommended I try Take 10 - an introductory series by Headspace that takes you through 10 minutes of meditation per day for 10 days. It sounded totally achievable, so I decided to give it a go and turn the challenge into my next blog topic.
Day One.
Well – here goes nothing. Mindfulness meditation 101.
I had a non-stop day (standard), I spent it
running around in circles, all the while knowing I had this to come home to. 10
minutes set aside in the diary for an important meeting with myself. I changed
into my comfies, whipped up a beautifully warming Turmeric latte (recipe here),
took a quick pic for instagram and then I was on the couch and ready to roll.
The practice
I’m introduced to Andy – Headspace's resident meditation guru who'll be taking me
through Take 10. As I’m brought through the practice,
I’m instructed to become aware of my breath, the noises around me and the
physical feelings of my body. It’s hard. Does my mind stay on track? Nope. A snapshot from day one's ten minutes looked a little something like this.
I can do this. What
should I make for dinner? This couch is a bit creaky. We need a new couch. I
wish my nose wasn’t still so blocked from last week’s cold. Breathe in – one;
breathe out – two; breathe in – three; breathe out – four; turmeric latte. The
Bachelorette’s on tonight. I wonder what time Tom will be home, I hope he
doesn’t interrupt me – that’d be a fail of a first attempt; breathe in five,
breathe out six – I feel fat sitting here – breathe in seven, breathe out eight –
instagram, breathe in nine – turmeric latte again, breathe out eleven, breathe in twelve
– I’ve lost count, I think I was supposed to start again when I got to ten...
I’m terrible at this, hello attentional difficulties. I wonder when 10 minutes
will be up – crap, breathe in one, breathe out two, breathe in three...
After 10 minutes, I’m brought back to
awareness of my immediate environment. I feel floppy, floaty and definitely
sleepy. But I feel good, comfortable, relaxed, my body feels gently supported
by the couch. I’m not ready to get up and onto the next thing yet, so I just sit
and enjoy the space.
Day two and three's practices are similar to day one. I’m not
sure if I’m supposed to feel as though I’m ‘improving’, but in some way I guess
I must be.
Day Four.
Today is Saturday, and I’ve let it get to
7.30pm having completely forgotten about today’s session. So I’m in the middle
of making dinner and I think crap! Let’s go do it now. In my rush, I don’t
think it through and plonk myself on the couch in the living room while Tom
continues to potter around the kitchen putting our dinner together. It’s my
first meditation in a noise-filled room.
I find myself distracted by this at first;
onions being chopped, fridge door opening and closing, sizzling frying pans, but
I try to pull myself back from the thoughts that lay any form of judgment about
these noises being good or bad. My mind’s definitely jumpier tonight; plenty of
trail offs, lots of thoughts rushing in about all sorts of different things,
both routine and downright random.
I find the ‘body scan’ exercise hard. We’re
instructed to pay attention to the physical sensations in the body, starting
from the head and making your way all the way down to your toes. My head, neck
and chest get scanned about seven different times, because each time I find myself trailing
off and having to start all over again. But by now the 10-minute sessions are
flying by.
Day Five – halfway!
Did I find greater balance today? Yes. Andy
checks in with you at the end of each session, and today this was my
overarching feeling. He talks about enjoying the feeling of pausing to catch
your breath each day – and this analogy hits home for me.
Today when we’re told to let our mind go
and allow it to do whatever it wants to do – mine goes blank. It doesn’t trail
off into strange and bizarre somersaults as it has every other day; there are no
thoughts whatsoever. This is something I would’ve thought impossible until now.
Days Six to Ten.
The second half of the challenge cruises
along much the same as the first. Except it has now become part of my normal
routine – I fit the sessions in around all my other commitments, and it’s
surprisingly not difficult at all.
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| image via dadushin.com |
Day Ten and beyond...
Will I continue? Hells yes. The predominant
take away from Take 10 for me is that I can
meditate. I was always under the impression that it was something I could never be good at,
even if I tried. But surprise surprise, it’s actually easy, totally enjoyable,
and definitely achievable. I’m
excited to see what the next 10 days have in store for me.
Some
tips, tricks and things I learned.
- Andy suggests meditating first thing in the morning, before you do anything with your day. For me, the timing worked best if I did it when I got home from work, and sometimes before bed. But morning meditation is something I’ll definitely be giving a go in the future.
- Meditating in the same place each day can help form the habit – for me, it was the couch or the bedroom, depending on where I felt would work best on a given day. But really, it could be anywhere; the bus, the office, a park bench, whatever works.
- Reflection is important – taking the time to think back over the session, and notice how you feel. This helps concretise the benefits of the practice, and contributes to forming the habit.
- Don’t judge – this was a huge one for
me. There’s no such thing as being good or bad at meditation, it’s a practice,
not something you can ever perfect.
Keen to know more? Head on over to Headspace to be introduced to Andy, and to find out all things Take 10, mindfulness and meditation.
