Today is day 44 of my 100 day meditation challenge and I have a confession to make. I missed one day entirely. I don’t know how I did it, or where my mind was, but I missed it completely. I didn’t even realize something was wrong until the next day. And even though the challenge is to do 100 consecutive days of meditation, I am not giving up. I will continue my meditation not only for the challenge, but also because of the many benefits I am feeling because of it.
So far here is what I have noticed:
- I am much calmer throughout my day
- I am feeling more centered and balanced (though I could use more of each)
- I go with the flow much more after my meditation
- I am breathing through daily challenges
- I feel less stressed
I noticed something else about my meditation practice today and that is what time of day is best for me to meditation. The first several days I was sort of fitting it in whenever I could. During my work days it seemed logical to do it before work as a nice transition into the day, but after today I now know that meditating before the workday begins is optimal for me.
I had a few errands I wanted to run this morning before work and instead of meditating before going out, I thought I could work it in before work. As you can imagine time got away from me and I made it back in just enough time to get clocked in. I realized I had to squeeze my meditation in later. The mere idea of “squeezing” it in made me a little stressed and on edge. I managed to take some time during my lunch to get it done, however at that point it was much more difficult to become relaxed.
I also noticed my workday before meditating was simply off kilter. I felt scattered and had difficulty focusing on what I needed to accomplish and now I know meditating in the morning is best for me. Not only that but I think it is time for me to increase my meditation time. Currently I have worked up to about 15 mins and I want to extend that within the next 30 days to around 20 mins or more. I look forward to sharing the differences I experience with an extended morning practice.
I am also open to any suggestions you may have from your own meditation practice. What works for you?