The 7-Day Meditation Experiment
With the New Year just past us, I decided to take a different approach to resolution-making: Rather than picking one goal or habit to change, I chose to pursue personal experiments related to well-being. The first of which is incorporating a 15-minute meditation into my morning routine for one week (as a foundation). The reason I chose meditation is because I've only heard positive feedback about it, both physically and mentally. After each session I journaled my experience and thoughts; see below the transformation I went through...
Day 1 - Thursday, January 11
After my 8:30am alarm, I threw on some sweats and sluggishly made my way to the bathroom. A cold splash of water on my tired, puffy face was just enough to start the awakening process. I went downstairs and opened my laptop in the living room, searching for guided meditations on YouTube (naturally). As a meditation beginner, I was searching for a video that offered a soothing voice to tell me what to do lol. That is exactly what I found :) I connected my Mac to the bluetooth speakers, pressed play, and sat down in the middle of the floor.
As it began, there was a peaceful soundtrack in the background of ocean waves meeting the shore met with soft instrumentals. I could feel my mind letting go of its wandering thoughts and focusing more on my breath, my muscles, and my presence. With each exhale I tried to visualize "letting go" of negative energy, and purifying myself. After the 15 minutes were done, I felt very awake and refreshed! It was as if the second I opened my eyes, I could feel the blood flowing through me :) Next step = coffee!
Day 2 - Friday, January 12
My body felt extra tired and sore from training with the national volleyball team Thursday evening. Same routine in the bathroom, and I made my way to the living room floor. This time, I added a soft blanket to sit on so that I was more comfortable (still don't have a yoga mat here).
I found my mind wandering more thinking about how much I hurt in my knees, shoulders, and back. However, following the guidance of the video's voice eventually helped me focus my awareness elsewhere. Deep breath in, deep breath out while stretching, and hold position for a few seconds. This was the procedure I followed for myself to try and alleviate the pain - it actually helped a lot! I slowly felt my muscles get warmer and looser over time, allowing me to finish the meditation just laying down, palms facing up, completely relaxed. My backside was melting into the floor. When I opened my eyes at the end, I did a few last yoga stretches and went about my day. So far so good! :)
Day 3 - Saturday, January 13
This day my routine fell a little bit off track; I didn't perform the yoga/meditation until about 45 minutes after waking up. To me this was already enough to mess with the "flow". However, I did it anyways...
I focused more on going deep into my stretches, rather than relaxing the mind. As I was already fairly awake, I wanted to maintain the awareness and harness it to a different purpose. As Saturday was game day, it was important for me to get into a healthy mental state. After 15 minutes was up, I still felt the need to stretch more - so I did :) My body was loose and strong at the same time, I had a great warm-up for the volleyball match, and we won. Voilà !
Missed Day :( - Sunday, January 14
I woke up feeling really stiff and in pain in several places after the match. I decided to skip the meditation this day, but I'm not feeling guilty about it...
Day 4 - Monday, January 15
Okay, THIS was a great experience. My goal this morning was to exaggerate the commands of the guided meditation - pretend I was an advanced "user" of meditation and yoga. Every breath in was deep to the bottom of my lungs, and every breath out carried toxic molecules away. I was that "annoying person in yoga/meditation class breathing really loud" :D *angel emoji* The exaggeration surprisingly helped, once I stopped thinking about how silly I must look (but who cares, because I was the only one in the room). This was my time. I finished the last 5 minutes in an upright position, straight posture, legs crossed, and spoke out words of positivity and gratitude to myself:
"I am thankful to have a healthy, strong vessel in this life"
"I have the power to control my thoughts, which become things"
"My curiosity and creativity lead me to this experience"
"I am thankful for a loving family, friends, and boyfriend"
"My greatest power is my heart, and the love it holds"
O.K. - it sounds really cheesy and may make you cringe just by reading that (lol), but it actually works!!! Based on 2 books I've read, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k by Mark Manson and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, I practiced what they preach: The mind is our most powerful tool, and the power of our thoughts is even greater. And just because it's relevant to everyone today, I think we all need to be "relentless for our well-beings". Try it sometime.
Day 5 - Tuesday, January 16
This was an emotional 15 minutes. Why? Stay tuned...
As much as I love the original soundtrack I'd been listening to for 15 minutes every morning, I wanted to change it up. Using the same YouTube channel publisher, I searched for other styles of guided meditation videos. The winner was called, "GUIDED MEDITATION - Clearing Negativity" . A soothing, male Australian voice spoke out and asked that I visualize a bright light. After another minute or so of visualizing this bright light, it asked me to look into the light and see the figure of a person appear. For whatever reason, I saw my deceased older brother. It was after this moment that the guided meditation labeled this person as my "personal guardian"... say what?
Symbolically, I went along with it and continued to see my brother's 21 year-old face. The comforting narration continued on, adding several more commands on which topics to think about, etc. I ended up opening my eyes with a teardrop sneaking out, and I knew exactly why:
It had been at least a year since I really looked at my brother's face in my dreams or thoughts - I immediately felt a sense of warmth and love.
I put my faith in myself for achieving great things, while believing that I have someone special by my side at all times. <3 It's a happy thought :) ...
Day 6 - Wednesday, January 17
Do you ever stop and hone yourself in to the idea that you're a living, breathing, heart-beating being? Me neither...not until this session at least. The idea of mindfulness and being present doesn't have to be grand or far-reaching. It comes from the most simple, humble foundation: within.
I think, therefore I am.
Most of us have heard that quote before. It's found more in philosophy and theory, but I find it connected perfectly with the sport of mindfulness. Yes, I said sport. Because all sports require practice. It's not so easy to be mindful when there's so much material noise circulating around us every moment, and the temptation to give in to it is real.
This session I felt very aware of myself, and how alive I am. Here I was, sitting on the floor thinking about my own existence - it doesn't get more humbling than that. I thought about all the things I've seen in humanity that make me lose hope, "Why would anyone want to do that? What's the point?"... and all the things we do that make me proud, "What an amazing gesture. All we need is love and support for each other!" We have high highs and low lows all the time, but that doesn't mean the world is falling apart. I thought to myself, "Okay. I only have the power to control my thoughts and intentions. What happens after that is out of my hands."
And you know what? That's all it is. I've found, luckily, at a young age that struggle is inevitable... but it's f***ing worth it to be alive.
Day 7 - Thursday, January 18
On this final day of my zen experimentation, I decided to take the reigns and meditate/perform yoga on my own. Knowing that I often have mental "chatter" in the background, it was necessary to add the element of music. Merci, Spotify!
Yoga & Meditation playlist --> *click*
No voices, no commands, no guidance...just mesmerizing melodies and instrumentals. Here I was able to really let myself go with the music, and move with instinct. You could say my "flow" was on point ;) I'm always hearing different yoga teachers and meditation classes mention the "infinite energy source" that we are - and I never fully understood it until now (I think?)...
Here's the thing... we really are capable of incredible things when we put our minds to it. No, not just wishing for something, but actually thinking and acting with intention! Without intention we are just empty, purposeless vessels moving about life. It sounds depressing, but maybe you or someone else needs to hear it. I know I did.
Want to travel somewhere far away? Then do it! WORK for it!
Want to make more friends where you are? Great, so BE a friend yourself!
Want a new car? Nice - so start saving money each paycheck
Bottom line is we can be our own worst critique, or our own biggest fan - it's all about mentality :)