“Meditation and Life”
I have been meditating consistently since 2020. I generally meditate for 20 minutes every morning, and I practiced for over 1,000 days before eventually missing a day.
The meditation I practice is Transcendental Meditation (TM), which uses a repeated mantra, initially given to you by your instructor. I sit, back straight, eyes closed, and for 20 minutes focus on my breath while repeating the mantra in my head. If I find my mind wandering, which happens frequently, I gently return it to the mantra and my breath.
This act of conscientiously reigning in my mind and redirecting it is one of the great benefits of meditation. It helps in daily life as I find myself in endless mental planning loops or thinking far into the future and beyond my realm of influence. I gently bring my mind back to the present and try to focus on what is in front of me; what is in my control.
I do not consider myself a calm and peaceful person by any means. I doubt anyone who met me would guess I meditate. But I am much improved compared to who I was before I started. I have decreased anxiety and better emotional control. One of the tools that helped me most with my anxiety was a 60 x 60 meditation challenge.
I first heard about the idea on a podcast by @naval. The goal is to meditate for 60 minutes at a time for 60 straight days. This required me to wake up earlier than usual to give myself space before the kids woke up. I would meditate from 430 to 530 am every day.
The first couple of days were very difficult. I had already been meditating daily for over a year but at stretches of 20 minutes. 60 minutes seemed like an eternity. Around day 4 or 5, something happened. As I passed through my typical 20 minutes, my mind would get very calm. The remaining 40 minutes would literally fly by. I would have no urge to look at the clock. It was as close to effortless as I could imagine.
As I came to the end of the 60 days, I noticed a dramatic decrease in my anxiety levels. It was as if I had defragmented my inner hard drive and the machine was now functioning more smoothly.
I completed my 60 x 60 in 2021, and to this day I continue to feel the benefits. I do not recommend anyone jump into a 60 x 60 if they have not been meditating consistently for at least a year or longer. Anyone looking to get into meditation or just curious should read 10% Happier by Dan Harris. Take it slow in the beginning. Just 5 minutes a day and creating the space in your life can be beneficial.