A month on from Meditating every day and Press-up Update (pressupdate)
About a month ago, I made a pledge to you, and to me, to meditate, seriously and consistently, for a month.
Being a PT, I have to get up fairly early most mornings, but having read up on it, it seemed like the best time to do. So I get up in the morning, drink a large glass of water, go to the toilet and then go and sit on my sofa, shut my eyes and... that's it. It's all you have to do. I focus on my breathing, quietly in and out, and try to empty my head ("shouldn't be hard" - Everyone) Using a tip a friend gave to me, when thoughts do come into my head, I imagine them as a bubble, that then 'pops' and clears from my thoughts, and amazingly, it really works. I did it consistently for the first 12 days, for 10 minutes at a time. Obviously I wasn't aware of any changes immediately, but after about eight days, I started to notice I was calmer during the day. Things that might previously have agitated me or made me feel anxious in some way, were less of a bother. I felt more... capable. And that, I'm delighted to announce, has continued. I missed a few days, but found it fairly easy to get back into it. Better still, I discovered I can do it for less time, at different times of the day, and still feel the benefits. Yesterday I was early for a client, and various things on my to do list were scrolling through my head and giving me some mild (but unnecessary) stress. So I parked up, turned the engine off, set my phone's timer for five minutes, and shut my eyes... (I know this is getting a bit 'Gillian Tayleforth' - ask your Grandparents - but bear with me) and just focused on my breathing again. A: the five minutes went really quickly and B: the rest of the day I felt calm, capable and in control, it was GREAT. I can't recommend it highly enough, give it a go. Let me know how you get on. ALSO! This month's press-up challenge started on Wednesday. All you have to do, is choose a set number of press-ups you can do, do them, and then add another two the next day. So if you started on 20 on Wednesday, you should have done (or be about to do) 24 today. Easy! Hope it's all going well with your press-ups - shout if you have any questions/feedback on this. Best wishes, Matt "Yogi" Boyles