Let's get pratical #1: 1h of meditation per day

[Raphael]

20 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: I have mixed feelings about today's meditation. I originally did it in the morning but got interrupted at 46 minutes by some text messages on my phone, so as I wanted to achieve my goal of 1 hour for 30 days I choose to meditate again in the evening. In total, I meditated for 1 hour and 46 minutes today. The first meditation was pretty calm, the second one was more complicated as I was agitated, stressed about some stuff, had a lot of thoughts, and also move my body too much, but I kept it up anyway. In the end, I didn't felt more conscious when I opened my eyes but was satisfied that I'm able to continue my challenge.

[Raphael]

21 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: Even though I was a little sleepy, this session went pretty well. I had a lot of thoughts, but I didn't move my body a lot. At a moment I felt like I was merging with everything and my body was very lightweight. I was a little calmer when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

22 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went well even if I was quite agitated at some moments. I felt a deep profound love as I was having thoughts about a successful self-actualization future for me. I move my body a little too much and I didn't felt more conscious when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

23 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went well, but I had some angry thoughts about stage blue and bad past experiences I had with it. I didn't move a body a lot, except near the end. I felt a little calmer when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

24 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went well even though I meditated late at night and was a little sleepy. I had a lot of thoughts and move my body a little at some moments. I didn't felt more conscious when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

25 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went well, I had a lot of thoughts, but I also had a moment where I felt very calm. I didn't move my body a lot except near the end. I felt calmer when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

26 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went well, I wanted to be mindful and I did sometimes, but I was lost in thoughts most of the time. I didn't move my body at all and kept my back straight during all the meditation. I felt calmer when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

27 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went very well. I let my mind do everything that it wanted so I had a lot of thoughts, but I didn't move my body and kept my back straight during all the session. I felt calmer and more conscious when I opened my eyes.

Edited February 28, 2020 by Raphael
Date correction

[Raphael]

28 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went well, I had a lot of thoughts but I didn't move my body. I feel like I'm more able to meditate 1 hour every day, it feels like my sessions are easier and faster. I didn't felt more conscious when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

29 February 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session went well. I tried to concentrate on my breath today, I succeeded at some times and failed other times where I was having more thoughts, at some moments I had very subtle tingling sensations in my hands. I was a little sleepy as I meditated late at night and I move my body a little too much. I felt calmer when I opened my eyes.

[Inliytened1]

This is extremely impressive.  Are you doing self inquiry and concentration practices?

[Raphael]

1 March 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: I originally meditated in the morning but I got interrupted by some messages on my phone that caused me to stop at 36 minutes. However, as I wanted to succeed in my challenge I decided to meditate again in the evening and did the full 1 hour this time, so in total, I meditated 1 hour and 36 minutes today. I wanted to do some mindfulness, but it went like shit as I was having too many thoughts. I notably had thoughts on an awesome web application that I could build and that could revolutionize the web and make me completely financially independent, I visualized it and it was very compelling. I moved my body at some moment and I noticed that I was a little too tight in my recent meditation sessions, it's probably because of the pressure that I have on myself, but I need to learn to let it go. I didn't felt more conscious when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

20 hours ago, Inliytened1 said:

This is extremely impressive.  Are you doing self inquiry and concentration practices?

Hi, thank you

I'm not doing self-inquiry as I only have some vague knowledge about what it is, but I think I will probably do more concentration practices in the future as I will need it to perform better in my work.

I'm now more used to meditate for 1 hour, so it's not that difficult for me anymore, it's just normal. But, I do understand that many people can find it impressive as it was incomprehensible for me 2 - 3 years ago that someone could meditate for 1 hour every day.

[Raphael]

2 March 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: Today's meditation was really nice. I calmer as I relaxed my body a lot compared to past days, I still had a lot of thoughts, but I didn't move my body and kept my back straight all the time. I felt more conscious, calmer, and lighter when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

3 March 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: I got distracted again in the morning while meditating, so I stopped at 40 minutes. Then, in the evening, I decided to do the full 1 hour, so in total, I meditated for 1 hour 40 minutes today. The session went extremely well, I felt so lightweight that it was like some parts of my body were disappearing notably my arms. I felt connected to everything and I also didn't move my body during the meditation and kept my back straight all the time. I was really more conscious, calmer and lighter when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

4 March 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: The session was more difficult than yesterday as I meditated late at night. I had a lot of thought and was also a little sad while thinking about some stuff, I also move my body a lot. I felt like the session went way faster than 1 hour, but I didn't felt more conscious when I opened my eyes.

[Raphael]

5 March 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: Today's session was also a little difficult. I was a little sleepy as I didn't have enough sleep last night, I also had a lot of thoughts, and move my body a lot. I didn't felt more conscious when I opened my eyes.

[Gajuun]

@Raphael regarding Mar 5, 2020 session, were you aware of some of these thoughts? How about some of those body movements? 

I think you mentioned before that your practice is do-nothing meditation. Do you resist in some way to your thoughts or your body moving? Is it possible to be aware of this resistance?

Excellent consistency btw. Keep up the good work. Have you noticed any benefits that have bled into your day-to-day life?

Edited March 5, 2020 by Gajuun

[Raphael]

12 minutes ago, Gajuun said:

@Raphael regarding Mar 5, 2020 session, were you aware of some of these thoughts? How about some of those body movements? 

I think you mentioned before that your practice is do-nothing meditation. Do you resist in some way to your thoughts or your body moving? Is it possible to be aware of this resistance?

Excellent consistency btw. Keep up the good work. Have you noticed any benefits that have bled into your day-to-day life?

I think I lack awareness here notably about the thoughts. I always lived in my head and always had a hyperactive mind since I was a kid. For the body movements, it's easier to notice them and correct my posture. I also feel like having good nights of sleep with a regular schedule helps me to have good meditation sessions.

Most of the time I don't resist the thoughts and get lost in them, but I experienced that consciously letting go helps a lot, so yes it's possible to be aware of the resistance and I'm aware of it sometimes.

My life goes more smoothly now and I worry less about mundane stuff that used to get stuck in my head. I feel like I'm much more mature, loving, compassionate, sensitive, intuitive, open and understand much stuff that was not I wouldn't before.

[Raphael]

6 March 2020

Time: 1 hour
Eyes always closed: Yes

Summary: I practiced letting go today, I succeeded sometimes, but my thoughts also took over a lot of times. I feel like it's much easier to calm the mind by letting go rather than resisting. Letting go doesn't attract thoughts, letting go empty the mind and body of its impurities. It's like being a water source without a container that expands more and more where resistance is more like having a shield that protects from thoughts attacks and starts to break after some time. The more we resist something, the more the thing is susceptible to happen. I felt becoming quite empty while letting go, I also felt quite lightweight sometimes. I didn't move my body a lot during this session and felt more conscious and lightweight when I opened my eyes.