I remember writing a post on my Instagram about how I wanted to meditate but made so many excuses as to why it wouldn’t happen such as..
“ I can’t sit still and think about nothing”
“ I’m too busy”
“ I don’t have enough time ”
So I had written myself off well before I had given myself a chance to give it a good crack. It was then that I called myself out on my own shit, and took ownership of my own mental wellbeing.
It’s weird right for most people that know me they would think I’m pretty chill guy, fairly easy going and not that intense, well I can tell you below the surface it’s like there is a constant war with myself going on. I’ve always been naturally very driven which has its positives but when it comes to stopping and smelling the roses it doesn’t exist. My life had become a game of measurement, progress, and results!
I knew that there was so much more to me and I also knew I was not committing to something that I wasn’t even sure I was going to get anything out of (no measure of success), yes it’s a selfish motivator but I do like certainty(progress) and why do something if you don’t know if or what the outcome is (results)
I had to turn over a new leaf and now was the time!
Either way if I didn’t do it I wouldn’t find out so I told myself two things to get me started.
- Make it to easy not to do it
- Don’t make a fuss about it just get going (basically don’t set up a shrine and a room just for meditation, don’t journal before and after, listen to music if you want, lie down if you want to, and don’t stress if you fall asleep you probably needed it )
This translated into the following affirmation
“Commit to 10 minutes a day for 100 days and see how you go”
And off I went into the unknown me, myself and I every day for what seemed like the longest 10 minutes of my day!
I went cold turkey no prior meditation training except for a short stint in Thailand where myself and about 10,000 other tourists found that spiritual moment visiting and connecting with Buddhist monks and monasteries getting Zen after a long night of partying at the full moon festival. Backing myself with limited knowledge and remembering the 1 singular meditation tip that still sticks with me today “the primary sense to observe during meditation is the sense of listening” by listening to my breath I was able to sink in and out of what I think was a meditative state but who can really say sometimes I would fall asleep and not know any different.
I did have one piece of handy arsenal in my tool kit which I think made a huge difference to my consistency which was a great meditation APP called Insight TimerI would select the sound that most resonated with me (listening) and do my best to stay still for the next 10 minutes.
This was more of a challenge than I would have expected, I remember day 1 session 1 I had just clicked the start button on my app and by the time I laid down to meditate (literally 3 seconds) I immediately rose up to go put the laundry out on the line. I couldn’t believe it within 3 seconds I had forgotten I was meant to be meditating and was already on the move to the next task. I laughed and thought to myself “ Mate you got to settle down and make this work , you clearly need it” the ensuing 10 minutes I spent battling thoughts of having wet washing (dork)
So I continued every day I found the 10 minutes wherever I could with no specific times of the day I just made it happen.
I remember some specific milestones like hitting day 50 and thinking to myself, I’m only halfway and this is still a daily battle to do it (clearly I was not really enjoying the process)and knew because of this I had to push on.
This changed around day 65 after a conversation with a dear friend and client of mine who suggested extending the meditation practice for at least one of the sessions you do per week, citing that from his experience, it made a huge difference to getting into a deep meditative state. And so I did the next day I locked down for a 45 minute session and without a doubt that’s where the crown jewels of mediation where found.
Yep the first 10 minutes were a real struggle, then not long after a sense of light headedness overcame me, flushes of coloured light would swirl through my mind, I remember feeling separate from my body and observing the lights like fireworks in the sky, this continued for what seemed like seconds until I was shaken by the 45 minute timer chime letting me know that my time was up.
I was immediately brought back into reality, sitting in the middle of Brisbane’s CBD on a patch of grass outside a church a weird and surreal moment as the lunchtime corporate hordes flowed in and around me rushing to get their lunch and back to the office. I sat and watched , everything and everyone around me moving at such a fast pace, and noticed that despite this I was very chill as I returned to work with no noisy thoughts, no stress and no anxiety, I felt calm and ready for the afternoons clients.
What I learnt after this experience is that 10 minutes a day is barely enough to get past the noise of the day, I’ve been told that this is called the burn off process, whereby the initial stages of meditation is about burning of the stresses and thoughts you need to pass to reach the deeper states of mediation.
I still have my ups and downs with meditation, but on the whole I understand why it’s important to meditate and the benefits of it as a daily practice.
HOW DID IT CHANGE ME???
Well I have to say when I began this mission I had no intention of completing the 100 days consecutively. My original plan was to complete 100 days in this year (2019) but as I got into it, I found that I was more likely to fail if I didn’t stick with it on the daily. So the first significant change was to complete the 1 task daily no matter what! This was a big deal coming from a zero baseline to once a day every day for 100 days.
I feel more in tune with day to day life, certainly not without stress but I have a practical way to process it.
I’ve become a night time meditator whereas I always felt it was a morning ritual thing to set you up for the day, this still holds true but in an unexpected way, you see meditating by night gets me in the best state for sleep. With a good nights rest I’m by far a better performer with far less worry on my mind.
With less worry on my mind I feel more empowered to follow a life of fulfillment, working towards things that I enjoy and love doing and most importantly sharing those things with everybody ( by now you have probably picked up that I love meditation)
I also feel that I’m not forcing life, I always thought that I have full control over all outcomes and that I’m responsible for whatever happens kinda like the old saying “ if it’s meant to be it’s up to me” which is still correct but I’ve learnt that I can’t control everything I can only control what I can (how I feel) and if you live a life where you simply love what you do the things you need to elevate that affirmation will arrive with less effort.
Fast forward 238 days to the day I write this and I’ve not budged on this everyday habit
Why?
Cos it’s a bloody habit that’s why I’ve embedded this so deeply into my everyday life that I would say it’s virtually impossible for me to break it unless I made the conscious decision to break the habit.
For me meditation is still not easy , I know I have to go into the cave to deal with my own demons again but I also know that by committing to the process I’m leaving no stone unturned when it comes to being at my best when I’m needed the most , by my family, my friends and my community.
This is very much worth the 10 minutes a day.
Author Coach Richie Chun