Mindfulness of Breathing – Journey 1 Month 1 Summary
I’ve survived the first month of meditation so I thought I’d go through progress so far.
Really, it feels like I’ve only just got going, as the first 3 weeks I was battling with head colds and aching limbs. I’ve only had one week without these major distractions, so it doesn’t feel like I’ve had the chance to get very far.
I suppose, though, it’s shown me that I can still meditate whilst ill, although it wasn’t particularly enjoyable. It didn’t seem very effective at the time but I still think it put down a foundation that has benefited me during the last week.
I’ve known from past attempts at meditating that it would take at least a couple of weeks for my body to adjust to being in the meditation position. Being older and less flexible now, it’s taken about 3 weeks this time. Hopefully, the main discomfort is behind me now.
As far as focusing on my breath has gone, I’ve seen some progress. I’ve experienced two different aspects to it; awareness and concentration.
Awareness of the breath, or how clearly I experience the breath, started off fairly bad in that the breath felt very distant and unclear, like it was behind a wall or lost in fog. Over the 4 weeks, it has gradually felt closer, clearer, more immediate but it still varies a lot from session to session.
Concentration on the breath, or how long I can focus on it, also began badly. In the first sessions, I could feel my concentration sliding away after just one breath. Once I started to count breaths, I found it a lot easier. By the end of the month, I had much fewer instances where I drifted completely off on thoughts. There were still a lot of minor thoughts though that popped up but these didn’t take the focus completely off my breath.
When I finished a few of the sessions, I noticed that for the next half an hour, my mind seemed quieter and more gentle. I’ve also noticed a couple of instances where I was aware that my mind felt a bit clearer with less thoughts buzzing around. However, I’ve not really been aware of any other effects of the meditation in everyday life.
I’m looking forward to the second month, which will hopefully have less distractions and more progress.