Everyday Mindfulness

I started proper 10 minute mindfulness sitting nearly everyday from about October. At first I really struggled to try and clear my mind, and was actually very sucessful and could spend minutes at a time with a thoughtless mind. It kept being stressed to me that this wasn't the point and I gradually ...

Started week 3 yesterday. It was so funny. We got onto the second meditation and our dog joined in. He jumped up on a chair, stuck his nose in the air and on perfect cue to 'now focus on the breathing', he started snorting like a pig in a fit of sneezes. We both howled with laughter :lol: It did tea...

Update from us on our progress. 6 days into week 2 and I am doing well in terms of fitting everything. My other half is struggling though. I am extremely lucky that I set my own agenda for the whole day, whereas my wife is a teacher and her day is literally run by bells! She is conciously incompeten...

JonW wrote:.
in the process, we need to be extremely gentle and patient with ourselves. Slowly but surely, with regular practice, healthier habits become the norm.

This is why I have found self compassion to be so useful.

Nick

When you first start to meditate you may find it difficult to let go of your inner voice, being plagued by busy thoughts... Indeed. I also find busy thoughts depend on my energy levels and stress levels. For me there is a very definite difference bewteen the voice I purposefully use to help myself,...

Thought I would share my first week experiences of the 8 week course. I am just about managing the 8 minutes twice a day, but sometimes it is 20 minutes once a day. I have learned to relax and not block too much out and value the times my mind wanders. We all try to sit at different places at the di...

Right, that was interesting. I think I am getting to the bottom of the issue. I sat for 10 minutes and made a point of accepting any thought that came into my head, what ever it was, acknowledging it, then letting it go. One specific thought came into my head and caused a massive hormonal change in ...

Ah, I see.
So it doesn't matter how long my mind wanders for.
I'll give it go, thanks.
Nick

Hi Nick, when you practice, you are not required to stop your thoughts. Meditation is not something you need to accomplish, or create some special "clear mind" state. There is no problem if your thoughts keep coming and coming. They are supposed to do that. This way, you just look at them,...

Hi Wagtail,
Thanks for sharing,it is good to hear about your experiences.
A compassionate self voice was the big thing missing for me. I am hoping it will get stronger the more I use it.
ps,
I love your signature, so true