Meditation Project: Forgetting to Take Notes

Untitled by Rene Magritte

This week I practiced six times as usual but the thing I kept forgetting to do was take notes afterward. Maybe this is a good sign? Along with trying not to judge myself, I'm trying not to think about what I'm going to write about my meditation session after I finish. I can only say that I'm getting better at that and that's why I just finish meditating and go about my life rather than rushing to my notebook to jot down my observations. But the result of that is that I have a lot less to say this week.

The main observation about the week is that I'm continuing to consciously notice when I judge the quality of my meditation and then just let go of that. This really does make it more comfortable to meditate and also easier to relax while I'm meditating—I notice the Relaxation Response kick in somewhere around 7 or 8 minutes (between the first and second chimes).

Perhaps the end of this process require stopping the journal? Or maybe I could transition to doing a monthly report instead? 

Also, I ended with a question after I tried mentally "enunciating" my mantra as a way of enhancing my focus. Is this a thing you should do when you meditate—come up with ways to enhance your focus? Or should you just go with whatever amount of focus naturally seems to occur? I actually really don't know. I would love to get some feedback about this.


Sunday, May 12, 2019

Practiced Legs Up the Wall in the Meditation/Laundry Drying room. Really focused on trying not to judge myself, which—duh—helped a lot.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Seated meditation before my asana practice. I forgot to take notes this day and can't remember anything special happening.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Same as Monday, including forgetting to write.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Seated meditation before my asana practice. I really noticed the Relaxation Response kick in around 7 or 8 minutes (between the first and second chimes). Was completely surprise when I opened my notebook to find I had forgotten to take notes the previous two days!

I decided that since I'd also been trying not to think about what I was going to write after I meditated, maybe it's a good sign that I'm forgetting to write? (I mean as long as I'm not forgetting to meditate, which I'm not.)

Thursday, May 16, 2019

I was worried about two different people who are dear to me. As I meditated thoughts about them—two very different people in very different challenging situations—flitted through my mind. I just kept telling myself that was okay as I return to concentrating on my mantra. That actually went pretty well. A big storm was in progress and that seemed metaphorical for my experience of quietly sitting with these concerns.

Friday, May 17, 2019

This day I was distracted in general by the fact that Brad was home doing various things downstairs and some friends were scheduled to arrive soon. I tried mentally "enunciating" my mantra as a way of focusing on it and that seemed to help. Is this a thing you should do when you meditate? Come up with ways to enhance your focus? Or should you just go with whatever amount of focus naturally seems to occur? I actually really don't know.

by Nina Zolotow

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