Lynne S. Gots, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Meditation Notebook: Days 3, 4, and 5
By Lynne Gots, posted on March 20th, 2012.
I’m still meditating five minutes a day. I can’t say I’ve reached a state of enlightenment yet, or even of greater calm, but I have made a few more observations.
1) On the third day, a funny thing happened on the way to meditating. I realized I was looking forward to it! Rather than feeling irritated about having to fit it in, I was actually pleased for the brief respite in the middle of my hectic day.
2) Self-evaluative thoughts still creep in. On a day when sitting down to concentrate on my breath seemed like more of an obligation than a relaxing break, I stole a peek at my watch to see how much longer I had to go. I immediately thought, “You blew it! You’re not supposed to look at your watch.”
3) I notice sensations more acutely. Concentrating too hard on breathing made me feel short of breath. An urge to scratch a distracting itch over my right eyebrow faded after I resisted giving into it for ten or twenty seconds; then the itch moved to my right eyelid.
4) It’s easier to concentrate when there are fewer external distractions—say, a husband eating dessert in the next room. My heightened sensory awareness amplified the clink of his spoon against the bowl to deafening decibels. And why haven’t I ever noticed how loudly he slurps his ice cream?
I’ll be wrapping up my introductory week of meditation in my next post.
Tags: meditation, mindfulness, self-help
Posted in Acceptance and Mindfulness, Self-help |
Meditation Notebook: Day 1 and 2
By Lynne Gots, posted on March 15th, 2012.
As I said in my last post, I’ve made a commitment to practice mindful meditation for five minutes a day and report back on my experience.
Observation #1: I sometimes make simple tasks more complicated than they need to be. Before I actually sat down to meditate on day 1, I spent five minutes testing all the ring tones on my timer to find the “right” one. I ended up selecting Windchimes. I also wasted some more time trying to decide where I should sit for my five minutes of mindful breathing. On the couch in the living room? In the armchair in the bedroom? Outside on the deck?
Already so mindful, and I hadn’t even gotten started yet! I congratulated myself for paying attention to the automatic internal chatter and began to feel a little smug about my advanced self-awareness skills. Maybe I should do more than five minutes a day? Could I benefit even more, in less time, by skipping over the basics—which I already know—and advancing to the accelerated course?
This line of thinking led to my second observation.
Observation #2: I get impatient. I don’t like being a beginner. But it’s better in the long run to spend time building a solid base before adding onto it.
Observation #3: On both the first and second day, despite knowing I’d committed to practicing meditation daily and realizing I’d be embarrassed if I didn’t follow through with my plan, I almost forgot to do it. I wasn’t avoiding it. I just didn’t think about it. The behavior hasn’t become habitual yet, and to make it routine I’ll have to create reminders for myself—maybe set an alarm on my phone or schedule it to follow an already formed habit, like brushing my teeth in the morning.
After my heightened awareness during the premeditation period, the actual meditation sessions were a little anticlimactic– not unpleasant but not particularly restorative, either.
I’ll have to see where it goes.
Tags: meditation, mindfiulness, self-help
Posted in Self-help |
How to Meditate: Just Put Your Lips Together and Blow
By Lynne Gots, posted on March 13th, 2012.
I’ve been meaning to start meditating regularly, but somehow I never get around to it. Even though I’ve kept up with the research on meditation’s health benefits, attended workshops on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and downloaded Buddhist prayer chime apps on my phone, I keep putting off making meditation a regular part of my day.
If I want to be truly credible when I recommend meditation to my patients, I really need to get off—or, rather, on—my butt and practice it myself.
My armchair quarterbacking reminds me of all the hours spent observing my son while he was learning to play the trumpet before he could drive himself to his weekly lessons. I absorbed his teachers’ suggestions about embouchure and breath control so thoroughly that I almost believed I could pick up a horn and perform a passable rendition of The Hummel without ever having played a note of my own.
When he got stuck on difficult passages during practice, I’d offer helpful technical advice. My tips about double and triple tonguing were always met with some verbal or nonverbal variant of “Shut up, Mom.” ( The maternal wisdom I impart now that he’s in college elicits the same reaction. But that’s another story.)
In the last week or so, as I’ve been working up to making a public declaration of my intention to cultivate mindfulness through meditation, I’ve at least become more mindful of the mental obstacles I put in my path. Here are a few of them.
- I don’t have time today.
- I need to read my new mindfulness book first.
- I have to do my taxes.
- I can’t possibly meditate two—TWO—times a day, like the new mindfulness book recommends.
- It’s too nice outside.
- I’m so tired I’d fall asleep.
- I need to buy a more comfortable chair.
- I can’t start on the weekend.
- I can’t start in the middle of the week.
- I’m not good at it.
- I won’t be able to stick with it.
- I’d rather watch paint dry.
I’ve decided to start anyway. Yes, I am really busy and it is beautiful out and I am really tired and I do have to work on my taxes and it is the middle of the week. And I might not stick with it. But I’m going to give it a go—once a day at first and only for five minutes, just to see if I can do it. I plan to write about my observations along the way.
I’m starting today. Quieting my mind will take some extra effort because my son is coming home this afternoon and bringing the four other members of his trumpet ensemble with him. They’ll be rehearsing in our house for their upcoming performance at the National Trumpet Competition.
I hope being more mindful will help me resist the urge to comment on their intonation.
Tags: meditation, mindfulness, self-help
Posted in Acceptance and Mindfulness, Self-help, Techniques |
