Meditation Challenge Diary Week 1

There are many types of meditation to pick from, based on your preferences or needs.

I have tried meditation before, but it's been ages since I've last done it. @eco-alex 's Meditation challenge motivated me to start again and this time to write down my experiences. I've found certain types of meditation to help me with my concentration and visualization. I loosely use the word meditation in the post as I don't worry about the precise methods, rather make it effective as possible.

Meditation is not a substitute or solution, it won't solve problems. However, it has it's own benefits and advise to at least try it.
Most of the days I stuck to the 15 min goal, by setting a silent vibrating alarm on phone.

Day 1

Emptying the mind meditation- achieving tranquility. I sat comfortably on the couch and let go of thoughts or feelings and sometimes concentrated on breathing. It's relaxing, but I almost fell asleep, so I recommend to do this in the morning instead of the night. Also surprisingly at first I felt tremor in my chest, which eventually subsided.

I've been overly stressed lately, but I've finally started removing stressors that I feel are unnecessary. I've been sleeping bad for a week and simply felt burned out, mostly because of my hectic thoughts.

Day 2

Today I chose seeing meditation, seeing without analyzing/judging. However, first I started with a minute of just closed eyes and examined what my body feels like today. I didn't feel any the chest tremor, but I also did some stretching earlier. This time I sat loosely on the floor in the karate's seiza position.

I took a puzzle box with a picture and looked at it for almost 15 mins, without thinking too much. I started from 1 corner to the other and around. Occasionally I closed my eyes and tried to see the image in my mind as clearly as possible. You can use any object or simply sit in a park and look around you. Simply looking, no judging or commenting.

Day 3

Imagination meditation- visualizing with the closed eyes. As usual I first closed my eyes, emptied the mind and listened to my body. Then I started the visualization. First I recalled the whole day with as many details. Next tried recalling all of my recent drawings, which was harder than expected. This part of meditation makes you realize how much of the day you actually pay attention and how much you do on auto-pilot.

Then I tried imagining some my drawing come to life, what they really look like and new fantastical creatures. Finally I
visualized random daily objects that I normally ignore. I did this in the evening for 15 minutes, sitting relaxed on the couch.

Day 4

Unconditional self love. Useful if feeling down or stuck without progress. I am probably my own biggest critic, and I tried countering it by appreciating myself. Not the achievements, rather simply accepted myself for who I am. This is important, because by loving yourself you can love others without neediness.

Did this in bed, to muster energy for the day.

Day 5

Emptying mind and loving kindness for others. This time I did it only in short periods throughout the day. I think it's less effective than a 15 minute session, but it's still better than nothing. I should plan my days better and include time for at least 10 minutes meditation.

Day 6

Stretching, body meditation. Unconventional, but effective for me. I kept my breathing constant and did slow stretches from head to toes. Also payed attention where the most tension is and worked on it, like the knees. I kept my eyes closed the whole time and when I felt that I was done, I sat in the seiza position and concentrated on the breathing for the rest of the time.

If you're not sure where to begin I suggest checking out pinterest for many visual explanation and guides to meditation.

Challenge Guidelines by @eco-alex

You may choose any style of kind of meditation
You should meditate for at least 15 minutes each day
Post once at the end of your challenge, or every day, and tell us all how it went!
In your post, let us know if you will continue the challenge for another week ;-)
Your first tag should be 'meditation-challenge' so we can all find your post. You can use any other tags you like.
Copy These Guidelines and the Recommended Meditation in your post.
Nominate one person to do the challenge
Please Re-Steem this post to encourage others!
You may start this at anytime. This challenge continue indefinitely!

I made this art to give this post a relaxing vibe. Hope you enjoy!

Thank you for reading! ♡