My BEST Living Practice

Overall this experience has been extremely beneficial for me. As I had talked about in my first couple of posts, there were a lot of things that I felt meditation could help me with. Especially my attention span and my ability to focus. Both of these things have begun to improve as well as a variety of other benefits that I wasn't expecting from this exercise. Now I still want to meditate moving forward, and see if the other benefits that were talked about will manifest themselves to me moving forward.

Along with slowing the aging process while meditating, A lot of studies show that you will also have lower blood pressure. I think this comes from a variety of other benefits that I have already realized. First, stress can affect blood pressure. Especially when the level of stress is high. As discussed in an earlier post, meditating can lower your stress level. Second, meditating leads to living a healthier lifestyle. Now I am not sure what the cause of this benefit is, but the more I think about myself and how my day has been, the more I plan for how I want my days to go in the future.

Now that I have covered most of the benefits I have seen from meditation, I want to talk about some benefits that can show with long-term meditation. First, studies show that if I continue to meditate I will age slower!! I'm not sure as to the reasons behind this, some studies say that reduces stress is the cause, others say that allowing time for you to focus inward allow you to make smarter decisions.

I love food. It's something that defines me, and usually, I don't care what kind of food it is. However, While meditating it has given me the desire for healthier options. This has changed my desire for the things I put into my body and I have definitely noticed.

One of the benefits that has been the biggest surprise has been the ability to meditate anywhere. I didn't think this would be possible, especially since I have such a hard time focusing when there are other distractions around.

Another huge benefit that I have noticed from this experience is a greater sense of awareness. I would normally have considered myself a pretty self-aware person. However, with this exercise, it has given me some specific time to look deeply into myself. Because of this time I have realized aspects of myself that haven't been clear before.

Being in college, at times, feels synonymous to being exhausted. Little sleep, lots of deadlines, many aspects of life to balance, along with long hours of studying and classes. For most of my years at college I didn't have energy. However when I take some time to clear my head and find my center, it energizes me and allows me to continue to complete the tasks I need to. 

Another benefit I have begun to notice from daily meditation has been my happiness level. When I recenter myself I begin to focus on what is really important and forget my worries about the things that don't.

I want to take the next couple of posts ad talk about the benefits that I have seen from meditating. First, I have been noticing I am more relaxed throughout the day. Slower to get annoyed, slower to become frustrated, and just.....happier.

Alright! I had my first full session where I was focused the entire time! This is a big deal for me since I usually have a hard time focusing on......well anything really. My mind just tends to wander and I get off track. But this time I finally had a full session where I focused the whole time.

When looking at the effect of meditation on myself I am beginning to realize how much better I am getting at focusing, especially over longer periods of time. I mean, if 10 minutes can be considered a long time. 

In my past posts I have mentioned how difficult it has been for me to focus the entire time during my meditations. I have tried different times and settings, but this time I decided to go to Google and ask for advice. From a list I found in this search I have decided to put these three practices into my mediation. Count my breaths Don' focus on how to meditate, just relax Check in with how I'm feeling as a part of the meditation

The hardest part of this assignment is to remember to blog the experience after you finish. I usually do my mindful meditation either right before I head out for the day, or between classes during the school day. However, by doing this assignment I am realizing this is a great opportunity to practice diligence.

It's hard to focus for 10 minutes on just your breathing. I've noticed one of two things happen. As I start to focus on my breathing I relax, start to get too comfortable, and almost fall asleep! This is especially true either first thing in the morning or late at night. However, when I have some music in the background it helps me focus. But only if it doesn't have words. When there are lots of meetings, things to remember, and assignments due I begin to focus on them instead of my breathing. As a student, with so many things vying for my attention it's hard to forget about all of them and focus on myself.

I've decided to take on the challenge of meditating everyday for 5-10 minutes to build my mindfulness. For a long time I have felt a disconnect between myself and who I would like to be and every time I realize this the thought gets pushed to the back of my mind. I'm a student, life is busy, and I don't feel like I have the time to reflect on this detachment. The time has come to really face this head on.