develop a meditation habit

I’m taking an online meditation class from the Meditation Society of Australia: http://meditation.org.au/. I’ve been “taking” those classes for a few years now. Obviously, I’m not being very good about actually following them. Every few months, I get a “gentle reminder” from the website saying essentially: “What gives? Are you actually doing this or what?” So far, the answer is “what.”

No more. I’m going to restart the classes tonight.

I am making it to the meditation class I started 2-3 times a month. I’d like to be more consistent as the regularity of the class is a big help in keeping the lessons and mindset going in my daily life. At best, I manage to sneak away to meditate outside of class for 30 minutes. At worst, I go all week without meditating, so I have a ways to go before I’ve made this a daily practice.

I think the favorite thing I’ve learned so far involves some meditations that help curb judging others. Our minds are automatic classifiers. Sometimes I can’t seem to make mine stop from making the most trivial of judgments about people. Thinking of everyone as a buddha just short circuits my judging mind and I love that. It has also been helpful that the meditation series we are doing right now is all about developing confidence and overcoming obstacles – a great theme for novice meditators.

im taking a more open approach to accomplishing this…im getting into yoga, and using it to center myself both physically and mentally. this helps me a lot…i am sore from work school and errands by the time i get home, and i dont want the pain or stiffness to distract me. so far so good…although its only been three days! wish me luck.

I went to my first meditation class about 3 weeks ago, and made it to my second class this past week. I’ve enjoyed both classes quite a bit. The content is interesting (though a bit more Buddhism than I knew I was going to get), and the practice has been rewarding. I have managed to fit in meditation 2-3 times a week outside of class, so, so far this seems like a good start. I like the teacher who leads the class, and it turns out I met him a decade ago in a totally different context. The class itself seems deeply radical, 6-7 people with nothing in common other than a desire to improve our minds, gathered in a totally counter-cultural context.

Of all the goals listed on 43 Things this might be the one I currently most hope to accomplish. I think I have a chance!

i started listening to cds of guided meditations about 2 months ago and i really liked how it made me feel. i was pretty steady and doing this on a daily basis, which regressed to on and off. i feel that this is an important thing for me to center myself and i need to get back to it on a daily basis.
unfortunately, when i meditate recently, i am not getting the same effects, which is rather discouraging.
but even if i just do it to relax, its gotta be worth it, and maybe it will improve in time.
i just need to remember to do it on a daily basis.
i need a daily to-do list.
i.e. brush teeth, take vitamins, meditate, evaluate, put on pants, etc.

I began meditating about 15 years ago. Once I stopped trying to figure out how to have a perfect meditation….....it began, perfectly!

Uyusti,
TurquoiseLady