-- Trying out meditation // HEADSPACE.COM app // 3 days in a row --

For some time I've been thinking about meditation and mindfullness. I think it's a great skill to acquire and just to be able to calm your thoughts. Just taking control of (being able to observe) your mindset is a thing that cannot hurt.

When I saw Matt Sokols ( @heymattsokol ) post about meditation , I immediately contacted him and asked him for help to recommend some guides or tutorials.

He told me a couple of tips and comforting words, and shared a simple app called Headspace. It's a guided app that makes a soft and gentle introduction to meditation. It also has that "keep your track" note in it, which I really like. But those kind of things tend to distract the main focus.

Still I decided to try it (it has a FREE 10 day trial ), and for now I'm happy with it.

Day 1
The first thing I've noticed is that I don't feel comfortable sitting upright and straight.
Whenever I concentrate on my body sitting straight I feel the strain in my lower back.
I was worried of my breaths (been smoking for almost 15 years). Were they deep enough.

My mind wandered for some time, hopping from one focus to another - since I'm pretty auto-sugestive and easily associative. But one thing that did happen for around 5 - 10 seconds is the feeling of nothingness and complete relaxation.
Unfortunately the second I noticed that, my mind started wondering again.
Anyways, I was happy that I managed to sit still and take some time for myself like that for 3 minutes, and repeated the same process in the evening without the app.
(less successful)

Day 2
The first thing I did in the morning after waking up was going to the app.
Similar problems arose, the muscles straining, mind wondering. The feeling of emptiness wasn't something that I felt and made consciously, but even afterwards I felt content of the 3 minute routine (heheh if you do it twice, it's already a routine :D)

Day 3
Managed to use the app when I got the flat to myself. The video tutorial on the app talked about picturing your thoughts as a busy traffic road, and not trying to chase any of the thoughts, just training yourself to let go.

I noticed that the narrators voice guiding you trough the exercises is very pleasant, and already became familiar to me. It's very soothing and relaxed, and even tho it's guidance sometimes doesn't overlap with my rhythm, I manage to follow it slowly.

After today's session I felt calm and actually more energized and focused. I even noticed that some colors around me are sort of brighter and vivid - but that's probably a placebo :D.

Anyways, I'm still just practicing, but I like the fact that I'm staying with the routine, and I'm really enjoying the time for myself. We'll see how it goes further on :)

--- all images from http://www.headspace.com ---