15 minutes

Where: Zafu
When: 10:00 a.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis, 10 minutes breath focus
Notes: My meditation was very scattered today. I tweaked my shoulder last night teaching a class, so that was bothering me and I was fussing over it.

10 minutes

Where: Subway
When: 7:45 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis, 5 minutes breath focus
Notes: The trip home from downtown is exactly ten minutes. The final gone sounded right as I pulled into the station. Not easy to meditate on the subway, but not as hard as I thought.

15 minutes

Where: Zafu
When: 8:05 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis, 10 minutes breath focus
Notes: I seem to be making a habit of pre-hockey-game meditation. I didn't feel focused or calm until the very end of my meditation today.

5 minutes

Where: Zafu
When: 10:35 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis
Afterward: Glad to get it over with; bedtime meditation doesn't seem to work very well for me

15 minutes

Where: St. Lawrence Market 'hood, near the fountain
When: 11:15 a.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis, 10 minutes breath focus
Afterward: Light and giddy (and somewhat more distracted than when I started)

5 minutes

Where: Zafu
When: 10:00 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis
Afterward: Distracted (afterward and during the meditation)

15 minutes

Where: Zafu
When: 11:43 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis, 10 minutes breath focus
Afterward: Calm

5 minutes

Where: Bed
When: 10:30 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis
Afterward: Agitated, tired.

I think I was over-tired. I had a difficult time with this meditation

15 minutes

Where: Parkette
When: 6:05 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis to centre myself, then 10 minutes of breath focus
Afterward: Very calm, very centred

I'm expanding my meditation time to 15 minutes. So far, so good! I enjoyed it and it didn't seem difficult to me.

10 minutes

Where: Zafu, at my altar (finally cleared the stuff off of it so I could use if properly)
When: 7:50 p.m.
How: 5 minutes Prayer of St. Francis, 5 minutes breath focus
Afterward: Headed to the ice rink to play the first game of the winter season. Lost 4-2

10 minutes

Where: Floor with small cushion
When: 12 a.m.
How: Prayer of St. Francis for 5 minutes, then focused on breath for 5 minutes (lost track of breath cycles)
Afterward: Felt very focused (but ready for sleep)

5 minutes

Where: Bed
When: 1 a.m.
How: Focused on breath for 5 minutes (23 breath cycles)
Afterward: Exhausted.

5 minutes

Where: Bed
When: 11:30 p.m.
How: Focused on breath for 5 minutes (26 breath cycles)
Afterward: Sleepy!

10 minutes

Where: Bed
When: 10:30 p.m.
How: Silently repeated the Prayer of St. Francis for 5 minutes, focused on breath for 5 minutes (23 breath cycles)
Afterward: Felt ready for sleep

10 minutes

Where: Zafu, post-practice
When: 10:30 a.m.
How: Silently repeated the Prayer of St. Francis for 5 minutes, focused on breath for 5 minutes (21 breath cycles). A bit chilly today, used my blue meditation shawl.
Afterward: Was absolutely fascinated by variations in my breath.

10 minutes

Where: Yoga mat, post-practice
When: 1:30 p.m.
How: Silently repeated the Prayer of St. Francis for 5 minutes, focused on breath for 5 minutes (28 breath cycles), used regular timer on my iPod (the Meditate app is buggy today)
Afterward: Felt deeply calm

10 minutes

Where: Yoga mat, post-practice
When: 10:30 a.m.
How: Silently repeated the 'Serenity Prayer', Used the Meditate timer on my iPod.
Afterward: Felt like I was trying really hard

5 minutes

Where: Home zafu
When: 9:45 p.m.
How: Silently repeated the 'Serenity Prayer' to myself as a focus, a method proposed in Eknath Easwaran's book, 'Meditation' Used the Meditate timer on my iPod.
Afterward: I felt like I was getting it out of the way.

15 minutes

Where: Outdoors, at Princess Park after my class
When: 11:05 a.m.
How: Silently repeated the 'Serenity Prayer' to myself as a focus, a method proposed in Eknath Easwaran's book, 'Meditation'. Used the Meditate timer on my iPod to time the session with 5 minute intervals
Afterward: I felt deeply aware of my breath. Surprised that I was able to stick it out for 15 minutes.

5 minutes

The best way to get started is to just start. The best way to keep going and to keep myself accountable is to record my progress. Thus, this blog.

Keeping it simple.

Where: Home zafu
When: 10:30 p.m.
How: Silently repeated the 'Serenity Prayer' to myself as a focus, a method proposed in Eknath Easwaran's book, 'Meditation'. I used the Meditate timer on my iPod.
Afterward: I felt calm. Also felt pleased that I had made the effort