500 Days of Meditation

Today, I am celebrating 500 days in a row of meditation practice. 500 days of sitting crossed legged, incense burning, listening to dolphin noises, with a flowery headband on chanting “ooommmmmm” to myself. Not really, mostly on the couch at home, but joking aside, I have just completed 500 consecutive days of meditation, 11,486 minutes to be exact, and it didn’t look anything like the stereotypical view of a meditator.

Just to clarify before you read on, I’m not a tree hugger, a hippie, just returned from India on a pilgrimage or trying to find a new religion. I’m a normal(ish) working-class lad from Bolton, that has spent their whole working life in the manufacturing world. None of my family are meditators or would probably have the slightest interest in trying it out. They all think I’m weird anyway, so probably doesn’t come as a surprise.

So, why do it now? Well, let me share how it has benefitted me first. What difference has this meditation thing made?

·??????Calmer under pressure. We’ve all been on a rollercoaster with Covid, but if I’m being honest, I haven’t found the whole Covid thing particularly stressful from a work perspective. If anything, I have enjoyed the challenge. Obviously, family, friends and colleagues struggling with Covid has been a worry, but I have been able to remain calm and not over think it.

·??????Reduced stress & anxiety. I still experience the stresses of life and feel anxious, but it’s more of a fleeting thing that is manageable. Prior to meditating I would carry stress around with me for hours and even days. Worrying and being generally grumpy and distant. This has reduced dramatically for me.

·??????More self-aware. Through the practice I have gotten to know myself much better. What I’m thinking. What I’m feeling. And due to the nature of slowing everything down with meditation, I have been able to acknowledge, reflect and make sense of my thoughts and feelings over time. This has allowed me to create a gap between events and my response in real time. I can reflect quickly in situations and can respond with more consideration to my own stuff that’s going on inside me, that in a lot of cases has nothing to do with the situation.

·??????Clarity of thinking. My brain chatter and particularly negative self-talk has reduced, providing me with much more clarity of thought. I find it easier to get my head into big picture mode when I need to plan for the future. And have possibly become a little more creative too.

·??????More disciplined. Committing to do anything for 500 days without missing a day takes discipline. I will definitely carry on with my daily meditation practice, but it has also opened the door to committing to other daily practices. Being grateful, drinking water, eating fruit, work/life balance and taking time out to reflect.

·??????Better life balance. In getting to know me better I have become much more aware of the simple things in life that provide me with joy, love and fulfilment. I am less task orientated and driven to work long hours. I take the time to cook healthy meals every day and enjoy the experience of preparing lovely food. I am happy just spending quality time with the people in my life that I love. I enjoy running and appreciate that I don’t have to be a world record holder, just enjoying running is enough. I have learned to love the work I do more and enjoy the journey and the experiences I am privileged to share with others.

·??????Improved digestion. Since my late teens I have never had the best digestion. It’s been one of those ongoing things that I have learned to live with. But today I feel awesome. My digestive system is great. I think the reduced stress and anxiety has helped, as well as eating healthier and having a better life balance.

·??????Improved heart function. This is a new area that I am exploring, neuroanatomy, but one of the benefits I am experiencing through daily meditation is that my nervous system is in a parasympathetic for the majority of the time. I use a HRV (Heart Rate Variability) monitor to measure this and the functionality of my heart has improved over the past 500 days. The opposite, your sympathetic nervous system drives your fight or flight response, which is important is situations that call for it, but not for prolonged periods of time. The long term effects cause long term health issues that are difficult or even impossible to recover from.

·??????More empathetic. I am generally empathetic with people, but through getting to know me better, I have a much higher tolerance for others. Slowing everything down with meditation provides a view of the many things that are going on in my own head and the multitude of feeling I experience every day. Everyone is going through this, all of the time, every day of the week. And for my personally I need to get better at learning that not all my assumptions are true.

I would love to add funnier to the list, but I think this links in with, not all my assumptions are true. I think I have become much funnier and a better lover over the past 500 days but I’m not sure everyone else (especially my wife) would agree.

So, why now? Curiosity. I am naturally curious and just wanted to give it a go really. The app I use, Insight Timer, counts the number of days in a row you do, and I just had a little competition with myself to see how many days I could do. Nothing more complicated than that really.

The best analogy I can use for my meditation experience so far is, it’s like going to the gym. When you’re unfit and you turn up on 2nd January, and after 10 minutes you’re red faced and blowing out of your backside. Your initial response to yourself is, give it up pal. You’re not cut out for this gym lark. But like the gym it takes effort, commitment, time and the discipline to keep going. And if you want to stay in shape, to stick at it. I think meditation is the same. It takes time to build up to a level that is comfortable for you, but if I want to maintain the benefits, I need to stick with it.

Writing this, is partly a thumbs up to me from myself to say well done on committing to it, partly reflecting on the benefits, but mostly to share with the world and hopefully inspire at least one person who reads this to give meditation a go, and maybe, just maybe, committing to 500 days and seeing what happens. Are you curious enough to give it a go?