LifeFlow Day One

Day 1. 

This morning I got cleaned up and dressed and walked down to the Roman Gardens to meditate using the LifeFlow program. The overall experience was good, and I definitely want to start using the program daily. The first 5 minutes or so (it’s hard to tell time when meditating so I’m not sure…) I was quite distracted. I picked a spot facing away from the open space so that I wouldn’t have to look at people if they were walking in front of me—so I was facing the Roman Wall; however, I found myself opening my eyes every so often out of anxiety of people watching me. I got over that pretty quickly as I kept telling myself that people really shouldn’t be judging the fact that I’m sitting in peaceful silence. After a while of being quietly focussed on the program without much distraction, I started to feel antsy. I even checked the time, which I told myself was a big no-no, and found out that I was only half way through! I really was expecting there to only be 5 or maybe 10 more minutes left but no, there was 20 minutes left. My butt was freezing from the stone bench, my back was aching from trying to hold it straight, and the sun was beating way too hot on my head. Nevertheless, I stuck it out until the end. 

The program itself was very engaging. I could hear about 3 different sounds throughout the entire 40 minutes—running water, birds chirping, and a constant “womp womp womp” flowing back and forth to each ear—and a couple others, including the “ding dong” of a clock, and others that I can’t place. I found it easy to concentrate on the program and to block out intruding thoughts, which usually is a major issue for me.

When the 40 minutes was up and the sounds faded out, I finished my tea, stood up, stretched my stiff muscles, and started walking down towards the river. I immediately began to analyze my experience; how did I feel before I started? How do I feel now? I honestly had felt pretty calm and serene before I even started, so I found myself thinking that I didn’t feel too much different. Something that I found interesting was that I felt a slight frustration. But according to the research I’ve done on meditation, this is normal at the beginner stage. Another observation made that I definitely was not imagining was the flow of positive thoughts on my walk home. I enjoyed walking along the river and through the trees, and found it mildly funny when I got lost in the town centre. I was observational and amused by everything going on around me, and even my own feelings. 

Something I will do differently tomorrow is start earlier. By the time I was finished my session this morning it was after 11. It was too hot, and there were a lot of people and distractions around. Another thing is that I will wear my shoes, not my boots, because they were not comfortable. Also, I should probably find a place indoors to meditate for rainy days. I still haven’t decided if I should tell my roommate. I know that I am not obligated to, but, what if I want to meditate in the room? On the other hand, it might be awkward to meditate in the room with her in it, even if she was sleeping.