Reprogramming The Mind For Success

Tonight we start a new week in our meditation program and this means moving on to something new. Whilst we are still focussing on our breathing to keep us centred, we are now going to focus on the body rather than the mind. This week is all about mindfulness meditation for the body and I have to say it’s been a pretty good session. During our sessions last week we were concentrating on our breathe and whenever we found our mind wandering, we could focus on our breathing which would help bring us back to our meditation. Well this week we have a slight but very important variation that applies. This week we can allow our mind to wander if it is thinking about a particular feeling or sensation in the body. By focussing on our body, we become acutely aware of all the little aches and pains that are a concern at that particular time. By staying in tune with our bodies, we can come to realise the state of our health and a healthy body has all kinds of obvious benefits.

Another very important point that was mentioned tonight was our ability to pass judgement and criticise. By this I mean the way it is so easy to punish ourselves if we don’t do something right. An example of this could be where you call yourself a bad meditator, just because your mind wanders all the time. Passing judgement has absolutely NO benefit in the world of Mindfulness Meditation.

I also found I had to concetrate more this session compared to last week. It is a longer session at 1hr 20 minutes (including the commentary) so I really had to work at staying focussed. Having said that I walked away feeling good so I look forward to the next session.

Until then, STAY TUNED……..

Yours truly,

Stuart Ginbey

Reprogramming Your Mind For Success

Week 1 – Session 2
Listened to 1 hr Introduction mp3
Results: I found tonight’s meditation quite painful. Rather than laying down, which I did on my previous session, I decided to follow the instruction’s and meditate in the sitting position. Concentrating on posture became quite difficult and really high-lighted how much I slouch. This pain became a distraction in itself and I often found myself focusing on how sore my back was. I was sitting on my bed and on the edge of a cushion, so that my knees were pointed down and a slight curve in my lower back. My back and neck were straight, with relaxed shoulder’s that were pulled back. I had a pillow on my lap to raise my hands so that they were closer to my breathing “home base” and I sat with my finger tips touching together forming a circle. Once again I found my mind wandering, but this time it was easier to notice it and bring myself back to my breathing. Something that I am really noticing is how difficult it is for me to focus on one thing for 15 minutes. It sounds crazy, but my mind just wants to be doing 10 different things all at the same time. This obviously creates distractions and makes it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Ginbey

Week 1 – Session 1
Listen to 1 hr Introduction mp3
Results: Fell asleep after the first 15 minutes. This guy is way too calm. Woke up at the exact point where he started the guided meditation. Phew! Really enjoyed the meditation and found my mind wandering a lot. It was good to have the breathing as something to focus on to bring me back to the meditation. Found myself so relaxed that just about every muscle in my body ached. Especially my forearms. After reviewing the session, it made me realize how distracted I really get. I spend so much time doing a million different things that I lose sense of being in the present. All in all, a good intro.