Meditation habit - check

The 30 days for creating a meditation habit were over some time ago. I skipped meditating 7 of the 30 days. But always got back on track. Even after the 30 days are over, I've kept up the practice everyday.

Two lessons:

Something which seemed nearly impossible and vaguely effective after feeble attempts for more than a year, is now a concrete habit. In just 30 days.

Secondly, I'm learning to accept imperfection. There's hardly anything perfect or superbly technical about the way I meditate. Also, as I mentioned I skipped 7 of those days. So in effect, this was done in 23 days.

(Incidentally Cal Newport has a blog post today on perfectionism.)

But it has worked and served me well. I can now meditate for 14-15 minutes at a time. Without falling asleep or getting the urge to go to the laptop or eat something. I now actually look forward to it.

Next habit - waking up early.

Anything could be meditative..

...even prying off pebbles that get stuck in the underside of the soles of your running shoes. And washing them afterward. You just need to do it quietly, mindfully and without unnecessary rush.

Minimalism meets Zen

I used to get annoyed, even feel somewhat cheated, on reading Leo Babauta's posts. Actually, when I first discovered his blog I liked his writing and ideas a lot. Then, over a period of time, the repetitive ideas started jarring. I mean how often can you keep writing the same stuff day after day...focus, zen, minimalism, veganism, going against a culture of materialistic consumerism..

Strangely however, now I've started relying on that repetition of ideas. The blog posts are becoming a kind of anchor, something to remind me of what worked. It brings my straying mind back to what I need to focus on. If you look at it that way, this is kind of an episodic prolonged meditation!

The Simplify post worked for me this way. There are no new ideas in it. But it provides a reminder and a summary of many similarly themed ideas he has written about in the past. Briefly,

1) Block off some disconnected time
2) Start eliminating commitments. (eliminating is the key word, not doing. Things can be done or gotten rid of by saying no.)
3) Start purging possessions. (Glad to say I've been doing this more and more frequently)
4) Ban shopping for 30 days
5) Wash your bowl. (check)
6) Schedule time for what's important. (Am dismal here)
7) Eat some plants (check)
8) Drink green tea. I've found it's taste horrible. But then I got it from a tea-coffee making machine. Maybe I could try out making some at home.)