Meditation Journal

Day 1

- Date: Tue 19th July 2022
- Time: 08:41 am
- Duration: 5 minutes

- Highlights: I didn't feel a lot of tension in my body, while meditating. This is unusual for me. Additionally, the meditation was over before I knew it.
- Issues/questions: I constantly tried to manipulate my thoughts, and put them in the right direction. How can I overcome this? Besides, I had a hard time deciding whether I should start meditating right away or not, because I was very tired. Do you have any recommendations?

Day 2

- Date: Wed 20th July 2022
- Time: 07:42 am
- Duration: 5 minutes

- Highlights: I tried to feel the contact between the floor and my feet. I also heard the sounds from a considerable distance, at least that was my observation.
- Issues/questions: Parts of my body were shaking, e.g. stomach, feet, fingers, chest. I also noticed that my breath was rather slow. Should I put more effort in breathing deeper / faster?

Day 3

- Date: Thu 21st July 2022
- Time: 08:15 am
- Duration: 5 minutes

- Highlights: I started right away. Felt awake soon after.
- Issues/questions: I still breathed slowly. I usually don't breath that way, but possibly that's because I don't meditate in the morning very often. I might meditate in the evening one day, from now on...

It was also hard for me to keep my attention at one point. Sounds didn't work, and neither did focusing on breathing. It still need practice to improve on that.

Day 4

- Date: Fri 22nd July 2022
- Time: 07:57 am
- Duration: 5 minutes

- Highlights: For the most part the meditation improved. Feeling the ground worked out better, shutting myself off from noises around me went better, staying focused on one point - the breath - improved as well.
- Issues/questions: But overall it was still not the best meditation I ever had. I couldn't get away from any distractions while meditating. The breathing was not slow anymore, but still very short. Conclusions: It was an effective meditation, but not a very deep one. I hope to improve soon!

Day 5

- Date: Sat 23rd July 2022
- Time: 08:59 am
- Duration: 5 minutes

- Highlights: Feeling the tingling in the feet was nice.
- Issues/questions: The meditation practice went less well today. Because of social activities and other distractions the other day my focus was gone.

Day 6

- Date: Sun 24th July 2022
- Time: 08:23 am
- Duration: 10 minutes

- Highlights: I finished a 10 minute meditation, which is longer than the usual 5 minutes.

Above that I am beginning to notice a positive impact on my overall mood (calming effects, more energy, more willpower) since starting this new meditation practice.

This gives me enough motivation to extend the duration of the meditation to 20 minutes - at least for the coming time.

I also enjoy the app that was mentioned in the recommendation section of the video's.

- Issues/questions: I couldn't find a comfortable posture during the meditation.

Day 7

- Date: Mon 25th July 2022
- Time: 09:12 am
- Duration: 20 minutes

- Highlights: I managed to keep my focus on 1 thing: my breath. Second: I hope to add one day to the meditation so that I can do one meditation during the evening before I close the journal.

- Issues/questions: I tried to let go my own breath to follow its own rhythm, but after a while I noticed I was forcing the breath to be stronger. This was accompanied by a heavy feeling in the head.

Day 8 or 10*

- Date: Thu 28th July
- Time: 21:34 pm
- Duration: 25 minutes

Highlights: This was the last meditation in the course for me. I decided to listen to music while meditating because it gives me a relaxed feeling. During the meditation I noticed I was making some unusual sounds which helped me to feel better, for instance making sleeping sounds - I even felt a very short moment of pure clarity, which I would describe as a trance state. Since this course has come to an end I would like to thank you, Zachary Phillips. It was a very pleasant experience!

Issues/problems: Can it be useful to try listening some relaxing music while meditating? Good meditation, need to work on keeping the habit of meditation going.

Jim Mekkelholt

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