Meditation is a pretty cool hobby, which oftentimes happens alone. In this post I’d like to share how I go about my daily practices as a meditator.
Reoccurring Focus / Practices:
Managing the day:- Having the motivation to meditate and explore is one thing, but this reaches its limits very soon with the daily wear and tear. Food coma after a kebab, a stressful day at work or a numbing addiction like video games can easily get in the way. To optimize this, I’ve been working on a “perfect day routine”, so I can most efficiently do the housekeeping for all the things that need it. This allows me to focus the rest of my time on what truly matters to me.
Journaling:- Journaling is very popular at the time and thereby kind of self explanatory: If you’re exploring something, journal! It helps reminding me of my progress while it seems like nothing is moving, and it helps me keeping my head high while there may be reasons not to. I noticed whenever there are 4-5 or more things going wrong in my life I need to start journaling about that day. Otherwise I allow the situation to manage me, instead of me learning from the situation.
Daily Inspiration:- It’s important to feed my brain with information about the area where I need to grow. Getting myself inspired daily is a real fuel for my focus on the areas which interest interest me. Other-ways they easily dry out, because “nobody cares”. This is actually something I have to remind myself of doing, to keep the momentum going.
- Great inspiration right now is “Under the Skin”, where Russel Brand interviews all sorts of interesting people: Heal Yourself with The Ice Shaman | Wim Hof & Russell Brand
Keeping the spine straight- Going for walks every now and then while meditating naturally gives the urge of walking more straight. Also I find myself walking slower at times, when the meditation offers itself to me.
Cleaning and re-furnishing- Recently I added more plants to my place and removed stuff I didn’t really need. Also I find myself cleaning everything more and more often. I’m pretty sure this comes with becoming more conscious and has nothing to do with a new found interest in cleaning or furnishing. It simply makes sense.
Qi Gong and Tai Chi- Chi, a term coming from traditional Chinese medicine, is more or less about bodily fluids. Fluids in the spine, veins, brain, stomach, etc. The more these fluids are stuck, the less vibrant you’re going to feel. Again repetitive practice of Qi Gong, Tai Chi or probably Yoga is going help keeping these fluids moving, thereby unfolding the full potential of your body. To keep the body potent to be able to carry deeper and more intense meditation, Qi Gong is something I have to practice regularly.
- Exceptionally great channel on practical Tai Chi: Tai Chi Combat Application - 1. Rise and Fall
Cultivation of Chakras- As you meditate you can put your focus on certain chakras. It turns out you can somehow move up through the chakras. This leaves your main energies with a certain chakra, as long as it is not fully cultivated. This cultivation then needs to be practiced daily, for you to be able to move on. It’s an ongoing process.
- A good guided meditation for the chakras: Guided Meditation - Chakra Balancing - Chakra Alignment
- An epic guided meditation to return to oneself: Access The Awareness Beyond | Russell Brand & Mooji
While recently my focus has widened by a lot, in the sense that I seem to have a lot more things at my attention, I also started dropping a few things:
Drinking coffee- I used to drink coffee every day, ever since I started working. The health benefits of quitting coffee are amazing. While I am now also more dependant on sugar than before, I aim at also slowly dropping that aid, so I can eventually run all on my own steam.
Eating Junk-food- Fat foods naturally hinder your meditation, which is why I had to stop eating them and come up with healthier alternatives. These of course still need to be time-effective but also eco-friendly (no take-out), which is a delicate balance.
Drinking Alcohol- I used to enjoy alcohol, and even started getting into whiskey, the smokey ones. Going deeper into meditation though I can’t help noticing how stupid it is to drink alcohol, and I can’t drink more than maybe half a beer or a single shot before I lose interest. It just seems so counterproductive, that it has lost its charm.
Gaming- I used to game every evening, from 8 PM on-wards until midnight or later with my friends. I did this for a good 6 or 7 years. For my new apartment I decided to not install a PC, so I can get out of this habit. What a good decision that was!
Social Media- I had been an avid user of Facebook in the old days, but recently especially Tinder. This used to drain a lot of energy from me and constantly hijacked my awareness. Having dropped it and instead relying on going on and approaching women in real life has had a big positive impact in my life.
Things that I am yet to drop:
Modern TV: Youtube- Mindlessly browsing youtube on my TV for hours while sitting on my couch like a potato is probably something that needs dropping. A very old habit for me, which should make way for something bigger.
- probably more…
Thanks for reading! :)