Although I know the science behind the power of meditation and meditate in times when I’m stressed, daily meditation not a regular habit of mine. At the challenge of my yogi friend Lisa Young, I undertook an experiment of daily meditation for 10 days.

If you’re thinking you’re too busy to meditate, know that I committed only to a ten minute daily practice. I wanted to see how regular meditation could change my day or my thinking with only a short time commitment.

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That said, trying to find the best time to meditate wasn’t easy. My calendar isn’t the same every day. I decided to let my daily meditation practice unfold as an organic development of my day. The best time to meditate each day presented itself as a welcome break.

I also knew I’d need to keep the meditation ritual as simple as possible. I chose to use my meditation singing bowl at the start and end of each of my sessions. It was a small but distinctive way to mark the time as special. Some people may choose to light a candle or perform some other ritual to mark their daily meditation practice.

 

If you don’t have a candle or singing bowl, the Meditation Essentials subscription box can get you set up for a rich, multi-sensory meditation practice. (There’s even a box for kids if you have a young person interested in developing a meditation practice!) Using a journal is another way to reflect on how your meditation practice makes you feel.

 

Day 1- Welcoming the power of meditation

I needed a break from my workday to-dos, so I did the first day of my daily meditation challenge in the middle of the afternoon.

Because I felt like meditating at home on my own was going to be a challenge, I chose to start my meditation practice experience reclined on my bed. I wasn’t fully lying down– that would be too tempting to fall asleep. But I was propped up with comfy pillows and nestled into my cozy comforter.

I didn’t exactly look like a monk in a spartan room. But that’s okay. I’m neither a monk nor someone who lives in a spartan space. I am someone who likes my creature comforts, and the idea of sitting still for ten whole minutes felt pretty scary.

I decided to start this experiment with a meditation format familiar to me and my limited meditation experience. I wanted to use a guided meditation script so that I didn’t feel like I was jumping straight into the deep end.

Just by dumb luck, I found a 10-minute meditation online that I liked. I let the woman’s voice wash over me, and the resonance of the background music sounded like the singing bowl I’d used to start my practice.

I followed the guide’s instructions regarding my posture, my breath, and my thoughts. I felt validated that she told me it was okay to do my meditation lying down! Her gentle voice led me through a tension-relieving process of connecting the breath and body.

Before I knew it, ten minutes were over. 

And I survived.

I don’t know if I simply felt proud of myself for fulfilling my commitment to my meditation practice, but I definitely felt more energetic afterwards. How can something so simple be so uplifting?

 

Day 2- Still learning how to meditate 

The day flew by, so my meditation practice took place in the evening after dinner.

With the success of Day 1 under my belt, I decided to stretch myself a little bit. I wanted to try to meditate sitting up. I sat on the edge of my bed, which is just the right height for me and my short legs to sit up comfortably with my feet resting on the ground. 

Today’s meditation got off to a rocky start. The person who narrated  the first guided meditation I chose had a voice that grated on my nerves. And because I am new at this and have not yet developed the detachment to accept all people as they are, I opted to choose a different guided meditation track.

The guided meditation script I chose next was much better. It is offered by the highly popular Headspace as a trial. The track is narrated by Headspace founder and former Buddhist Monk Andy Puddicome. His deliciously soft British accent washed over me like comforting warm water.

(Love the British accent as much as I do? Puddicome also narrates the audio version of his Headspace book.)

My experience today was similar to yesterday. I was able to settle in to the sound of the guide and feel my breath rise and fall as directed. I was surprised how easy it was for me to focus today. Certainly, my mind wandered, but when I noticed that, I returned my focus to my breath.

Once again, ten minutes went by before I knew it.

I felt a sense of ease at the end. And while my mind felt really clear, I resisted the temptation to do some work. Instead, I stayed off of my computer and phone for the rest of the evening. Even better, I slept really well that night.

 

Day 3- Meditation Advice for Beginners

I meditated in the late evening, after a long day of clients and kid wrangling and making dinner (after my husband and kids were supposed to– hello, mental load!), I was sure my meditation would help me zen out.

I chose a jungle sounds audio track from Calm— chirping birds and a babbling brook. As a nature-lover, I thought I’d easily melt into the relaxing sounds of this track. 

I decided I would use the mantra full belly (on the inhale), full heart (on the exhale). This was partly to remind myself to keep my breath deep and even and partly because I was feeling a little heavy and full from dinner.

Not only did my mind keep wandering away from my mantra, but it was on overdrive cataloging life tasks. I even kept trying to write this post as I was meditating– thereby missing the point of clearing my mind. Oops! I also kept getting distracted by the air conditioner turning on and off again. 

It didn’t help that today’s meditation took place seated on the couch in my bedroom because I was trying to get away from my noisy family. One of my kids was practicing piano and another one was practicing the saxophone. I began to understand why a lot of people who meditate in a shared environment use good quality sleep-style headphones to help block out extraneous noise.

The honest truth is that even with my family making it hard to focus, my monkey mind was in top form today. This experience taught me that maybe I’m not quite ready for a self-directed meditation yet.

And that’s okay.

 

Day 4- Moving Meditation

 

Have you ever heard of Thai bodywork? It’s part yoga, part massage, and part moving meditation. And it’s completely heavenly.

Thai bodywork takes place on a futon-like mat on the floor, where you sit fully clothed and relaxed. A trained bodyworker then moves your body through various stretches and into held poses. The more you can relax and let the bodyworker do the work, the more benefit– both physical and mental– you’ll receive from your Thai bodywork session.

I had an appointment for Thai bodywork scheduled for today, so I had 90 minutes of support and connection to enjoy being stretched while I did nothing other than take deep breaths. The bodyworker would sometimes cue my breath to coordinate with a movement. There were also long periods of silence where I could simply relax and let go both physically and mentally.

I wasn’t planning on counting my Thai bodywork session as my meditation for today, but it turned out to be the deepest, most blissful moving meditation. 

Not only did I feel fantastic in my body afterwards, but I slept like a rock that night. For a woman in perimenopause, having deep sleep like that is an indication that I’d released some gripping in both my body and my mind.

 

Day 5- Daily meditation becomes a habit!

Today’s meditation practice happened in the middle of the afternoon. It seems that the 10-minute break in the middle of my work day has quickly become a great way to reenergize myself. 

On the recommendation of a friend, I decided to try iAwake for my daily meditation today. iAwake is a company with a wide variety of meditation options. 

It was a little overwhelming at first, scanning the options of meditation tracks. I could choose anything from pumping myself up for a big workout to calming down for better sleep to reducing anxiety to enhancing focus for business decisions. Clearly, iAwake has done their research on the power of meditation.

I downloaded their three free trial meditations after filling out a short screening questionnaire, noting what my objective was for meditation and how long I was planning on meditating.

The first track I tried was the HeartWave Meditation, a nine minute heart opening and relaxation track. I took iAwake’s advice and listened to the recording through headphones. Using my regular over-the-ear headphones definitely helped me focus in the midst of my family carrying on about their day all around me.

The HeartWave Meditation was a blend of nature sounds (like running water) with a pan flute melody. Because this soundtrack was lyrical and not just nature, I was able to relax into it a little bit easier. My mind wandered less. I felt the muscles of my face soften, as if they no longer had to work so hard making my breath happen. Respiration simply flowed.

I was surprised how easy it was for me to sit still today. I felt like I was finally resisting the urge to force relaxation and just let it happe. I also sat on the floor on my meditation bolster, which made me feel like I was a much more advanced meditator than I was just a few days ago.

Because I have tight runner’s hips, I definitely need to sit up on a bolster if I am going to meditate on the floor. I’m pretty proud of myself for not fidgeting during the meditation practice. Sitting on the bolster was easier than I thought it was going to be.

Overall, I’m feeling rather proud of myself for completing the first half of my daily meditation practice experiment. Even more surprising, I’m really looking forward to the next five days.

Meditation Essentials

 

Day 6- Meditation for Self-Compassion

Today started off fine and well. I had planned to do my meditation practice in the middle of the afternoon as a midday work break. But then life happened and I got distracted and I didn’t do it.

I then had a phone call with someone (who I was thinking of hiring to help me with something), and it was awful. The conversation left me feeling minimized, unvalued, and like I was wasting my time. I got off the call completely dejected.

I searched for a guided meditation script that would boost my self-compassion. What I found was even more than that. The script used the mantra 

May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free from pain

What was so wonderful, though, was that it wasn’t just about self-compassion. It was about cultivating compassion to self, loved ones, neutral people (like the barista at the coffee shop or the checker at the grocery store or your seatmate on an airplane), and people who are difficult.

BINGO!

It turns out, this meditation exercise was exactly what I needed. It cleansed me from the ugly and angry feelings my earlier interaction had spurred. When I finished the practice, I felt lighter and positively fired up to continue with the plans I believe in.

If ten minutes can deliver that massive mindset change, it’s hard to argue against the power of meditation!

 

Day 7- Trying a Morning Meditation Practice

It is rare that my mornings are slow and quiet. I often have morning clients at 5:30 or 6am, and during the school year I have three different kids who have to get to three different schools during the week. 

But today I had nowhere to be until 7:20am– yes, that’s sleeping in! I decided to use this quiet time in the morning and start the day with meditation.

Just because I didn’t have to fly out of bed doesn’t mean I didn’t wake up with my mind running 100 miles an hour. Like many women juggling life’s responsibilities, I am an overthinker who experiences anxiety and stress just thinking about how everything is going to get done.

Today’s daily meditation was a topic I can relate to all too well, on pretty much any given day of my life: Erasing Overthinking, Anxiety, and Stress. 

Most women are overthinkers by nature. We are scanners and evaluators. While this trait has served the human race well, as we are living longer the stress that comes with constant overthinking does us no favors. 

(We all know that stress is what prompts cortisol, a hormone that is responsible for belly fat. And levels of stress in perimenopausal women are, both anecdotally and objectively, very high. This is just one of the reasons meditation in menopause is such a good idea!)

One of the reasons I wanted to undertake this daily meditation challenge is that I need better skills for releasing my mind from the barrage of daily stress that living as a modern wife, mom, business owner, and midfortysomething woman carries. 

This mindfulness meditation begins with nature sounds, and then a narration begins to guide the listener through releasing attachment to outcomes. I didn’t love the narrator’s vocal cadence– it was distractingly choppy– but I liked the script.

It was a nice change to get out of bed feeling like I’d already done something good for myself. My mind felt ready to roll with whatever the day presented. It’s a really nice feeling to go into the day with a sense of satisfied competency!

 

Day 8- Meditation in Nature

As a nature-lover, I wanted to do at least one day of this daily meditation challenge outdoors. I got up early to go for my run down by the river that flows through downtown Austin. It was wickedly hot and humid, but I was so grateful to be outside with my community of fellow runners.

After my run I found a bench on the edge of the water. The tree growth overhangs the water, and it provided a good dristi or focal point for me. I decided to use a three-part breath to help keep me focused. I set the timer on my phone for 10 minutes and began my intentional inhale.

Nearly immediately my eyes and brain fuzzed out the clarity of the nature scene in front of me. Though I could still see boats row by, it was as if they were painted by an impressionist. Even the tree leaves in my foreground started to blur together.

I was surprised how easy it was to keep the rhythm of my breath. Maybe it’s because my heart rate was still slowing to normal after my run, and the breathing felt really good. 

My mindful release was interrupted by the fact that I was sweating like a beast. The salty sweat kept rolling in to my eyes, so I would have to move to wipe it away. And apparently I was sitting where every tiny gnat in Austin wanted to be, and they kept landing on me and sticking. I wasn’t exactly a vision of purity.

When my ten minutes elapsed, I absolutely felt calmer and more connected to myself than I have in a long time. Today’s meditation experiment makes me realize how much I appreciate the silence and stillness of nature (gnats excepted). 

It also taught me that in just a few days, with just a few minutes per day, the power of meditation can turn something unpleasant– like sitting outside sweating and being raided by gnats– into a calming and centering experience.

 

 

Day 9- Mindfulness Meditation

It only took nine days of daily meditation to find a script with a female narrator’s voice I really like. The soft, maternal sounds of today’s mindfulness meditation script were dreamy.

The theme for today’s practice was Being Present, which is that simple-sounding but oh-so-difficult heart of meditation itself. What I liked so much about this practice was that it encouraged ease by inviting me to accept myself just as I am.

As a meditation beginner, I often feel like I have to “try” to do something to make the practice worthwhile. But as this script kept reminding me, just staying present is powerful work that is good for both my mind and my body.

Connecting to emotions, physical sensations, and external stimuli is encouraged. So many beginners (myself included) think that meditation is about pushing everything away and experiencing some sort of vast but rich emptiness. 

Instead, this mindfulness practice was about acknowledging that we feel things both within ourselves and external to our bodies, because those things affect both our bodies and our minds.

I was truly calm, peaceful, and present at the conclusion of this practice. I felt the power of meditation and staying present deep in my being. Having a greater sense of mind body balance was both validating and inspiring.

Meditation Essentials – $29.99
from: Cratejoy

 

Day 10- Finishing the 10 Day Daily Meditation Challenge

Because I loved yesterday’s daily meditation about being present so much, I searched for something similar. 

When I saw a script titled “I have all the time I need” I thought to myself: Yeah, right!!

Like most people, managing my time and my energy is a daily challenge. I thought it would be interesting to see what I felt like if my brain– rather than feeling pressed for time– got the message that I have all the time I need.

This script is a nice balance of guided meditation with plenty of space for breathing and quiet. It repeats several mantras, beginning with “I have all the time I need” followed by “All is unfolding as it should.”

As someone who prefers to be in control of life and all of its moving parts, embracing the mantra that indicates I don’t need to be holding so tightly is a little scary. I felt encouraged when the narrator asked me to breathe the words into my core, as if they might have the chance of taking root there and eventually growing.

This practice was successful in helping to calm my monkey mind. I didn’t feel the need to rush out of it and create a massive to-do list like I normally do in the mornings. I had times throughout the day I repeated to myself “I have all the time I need” when I felt the dread of overwhelm looming.

This is a script I will revisit. The lessons are ones I need to learn and relearn regularly!

 

Final Thoughts on the Power of Meditation

In just 100 minutes– 10 minutes per day for 10 days– I learned that I have all the tools I need to keep from falling victim to the overwhelm of modern life. 

A daily meditation practice doesn’t require any fancy equipment. Meditation can be done anywhere at any time. (Well, except while you’re driving!) Yet a simple 10-minute meditation can change your entire disposition. And that says nothing about what meditation does for the actual structure of your brain. Give it a try!