How To Meditate With One Arm
It's been eleven days since my shoulder surgery, and I've had a lot of time on my hand since. I've never tried meditation before, and figured this was a good chance to experiment and give it a shot. Not for spiritual reasons, I'm just a bit bored.
I would consider myself mindful already. I'm usually aware of my emotions if and when I experience them. I'm disciplined and I don't lose my focus easily. I did look at a bunch of amusing TikToks while writing this paragraph but when I realised I was distracted I was able to stop immediately so I could get this done.
To begin my meditation journey I set up a chair overlooking the garden. You will also need a pair of noise cancelling headphones, a meditation training app (I'm trialling Headspace although I'll probably cancel before I get charged) and a can of bug repellent (I'm using Aeroguard - Tropical Strength.
To meditate, you sit comfortably, breathe slowly, and close your eyes. Become aware of the environment around you - the sounds and smells, the feel of your body on the chair, the sensations in your head, shoulders, chest, legs, feet. Once all these are categorised you can ignore them all and focus on your breath. Don't control it, just let your mind tune in to the rhythm of your body inhaling and exhaling. If anything distracts you then that's okay - acknowledge the diversion and let it go free like a helium balloon escaping into space.
Eventually your mind becomes clear and your consciousness slips down into a place in your brain kind of behind your nose and it feels sparkly and nice. At this point you'll think "I'm doing it! I'm meditating!" and you'll need to discard that distraction too.
I do not recommend writing a journal article about your meditation experience, at least not when starting out. Most of my distractions have been in the form of observations about meditating that I could journal. As well as if I should have a tea or a cup of soup when my meditating was over.
However, if you struggle with distraction, or like the idea of having a nap in the garden each morning, I recommend giving meditation a try.
I did not get distracted once writing the rest of this entry. Even though it's a really boring one. Perhaps I have gotten better at handling distraction over the last five days. Perhaps it's because I only have one arm.
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