Nowadays, due to the fast pace of life and omnipresence of technology and digital entertainment media, it is hard to slow down, take a deep breath and just enjoy the present moment. Those were my first thoughts when I received the assignment. Being reminded of the importance of spirituality in our lives, I was eager to spend some quality time with myself. Now the question was: what activity should I choose? I decided to stop meditation practice, as I always was interested in it but never really dared to try. So I picked up some free time in the afternoon when nobody would disturb me, sited in a lotus pose leaning back to the wall, turned on the sounds of nature on my phone, and started meditating.
In the beginning, I was constantly losing my concentration and swayed away by random thoughts. But before my practice, I read that it is not good to start being worried about that fact; therefore, I tried to calmly stop my thoughts if distracted (Vilhauer, 2018). I am not sure how much time I spent like this, struggling to empty my head, but at some point, something interesting started happening. I had feelings similar to that of being half-asleep. At the same time, I started sensing some connection not only with nature but with the whole universe, and suddenly, I became very peaceful. After opening my eyes, I was feeling very calm. I noticed that I perceive things around me differently like they are more real than before. That feeling stayed with me for four or five hours.
For the second part of the assignment, I decided to practice kindness. Firstly, I told my parents that I love them. That was a bit strange for them, as we do not often share our feelings, but I saw that it made them happy. Secondly, I left the comments under a couple of my friends’ posts on Facebook, either admiring their activities or complimenting their looks. Thirdly, I went around my neighborhood and collected small garbage pieces. When I was doing the things named above, I noticed that I became more attentive to people and their feelings. Moreover, I was feeling more self-confident, happy, and proud of myself. I still do while writing about it now.
Reference
Vilhauer, J. (2018). How to stop your mind from wandering during meditation. Psychology Today. Web.