Meditation Monday

Typically, my formal meditation practice consists of 7 minutes of mindfulness, then 7 minutes of loving kindness, 7 minutes of compassion and 7 minutes of mindfulness. I chose 7 minutes because 10 seemed way too long. Since I am just getting started, I am giving myself a lot of space to enjoy the practice without making it yet another to-do.

I must be making progress because I was interrupted by my groceries delivery right before the last mindfulness section and felt tired the rest of the day. The fact that I wanted to finish the meditation feels really good. Some days, I just want it over.

The fact that I am willing to do it at all is fairly astonishing to me because I am a stay-at-home mom of a 4 year old and my husband works at home. I finally just decided that if I wait until my house is quiet, I won't meditate until I die. Or do anything that is just for me. The way I look at it, even one breath of meditation is more than I did before. When I finish sitting I tell myself, "Good for you," no matter how I think it went. So I can't lose. I love that there is so much room to practice.

One day, my daughter and my husband were reading in the other room while I was meditating. They started laughing hysterically. What a great distraction. Of all the things that could distract me, laughter is one of the most pleasurable.

I also got a kick out of my husband's girgling tummy. He and I were sitting together and I hear rumbling and burping and I started laughing and could not stop. The last 5 minutes were mindfully belly laughing.