Meditation #5 - The Slow Home Experiment

We’re just about wrapping up this month’s Slow Home Experiment, with only a couple of days of meditation left, so Ben and I talk about the experience and whether we’re going to create a routine out of this particular habit.

I also talk about some of the excellent advice and encouragement we’ve both received over the past few weeks (thank you all who’ve taken the time to email, comment or participate in the Slow Home Experiment group on Insight Timer - it’s been invaluable!) and you can find a list of all the resources you've provided in the show notes below.

Also on this episode we hold a Pity Party for one (Ben is host) after which we discus the June experiment of getting 8 hours of sleep every night. I do have a feeling there will be no Pity Party for Ben this month though, as he’s something of a sleep expert already!

Essentially the rules are very simple:

• get 8 hours of sleep every night

That's it.

Of course there will be nights that sleep won’t want to play along, but we’ll be doing our best to set up routines and make changes to our rhythms to give us the best possible chance to get a full eight hours.

Do you think you’ll be joining in for the June experiment? We plan to keep a tab of the hours we get every night starting on June 1, feel free to join in and share your experiences!

Also, don't forget, you can play along with us by tagging your social media posts with #slowhomeexperiment and sharing your experiences. Hit us up on Instagram and let’s get experimenting!

Enjoy!

——

Head over to iTunes to subscribe to the show and play the episode.

Or you can listen to the show directly, simply by hitting the Play button above. Enjoy!

——

Show notes:

This is a free-form list of resources, tips and suggestions I've been given over the past month from some of our lovely listeners. I'm sure I've missed some so please leave a comment with your recommendations and I'll add them in.Thank you all so much for sharing in this experiment - it's been a game changer for me!

• Sonesence meditones (via Karen)
• YogaEasy.de for those looking for a resource in German! (via Stephanie)
• Opening the Mind guided meditation on Insight Timer. "Really made me think about how narrow we can be in our vision and thoughts." (via Nic Avery)
• "Consider "what is left when there are no problems to solve". My mind was always so busy during unguided meditation and this phrase is the one thing I've found which gives me a sense of quiet, stillness and space, it's amazing! The thoughts still invariably creep back but it works better then anything else I've tried to date." (via C)
• Start Here Now by Susan Piver
• Headspace App
• Jack Kornfield's meditations
• Tara Brach's podcast

Kathryn dropped some amazing knowledge nugs (holla!) that I wanted to share with everyone. These are the different types of meditation I couldn't remember during the poggie:

• Zazen meditation, which is from Zen Buddhism and is basically just sitting and coming back to the breath. If thoughts come I do a few things: label them (“thinking”, “worrying”, “planning”) and let them go, picture whatever it is floating away in a balloon, or imagine them floating by.
• Concentration meditation, which usually means counting in time with the breath. I count along with each in-breath up to 10 and start over. If a thought interrupts me, I start over at 1.
• Metta meditation. Its more of a sending good wishes kind of meditation. You start by sending good wishes to yourself (May I be peaceful, may I be happy, may I bee free) then to a loved one, a neutral person, a difficult person, then out to the world. I like to do this one before bed. My kids like doing it before bed too.
• Tonglen meditation. This comes from Tibetan Buddhism. I do this when I’m hurting over something happening in the world, so when I hear of a terrorist attack or when my friend was diagnosed with cancer. You breathe in their suffering, try to connect with it and breathe out peace and relief and imagine sending it to the suffering person. It sounds heavy on the woo, but its a nice way to feel like you’re doing something when things feel out of control.

Also from Kathryn:

• The teacher I have worked with is called Michael Stone and he’s a Buddhism/Yoga teacher. He also has an app with guided meditations that I really like as well as podcasts.
• One thing that he said in a course I took with him is that the more you meditate, the more crap comes up. Meditation brings down all those walls and defenses we set up for ourselves. It's really common for people to feel MORE anxious, for things to come up from the past. As someone said above, without support, it can be difficult to work through these things. Its a good sign though, it means meditation is allowing you to see things as they really are and connecting with yourself.
• If it keeps up though, maybe contact a meditation teacher and see if they can help you through it?