Hey everyone! Welcome to Day 6 of 21DMC!

Today I'll like to share a quick tip on meditation positions.

I'm not sure what kind of positions you use during meditation. For me, I often sat cross-legged during my past meditations. The problem I experienced with this though was that my feet would become numb quickly - making it hard for me to focus on the meditation process.

To address this, I switched to sitting on a cushy chair for my meditations (complete with a back cushion), which then worked out a lot better.

The key here is to adopt a position that enables you to get the best out of your meditation process. If you feel sitting on a chair works best for you, then sit on a chair while you meditate. If lotus position works best for you, then use the lotus position. If sitting cross-legged is the key, then do that. Don't restrict yourself to a certain position despite discomfort. That'll defeat the whole point of the meditation process.

How about you - What positions have you tried before for your meditations, and which is your favorite out of them?

Notice to those who started 21DMC later than Oct 8

I noticed some of you started your 21DMC journey late (Example: You may have begun only on Oct 10, whereas the group started on Oct 8), and have been posting your first day of meditation in Day 1's group thread, second day of meditation as in Day 2's group thread, and so on.

There's a slight confusion/problem as the Days are supposed to reflect the Official Day # of 21DMC (Oct 8 to 28 Oct, where Day 1 is Oct 8, Day 2 is Oct 9, etc), not the days from which you start your meditation (though if you started with the group on Oct 8, all of them will mean the same thing).

Don't worry about your updates if you already posted them in the group thread. Leave them as they are.

Week 2 of 21DMC starts this Saturday, Oct 15, so with effect of 15 Oct, I'll need everyone's help to post your updates in sync with the official 21DMC Dates. This means: Your meditation progress for Oct 15 should be posted on Day 8's group thread (even if it may be Day 4 for you), while your progress for Oct 16 should be posted on Day 9's group thread (even if it may be Day 5 for you), and so on.

Thank you, and let me know if any of you need any clarification!

Group Progress Chart To Date

Please find the group progress chart so far (see below):



To be included in the chart every day, simply fall into the group meditation threads that are posted in this very forum daily.

Share Your Meditation Experience For Day 6!

1. Were you able to complete your meditation practice today? Why/Why not?
2. If yes, how did your meditation go? What meditation did you do? Where did you meditate? How long did you meditate for?
3. Anything you want to share about the meditation itself?
4. Anything you have learned for yourself today? (whether related or non-related to meditation)

Look forward to reading your updates!

"If you want to get something you have never gotten before, you've to do something you've never done before."
Personal Excellence - For people passionate about achieving excellence in life

Day 6 and back into it - 15 minutes. Was a bit too "noisy" with lots of thoughts, many unpleasant, going through the head. But sat nevertheless.
My sitting positiong is cross legged. Underneath me i sit on a small traditional chinese summer pillow which is made from reeds and filled with chaff. It feels quite firm until one has sat on a few dozen times and it softens up, and also shapes to fit. Below that i have a yoga mat which is folder over to be 3 layers thick and forms a square. This is big enough for me to have cushion on rear half and legs on front half. I use the yoga mat because it insulates my feet from the cold of the floor, and also is soft enought to stop numbness yet firm enough to not be too comfortable. I know when i get too comfortable i get lazy. In the past with this setup i have been able to sit comfortably for an hour.

Reading Celes note about about sitting - 100% correct about choose what works for you. The important thing is focus. In the very cold weather I prefer to sit on my sofa with the hard cushion underneath me so i can stay upright. If your legs or feet are going number or getting soreness in the knees this is your body telling you the position doesnt work for you at the moment. So change it. When i was doing my vipassana course i ended up with several cushions underneath me, and 3-4 under each knee, and then i was comfortable. Now i can sit without anything under the knees....but this has come about not because i sit a lot but because i got into doing yoga and it has helped loosen me up. If sitting is too hard even standing in one spot (say doing the 'mountain' pose) will work (Ive had to do that when hurt my knees).

I can share though that even before doing the meditation course i found that sitting cross legged on the floor first thing in the morning for 30-45 minutes really helped my body 'open up'. Made my days seem better and i was more alert first thing in the morning. Guess the ancients had more than one reason for us to sit on the floor..... it works on more ways than one.

With Metta.

I like to use a swivel rocker. It is soft and comfortable. I sit in the dark and listen to a Holosync CD from Centerpointe. I've had the most success with these CD's even though they are expensive. On day 1, I did my meditation for 15 minutes lying on my bed before sleep. On day 2, ditto. Monday, I sat in the chair for 30 minutes. Tuesday, I also sat in the chair for 30 minutes.

Hi all,

Still getting into the hang of the challenge--just realized yesterday that we are posting here in addition to the journals, which I haven't been doing, so this is the first time I have been posting here (but not my first meditation day).

Today I did a 15 minute meditation of just following my breathing. I like to sit Indian style in a comfy chair with my hands in a mudra position (left hand on top of right hand palms up, but I don't know the name of it). I did some general visualization and prayer also. Definately feel more relaxed! Hoping to go longer tomorrow, since I'll have less to do in the evening and hopefully will be less sleepy!

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I really really want to try Holosync! At this point I only tried listening once for a few minutes. It sounds like you would definately recommend it! How is it different from meditating without it?

Life Coach and Manifesting Artist
http://www.CoachingWithChristina.com
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Hello everyone,

Today I meditated for 42 minutes.

Details in my journal.

As for my chosen position, well, I sit on my chair. The lotus position was cool, but I tended to slouch forward, making my back hurt from bad posture.

Hope you all enjoy a great meditation exercise today.

Hi everyone!

Day 5 completed with another 30 min of yoga meditation.

Since I'm doing yoga during the whole session I'm changing positions allthe time which leaves me ok in about any position right now. And during the yoga Nidra, when I'm not so active I lay on my back.

Have a great day and an awesome weekend!

Day 6: Today I looked through all the Tara Brach online offerings, thinking to choose something new. Once it began, I realized it was one I had listened to earlier in the week, but figured I needed it anyway, so listened on.

19 minutes today

I had lots of mind chatter today. I just kept returning to the present. At some point, my cat came and sat right in the middle of my legs. My dog came out and laid right next to me. Pretty soon the whole family will be meditating together!

I have a wonderful meditation cushion that I got at a Zen Buddhist retreat center in California, so it has special meaning. I sit on it with my legs folded, but not crossed. Sometimes I have it back next to the wall and I lean back. I try to keep my back erect and spine straight. I shift around sometimes, too.

Every now and then I will meditate lying down with the cushion in the middle of my back, letting my chest open widely. Since I work on a computer all day, I tend to cave in at the chest, and the stretch feels so nice.

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How about you - What positions have you tried before for your meditations, and which is your favorite out of them?


- I started with group meditations sitting in chairs in a circle with a guide to lead us through. Comfortable and great results.
[
- then I bought a healing meditation tape with the sounds of surf and water,and again guided. used this usualy laying on a mat on floor.Did this one for months until I could go through the entire thing without using the CD anymore. sometimes sitting in a comfy chair.
-have tried cross legged- alert but relaxed yoga position

**** my all time favorite
dead man posture flat out :legs and arms a little spread from body even mouth a bit open-
concentrate on breathing- filling each lung to capacity and expelling slow and complete
--you are not supposed to move or fidget- takes a bit to settle body
this I can do for 20 mins to half hour easy. They say it is as refreshing as 8 hours of sleep.
- have also tried down on knees resting body with arms outstretched before me.Find uncomfortable after 2 minutes.
next favorite - sitting , listening and feeling all around till they all fade out
Note: also have tried all manner of breathing patterns
this was hard as well as learning to be still both body and mind

What have I learned from all these ?

* the proper way to breath and fill lungs at all times
*breath is life, breath is centering
*there is no one way or best way
*the beauty and benefits of meditation

I completed 2 meditation sessions today - 17 minutes in the morning and 13 more minutes later.
My favourite position is sitting on pillow cross legged with hands in meditation mudra. I've also tried sitting in chair and "dead man" position, that Claire described above. It takes me longer time to get to deeply relaxed state in those two, but after attaining it, there's not even a little need to move. Still - for shorter 15 - 20 min sessions, cross-legged is what I'm most comfortable with.

Day 6: 10 minutes

I usually sit cross-legged on the floor somewhere; but I know it makes me hunch a bit, and it does make my legs go numb if I do it more than 20min

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Skipped Day 5... Part out of choice, part ouf of schedule. Not beating myself up about it.

For Day 6, I decided to use a mp3 guiding meditation. Found one in French that lasted 10min, so it was pretty much perfect It focused on breathing 5sec in, 5sec out, then visualizing our heart increasing volume at the in-breath and decreasing at the out-breath, and then surrounding it with love & tenderness "as if you were kissing a toddler".

This made me realize I usually try to fit everything in my meditation. I want to breathe slowly, and then give attention to my body, thanks my organs & stuff, and do some visualization, and etc. How do you fit all this in 10 min? Clearly a sign that the overproductiveness feeling from every day life tried to sneak in into my meditation style. I guess realizing is was important & I'll try to focus on one thing each day

Hope yours went well as well!

An eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind. (Gandhi)
http://matsallehrempit.wordpress.com

How about you - What positions have you tried before for your meditations, and which is your favorite out of them?

I sometimes change positions during meditations to avoid numbness of my legs.
_______________________________________________________

I meditated for approximately 33. 50 minutes.

I did it on my bed. I did three types of meditations and I mostly did the meditation where you focus on your breathing.

It went great!

"Love is a state of Being. Your love is not outside; it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you." -Eckhart Tolle

Celes, Since I am unable to keep my right knee bent for more than just a few minutes to sit lotus, I sit on a pillow with legs extended out at about a 60 deg angle, back verticle, hands palm up on my thighs.

Morning: 10 minutes

Another good morning session. I got up a little before 5:00 AM, did my stretching, then actually did 25 sit-ups on the exercise ball and 10 pushups. Then meditated for 10 minutes. very rejuvenating.

Evening: 25+ minutes

uhmmmmmmmmmmmm...not so good. I had a very hard time focusing. Every little noise disturbed me, my mind wandered everywhere. I could feel the tension in my neck and shoulders; the uneasy flutter in my belly and the anxiety beating in my chest. I persevered. Finally, I let my breathing guide me, and I found myself drifting to that place...the place where I can let go...letting all of those fears and doubts and negative thoughts free. Releasing them from the captivity of my mind and allow them to escape to find refuge elsewhere. I ended my session calm and at peace. Sleep came easy...

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
~Henry David Thoreau

Day 6 - 13mins
I have been sitting cross leg and dont feel like changing it

Cheers
GaneshMuthiah

I will meditate tonight : )
tomorrow I will meditate, during the saturday I wont, I will only have chance to update Monday : )

I was able to spend 10 minutes today sitting on a sofa with my back as straight as I could keep it( my usual position) and I am not sure what happened. My mind seemed empty of stray thoughts and I was not really focusing on anything in particular. Very different from Day 5.

I've done 72 minutes meditation today and I'm very happy about it

I've had my reiki level attunement today and had to practice. More details in my jourmal

My usual position is sitting cross legged either on my bed or on the sofa, wherever I can get some time alone.

Hi, today I did a 15 min sitting meditation with no music. I just sat there and observed what happened. Sitting position : back straight against wall, sitting on two square cushions with joint legs stretched out (like danda asana position, just more relaxed). When I was at the hotel at the beginning of the week, I sat on a chair.

More details in my journal.

Love

Ariane

20 minutes - mid day - just listening to music and experiencing the emotions brought on by the music. This time was more a floating experience. I let the music move my emotions, but I did not immerse myself into those emotions - I just looked at them and moved on to the next emotion. I also was able to experience the "movement" of the music for the first time in many years. Details in my journal Unknotting My Noodle.

I have yet to find a perfect position. I need to find a place that is supportive yet allows me to relax. The chair I have been using is definitely not ideal. As I am reorganizing the house, there is no clear space to find a new seat or to sit against a wall. I will work on finding a new position that I can maintain, not so comfortable that I go to sleep, yet safe enough that if I do I won't fall off the chair!

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Hi Celes - I am not sure my day 5 post went through - I did 10 minutes of meditation (guided - focus breathing - amazing experience) on day 5 and then 20 minutes today - day 6.

Day 6 - did a quick 20 minute meditation session in the morning. I usually sit on my study chair in my room. It's like an office chair. I cross my legs. Back fully rested on the backrest. Keep moving a bit as and when my mind tells me that there is a bit of stress in a certain part.

Yesterday I Fell half asleep while meditating and my mum has now lost faith in me. Whenever I say i'm going in to meditate she feels i'm going to take a nap LOL

Day 5: (I don't know if I'm doing the right thing by posting about this here but I will also post this in the day 5 thread). This was the moat amazing day for my meditation. I did it for ....wait for it....wait... 3 hours! Yes you heard me right. I decided not t go to office (casual leave) and did as much meditation as I could. Obviously not 3 hours straight but about 5 different times in the day. Early morning, post breakfast, post lunch, evening, late evening.

I won't say that it was a hit, cos I still felt heavy and difficult to overcome thoughts or just that frozen feeling. But I must say that I have now built that confidence, and ambition to meditate. This I believe will take me right till the end of the 21 day challenge, and beyond. I tried a couple of guided meditations but did not particularly like any (just didn't suit my pace and comfort level) so i'm yet to find the ideal one.

But yeah happy nevertheless

Day 6.

I meditated for about 12mins. And I am feeling so much better. Yesterday, It was quite a bit emotional for me, but I know it'll pass.

I feel energized and calm.

I normally sit in a chair with my feet steady on the floor. Hands on the lap. this for me is the most comfortable position and sometimes I lie down on the floor with a mat or a blanket with few towels to support my neck.

I am happy.