Week 18 Day 1

Week 18 Day 1

Medi object choiceless
Intention: stay alert through practice

Afternoon all! Today I did 45 minutes in total - 10 minutes metta followed by 5 minutes focusing on the breath, and 30 minutes noting.

For metta, I focused on an image of my niece for the main and I was able to keep a stable view for around 30 seconds at a time. I kept going back to the image and trying to maintain focus.

For breathing focus, I found that even 5 minutes was quite difficult. I looked at the clock with about 30 seconds to spare.

I proceeded with noting beginning on the rising and falling of the breath and tried not to vocalise the labelling. This meant that I could note much more quickly but it also means that I had to remain alert to drifting. My intention for this practice was to remain alert throughout the practice I  noted that on two occasions I nodded, but came back quickly. I think that in a seated position, it would be hard to completely fall asleep.

In middle of the second half of noting I noticed a sweet smell which has now disappeared. I'm wondering if it was something near the radiator as the heating came on halfway through. Sounds arrived of my neighbours watching the television and walking around upstairs. In terms of thoughts, I did not see any poignant ones, only images of random people. I could feel the solidity of my body and my knees and hands were melded together. In front of my eyes I occasionally saw the purple and green swirls, but I did see some flashes of light but that could ave been the television because I'm sitting next to it. There was an itch on my nose which I duly noted and observed until it went away.  Tried not to manipulate my breathing although I think that when I returned to focus on the breath I may have taken deep breaths to bring myself to it.

It's the second day of being on call for work but everything is going to plan. I have done a lot of decluttering and dealt with paperwork. As I sat down to practice, there was the briefest of planning thoughts but I put those aside, - how the mind tries to trick one into thinking about the future rather than the present.  So now after practice today I'm moving furniture!

Hope you all have a fantastic day and a good practice.!