Very challenging 25 min sit today. Lesson learned: don't read loomio directly before meditating. It was an opportunity to practice (poorly and with great effort) letting go and trying to be in the present. #DailyMeds

25 min zazen today after two days off (and I was in a terrible mood most of those two days 🤔)... real cloudy feeling sit, lots of drifting distractions in the first half and then sleepy. I need to continue to work on being mindful when I find the need to shift around. I do feel better tho after sitting! #DailyMeds

Back to 20 min zazen today, since I was feeling time pressure and also sleepiness. I could've stood 25 minutes thought. Gonna keep pushing that time, but no huge need to be aggressive about it I guess. #DailyMeds

Increased my zazen period to 25 minutes today. I do a 90 second posture adjustment bell ("wiggle bell") in the middle. I was plagued by posture adjustments during the first half - a teacher once suggested I wait 3 breaths before any change, and I moved thoughtlessly many times today - but I noticed that my obsession with having my body and gaze centered is relaxing. Well, more so the body than the gaze. #DailyMeds

20 min zazen today, evidently after I skipped for like 4 days?? Wow, didn't seem that long. Super busy monkey mind at first, then fleeting moments of one-pointed mind, then sleepiness. So it goes. But I'm definitely used to the rhythm of this now and can feel the changes as they happen instead of noticing them later. #DailyMeds #meditation

20 minutes zazen again today - yesterday I practiced at home & later went to a #meditation / discussion group on the #RadianceSutras - I felt unusally peaceful after, then lying in bed later I was suddenly able to "just decide" to relax the decades-old constant tension in my shoulders MUCH more than usual for a while. But this morning? Back to not wanting to look up posture tips for people with stiff limbs 😅 #DailyMeds

20 minutes zazen after skipping a day. Interesting to note how the particular preoccupations of monkey mind change from day to day. There are all the usual suspects, but I also find thoughts about the sangha (and integrating further therein) popping up a great deal, at least compared to daily life. #DailyMeds

20 minutes zazen this morning - fairly uneventful today other than a brief surge of emotion in response to a thought near the beginning, and noting that good posture is getting easier to settle into with practice, even with my jacked up spine :) #DailyMeds

20 min zazen at home again today, quite late in the day compared to usual, and with kids yelling downstairs. This is good, because it proves I have little problem meditating with either of those things being true.

I do see the reasoning behind meditating soon after waking - monkey mind gets revved up by day-to-day activity. #DailyMeds

20 min zazen at home today after waffling about it for too long. Was a bit concerned because I was sleepy but it turned out not to be a problem. Burned a whole stick of incense because it wasn't fully out when I sat down, but now the whole house has a Pavlovianly pleasing scent :)

#DailyMeds

30 min zazen at home today. Got a temp timer app since my phone needs a reinstall and the one I normally use is crashing. Cat tried to interrupt, and I suppose successfully did once or twice, but I was able to attend to it and then return promptly to meditation. Still got a lot of learning to do re: how to sit without having various appendages fall asleep. #DailyMeds

Welp I've been missing #DailyMeds again for a while, though I have been to the temple a number of times, just not meditating at home. I did this morning, though it was a bit frustrating to start because my Android phone is corrupted enough now that the timer app was crashing, so I had to do a guided meditation instead. Reminds me I should definitely sit for half an hour before attempting any reinstall! 😬

Been missing my #DailyMeds and off routine a few days due in part to a toxic guest of my housemate, but they're all leaving for the weekend and I signed up last minute for a full day of meditation and practice at the Zen temple tomorrow. I am so incredibly lucky to have these resources.

30 min #zazen this morning, first time going that long solo! My mind was like a puppy asked to sit amidst an endless array of tasty bones to chew on and I had a million tiny posture / body annoyances, most of which I was reactive to rather than waiting at least 3 breaths as one teacher suggested. But still! And really it wasn't too difficult. #DailyMeds

20 min zazen at home today. Busy busy mind being wanting to tell itself all sorts of stories. This is partly because I procrastinated so long on #meditation today and filled my head with internet. Also still learning the finer points of posture with the inflatable cushion and my inflexible limbs - I really need a little mat and some small cushions to stick under my knee and foot I think. #DailyMeds

First time doing solo zazen where I actually live! That was a hurdle I needed to clear for various reasons, so I decided to make meditating 5 of the next 7 days (my pre-existing habit goal) my homework for DBT group - or to do the written pros and cons skill if I decide to skip it. Then last night made a little note card to put on my nightstand to remind me. Otherwise.. Still learning posture on the inflatable zafu. #DailyMeds

Short guided meditation today about lying down, which is how I currently do all guided meditation. Not really my style but I do feel improved afterwards. Let it get too late to do zazen at home before I have to attend to some obligations. #DailyMeds

I'm away from home where doing #zazen on my own is much easier due to fixed views I haven't yet conquered... anyway I did 20 minutes and after I was done made a 30 minute timer preset because often my mind has gone through a couple active/still cycles in the first 20 min and is just settling down. Don't get me wrong, even 5 min is valuable, but I see why the roshi recommends 35 min eventually. #meditation #DailyMeds

Feeling depressed and short on time so I listened to a brief guided meditation on expectations, because unrealistic expectations are what set off the downturn. #DailyMeds

Just a quick 10min breath meditation from a Chilean teacher today. I wanted something that was about 10 minutes and I'm still getting used to the (quite enjoyable) Chilean accent. Feeling slightly like a live wire today, but more focus than some of my most scattered days the past week or so. #DailyMeds