Meditation

II. Before you begin your meditation, we ask you assess and take notes on your own state of mind during the 24 hour period leading up to the meditation.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.
During the past 24 hour period, I felt anxious and overwhelmed.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.
I would rate my anxiety level a 7.

C. Assess the level of physical tension in your body- where do you notice the tension? Try rating your overall tension on a scale of 1 to 10.
I felt tensed on my shoulders, back and jaw from slouching and clenching my teeth. I would have a physical tension rating of 7.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.
I experienced some frustration but was much more relaxed than I had been before the meditation.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.
I would rate my anxiety level with a 3.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.
My physical tension would be a rating of 3

IV. Describe the experience– What type of meditation did you choose? Describe what was going on in your mind and your body, what kind of thoughts and sensations did you experience during the meditation? Were there any challenging or frustrating aspects of the experience, and if so, what were they? Would you try this again in the future? Why or why not?
I chose ‘Intro Guided Meditation’ by Ajahn Sundara. I was a bit annoyed with how long it was simply because I can’t sit still for more than ten minutes and she gave too many instructions. I think about one thing, then she mentions that we will think about another event and that was quite frustrating because I felt as if she had interrupted my thoughts. Her accent was a bit frustrating too because when I didn’t understand a word, I’d block out her instructions to think about what that word was, then I’d miss half of her instructions. I also noticed how tense my shoulders were and I lost feeling on my feet and legs at time forcing me to fidget around. I would try meditating again but I’d like to do it for probably 5-10 minutes and I’d do it without instructions like this meditation guide.