Reflections: Meditation

Prior to starting the meditation I have been exhausted, overwhelmed and anxious. The stress that mostly everyone might be feeling right now because of assignments being due just a couple of days before Thanksgiving weekend gets really tough. The amount of anxiety that I am feeling right now is about 7-8. I would not go higher because I have been threw worst situations but right now it is not that bad. The level of tension in my body prior to mediation is about 8 because of feeling really stressful which caused me to get a headache and fever-like symptoms.

After the mediation I have felt really relieved, there is no other treatment besides meditation. My mood now after meditation is that I am very pleased and happy. My anxiety has dropped to a 2 because I still have the feeling of tension due to the upcoming couple of weeks. The amount of physical tension I feel is about 1. The experience of meditation felt like I was stranded on an island and I can literally feel like there is no other thing in the world except myself to worry about. In my mind I was first thinking about school, family, and other personal matters but then it started to all fade away like something just drifting far way from you. The meditation that I used was the online one named “Ajahn Sundara: Intro Guided Meditation”. It was really helpful, I am really glad I took 20 minutes out of my time to go through this meditation which will hopefully do me some good throughout the next couple of weeks to come. I tried to take this meditation as a challenge in itself because going through this would be something that one needs to overcome and realized how mind relieving it is.

For this post, Group C was asked to choose between listening to mediation or attending a meditation class. I personally choose to listen to one of the online guided meditations because in the past I have practiced yoga. Overall I would say this was a good experience.

First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

Before I started this meditation I felt really calm, happy, and at peace while at the same time I was partially feeling worried, I was skeptical about why it is today was so peaceful and stress-free. At times today I felt very energetic, for example when I was partaking in a bake sale. While at other times I was feeling very listless and bored, like when I was in one of my classes.

Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I would say my level of anxiety is around a 6. I am a tad bit worried about completing this assignment correctly and about getting all my homework and assignments done in time. Before I started the assignment I was also thinking about all the social things I would be doing this weekend and need to get done next week.

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.

Before assessing my body I didn’t think I was feeling any tensions what so ever, but after a scan of my body I was feeling a bit of tension in my chest area. This wasn’t a great amount of tension so I would rate it about a 5.

Reassess your mood on the chart.

After the meditation I would say I was in a very peaceful state of mind.  Any tension I might have had in my body went away. All the things I was worried about and thinking of before I started the meditation, seemed to escape me.
Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

Post meditation I would say that my level of anxiety dropped. I feel very at ease and peaceful, and more likely a 3 than a 10.

Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

Like I said before my level of tension basically went away all together. If there is any physical tension left in my body I would probably rate it as a 1.

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 choose to do the Guided Intro Meditation by Ajahn Sundara. I particularly choose this meditation because I felt it would be a good idea to start my way into the world of mediation with and introduction. In the past I have done yoga so I thought it would be good to try something new. Like many other people I had a really hard time blocking out all the thoughts that were racing through my mind. Also in the beginning it felt weird having Ajahn Sundara talking in and out of long periods of silence.

Although I did enjoy the meditation, I do not see myself trying this again in the future because I personally prefer yoga. If I were to try to another meditation I think I would try it in a class setting instead of on my own.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I suffer from chronic pain in my feet, due to a medical condition. It really makes me feel sad, frustrated, angry and at times depressed, because it hinders me from being doing activities and being as productive as I would like to be.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I tend not to be very anxious, however managing my school work studying and trying maintaining my day to day needs that are equally as important as my education, i would say my level of anxiety has been a bit more elevated -like an 8.

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.

the obvious physical tension in my body are my feet, as well as in my chest.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

When I was done meditating my mind felt clear and fresh and my body felt a bit relaxed, but I still was in pain. My mood was calm and I didn’t feel anxious at all nor was there any tension in my chest.

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 to do the emotional reaction to pain exercise. The experience was very relaxing, almost too relaxing that if it went on for a few more minutes I would have fallen asleep. My mind was focused on my breathing and just trying to direct my thoughts back on my breath when other thought popped up in my head. I was also trying to follow the instructions given on this exercise. The main challenges  were blocking all the thoughts in my mind,the background noise in my house and not to focus on the physical pain that I was in. This mediation exercise felt like II just woke up or had been given some sort of drug that pretty much reset my mind, so yes I would try this again. However this might have not been the right  exercise  to help me better cope with the physical pain it was worth it.

IIA. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

Out of the feelings listed on the chart, I’d say I am confused, sad, overwhelmed, and a bit lonely today.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I am not anxious about the meditation, but I guess worried about my own issues; worried about all the due dates in school, maintaining my performance at work, and since I just got out of a relationship, dealing with all the thoughts going through my mind as of now. I’d say my anxiety level would be a 6.

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.

Between balancing work, school, and my own personal issues, I’ve been in desperate need of a massage. I’d say my tension would be an 8; mainly on my shoulders and back.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

My feelings now aren’t exactly on the chart, but I’m feeling tired, sleepy (as usual), and ambivalent.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

I am still worrying about all the pressures in life, so I’d say about a 5 now.

C. Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

To be honest, I still feel the tension in my shoulders, so I’d give this category an 8.

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?

For my meditation, I chose “Intro Guided Meditation” by Ajahn Sundara (19:34) because I never really meditated before so I thought this introduction would be a good start. It started off with a voice instructing me of how to position myself and how to relax, I followed as instructed. I think the purpose of meditation is to release your mind and relax, but I was in a conscious state of mind the whole time. I was very aware of every little detail around me, such as my dog’s breathing or the refrigerator opening. I could not really “let myself go” in a sense that as the meditation began, I tried to be aware of everything the instructor said. I kept my ears open the whole time, even during the silence just in case I’d miss an important step. Throughout the whole process, I guess the most frustrating was the thought of “when is this going to end?” This thought ran through my mind countless times. The silence was a challenge for me, I hate being alone and I hate the thought of it, and even when I knew this was a meditation, it was hard for me to let go of this notion.

I know meditation is a good way to clear one’s mind of troubles, so I’d definitely try this again in the future. But probably not now because there’s just too much going on in my head, and I am the type that wouldn’t stop worrying until I know things are over and the problems are gone. I’d probably take on Yoga in the future though, I think it’s a great way to relax and exercise both the mind and body at the same time. I enjoy listening to audios with cheesy sounds of the waves of the ocean and rainfall. This was what I expected to hear in this meditation process, but I guess silence is another way for one to reflect on themselves.

A. How do you feel Today?

I feel overwhelmed, angry and a little bit happy throughout the day.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

My anxiety level would be a level 7, I was worry about finals coming up and how i have to do good on them and the studying it takes to do good on the tests and the level of stress that arises during those times and that everything build upon me and doesn’t go out, until it is all over.

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.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

I feel happy, Shocked and surprised. I feel these ways because i didn’t know how you can take out all the rage that is built inside your body and daily stress, outside to the other side of the world.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My level of anxiety is a level 3, I feel relieved and that everything built on me is let go onto the university and that i should be doing this more daily.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

Physical tension would be a 5, I feel much relieved as a weight has been lifted off my shoulder

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 choose the Guided body scan, the guy started out telling us to close our eyes and then put all our thoughts into our brain and bring it down into our mouth and ears in the lower parts of the body and remove all those out of you. I felt a bit of happiness, because of the pleasure it was bringing towards me and the good tension. I did not feel any challenging aspects of the experience, it went pretty smoothly. I would definitely, try this again to remove the tension that is building on me in the future, with any stress, I am having daily or weekly. I would try this again because it relieves all body tensions and makes you forgot about the stressful thoughts in your mind, that is affecting your body and how your body reacts to those stresses.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I feel sad today because I made a mess of my mid term exam.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I am quite anxiety because I am worrying about how to make a good balance between work, school, family and friends. Especially during the mid term examination weeks, I feel extremely anxious because of the hardship for managing the time. In fact, I don’t have enough time to sleep so I think I am suffering by the 9-10 anxiety level.

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.

The obvious physical tension in my body are my head, as well as my eyes. I think it is because I spend most of the time sitting in front of the computer to work and study. I would my tension level would be a level 8

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

When I was done meditating, I feel my mind is “empty” and fresh. I cant say it is very useful but I can feel more relax before I done meditating. However, this relax and fresh feeling didnt last long because I have to get back to my tension life again. Indeed I can feel I have more energy to move forward in my work and job after I  done meditating.

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 choose the Intro Guided Meditation by Ajahn Sundara. I choose this because it seems very easy to me. However, the first step sitting straight is not that easy. It is because i used to put all my weight to lie on the back of the chair. Therefore, keep sitting straight without chair for 20 minutes is quite hard for me. Then she ask me to relax the shoulder, arm, chest. She also ask me to close my eyes and try to associate to my body. i feel a little bit calm. I try to stop thinking but I really cant. I focus on the sensation of my body. The surrounding is so quiet and I can hear the sound of my breath. She also ask my to attention about my conscious and be mindfulness. This is the the hardest part because I have too much things that I am worried about. And the noise of the surrounding is disturb the Meditation. I think this is normal because this is my first time. I think it is better for me to download it and put it in my ipod. Then I can try this again before I sleep. Night time is more quiet and easier for me to be mindfulness.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

this semester is so busy. There are too many exams and assignments such as pop quiz, home quiz and case study. I felt anxious and frustrated

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

a scale of 8 out of 10.

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.

lack of sleep, the headache could be a pain. my tension is 9 out of 10

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

happy, confident

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

2.5 out of 10

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

3 out of 10

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 choose a guided meditation, I never really meditated before I thought this would be a good start.
 My mind just wanted to think about everything else and I wanted to just get up and move.
I focused on my breathing, I did not want to think about anything I just wanted to enter deep relaxation. This meditation helps me. This is really interesting, and amazing.
As a result, I could focuse on the psychological changes. I would be controlling my psycological mind. I think I would try this again in the future

A) Take note of how you feel right now:

I feel so stressed out and tired.  I feel exhausted and just want to take a nap but I’m so afraid of sleeping right through the rest of my day.  I also feel a little bit tense and my eyes feel heavy.

B) Anxiety: 4.5

C) Tension: 6.5

I feel a lot of tension in my arms and lower body.  (I did a ton of walking today :P)

1. Reassess your mood on the chart.

I feel calm and relaxed, a little bit tired still but much calmer.  I also feel a lot less edgy but I’m still a little bit tense.

2. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

3.5

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

4, when I was asked to focus on certain parts of my body I almost felt tension releasing.

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 choose a simple guided meditation because I’ve never done anything like meditation before and want to start with the basics.  At first it felt so weird to meditate.  My mind just wanted to think about everything else and I wanted to just get up and move.  At first it was very frustrating but soon became very relaxing.  I think I would try doing meditation again but not by using a recording.  So much was going around while I tried to meditate that it was a bit stressful.  I was also really tired so after mediating I ended up taking a nap and I’m afraid that might have changed the way I viewed the experience.  Next time around I want to register for a Wednesday class to get the true experience.

I chose “Guided Meditation: Confidence and the Breath” by Gil Fronsdal.

II. Before the meditation
A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I felt very confused,guilty and depressed.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I was at the level of 6.

C. Assess the level of physical tension in your body- where do you notice the tension?

My tension is my stomach. I would say a 3.

After the meditation
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

My mood is now hopeful.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My anxiety level is now a 4.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.
My physical tension level is now a 4.

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 choose guided meditation that focused on breathing so it would calm me down from the stress I’ve been going through. I felt very calm as if I didn’t have stress anymore or a care in the world. It helped me relax and my tension was going away. I felt very calm and happy. I do yoga often so I didn’t find any challenges. I would definitely try this again because it helps me deal with stress.

I. I chose to meditate along with Ajahn Sundara.

II. A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

This has been an incredibly long and stressful week and I’m actually quite exhausted from it. Lately, the thought of finals coming up and scheduling my classes for next semester is all that I can think about and it is making me feel a bit overwhelmed. I’m worried and stressed thinking about what is to come but at the same time I am hopeful that things will turn out for the best. With that being said, I think it may be the stress that is causing my hysterics. Everything is funny to me, which is really nothing new, but maybe that’s just because I’m so tired.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I would have to say that my level of anxiety is about a 7 because there are so many important things coming up and I just can’t wait to get them over with.

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.

Level of physical tension is about a 4. My body tends to remain rather calm even if I am incredibly stressed. There is, however, slight tension in the back of my neck.

III. 
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

Happy because I am now more relaxed and much calmer.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

I would say my anxiety is about a 5.5 or maybe a 6 because meditating and not thinking about all that I have to do helped to relieve me from my thoughts and worries.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

I would have to say my level of physical tension is about a 2 because during the meditation although I was sitting upright, with my chin tucked in, I could actually feel my body relaxing and I could feel myself sinking into a slouch and all the tensions in my neck were diminishing.

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 to meditate with a prerecorded guide simply because I didn’t have the time to sit in on a class and sitting in my room was much easier for me. During the meditation I was slowly feeling my body begin to relax however it was more of a challenge to get my mind to do the same. I often found myself having thoughts about the assignment but I kept telling myself to focus on the meditation and after a few minutes it got a little easier. However, if there was a noise coming from outside my room, I acknowledged it and then went back to focusing on my breathing. I found that focusing my attention on my breath, like we had done in class, helped me to relax more and concentrate on the meditation as opposed to all of my other thoughts. Sitting in an upright position I could actually feel my tension slowly release from my neck and I felt tingles down my back. Focusing my attention to my thoughts and not allowing them to drift was a consistent struggle and I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t a challenge for me. While it was incredibly calming and could definitely have put me to sleep it was also difficult to block out all other thoughts. I think I would definitely do this again in the future if I had time because it was definitely helpful in taking my thoughts away from my stress and it was extremely relaxing.

During the 24 hours leading to meditation I was feeling very stressed out and overwhelmed. Work, school, family, and relationships just seem to be too much to handle at times. In particular one thing that has been a major cause for stress lately is registration because I notice that many of the classes I need to take this upcoming semester are filling up quite fast. On a scale of 1 to 10 my anxiety level was at a 7 and I was experiencing tension on my neck which I rate at about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. After my meditation session it was honestly an incredible feeling my anxiety level probably dropped to like a 3 and the tension on my neck was almost completely gone, like a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. My mood after meditating was very calm and hopeful. The type of meditation that I chose was Guided Meditation and it seriously felt incredible. While I was meditating I just tried to focus on my breathing and in a sense blank out, I did not want to think about anything I just wanted to enter deep relaxation. Many thoughts were trying to come into my mind but I tried blocking them by strictly focusing on my breathing. It was a bit challenging at first with the noise in my house like for example talking and television but as I got more into it I slowly learned how to block those noises from my mind. I would definitely try meditating again in the future, I was actually very excited when I learned that my EC Reflection was on meditation because since we did a chapter on it I have been wanting to try it. Overall it was an amazing experience and I would totally recommend it for all of you to try.

A. First,take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

Recently, I felt tired and anxiety about school. The midterm just past and the finals are coming up. I am worried about my grade because I am not doing so great in one of class. Each day I don’t have enough sleep I also have to work after school. It’s so stressed out for me to managing both school work and work.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

My overall level of anxiety is 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.

Due to lack of sleeps, I am tired all the time. My level of physical tension will be 6.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

After the meditation, I felt more relax and calm than before.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My level of anxiety is 4.

C. Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My level of physical tension is 5.

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 choose the Guided Meditation by Fronsdal. At the beginning of the meditation I felt so weird because I have never done anything like meditation before. At first, it was hard to block thoughts. My mind just keeps thinking about something else. However, after a few minute, I started to follow the instruction that Fronsdal told me to do. He asks the listener to focus on their body and to follow their breathe .As I followed the instruction, some times during the meditation I felt more relaxed and I started to fell less tension in my body. As the meditation continued, I felt more and more relax and at the end I fall asleep. Overall, this meditation is a great experience. In the further, if I have time, I will definitely try this again.

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.

The twenty four hours leading up to my meditation were somewhat hectic, three exams all leaving me a little drained, but at the same time confident in my work. Plus later that evening I had plans to meet with someone I hadn’t seen in some time, leaving me hopeful,  excited. I would say my anxiety level was pretty low around a three, only issue was just hoping all would go well that night. I did notice some a bit tension in my shoulders, not sure if it was from the marathon study/test session or a bit of nervousness or excitement connected to my evening plans. Maybe it was a combination of the two and I would also have to rate it a four.

Later during the afternoon I choose a guided meditation by Bhante Sujiva which lasted around forty minutes. It started slow, as at first was distracted several times easily by aspects of my surroundings, including my dog who was nudged wondering what I was doing sitting in a unusual area. Once this passed I felt myself slip away from my thoughts on focus on my breathing and relax my body as directed. This relaxing continued and eventually felt great sense of tranquility. The tranquility seemed to be marked my a flow of waves or vibrations. These waves were free flowing feelings or emotions which entered and departed my awareness. This flow was easy the most relaxing section of the meditation, I have no idea how long it truly lasted. The end of the session was marked by a two light chimes, forty minutes seemed to have flown by.

Following the meditation my moods had shifted slightly, I was no longer drained and a new sense of clam that replaced it and flowed along with my hopeful/excited moods. My anxiety level had pretty much disappeared along with the tension. The fact that they were both almost nonexistent was probably the most interesting part of this experience.I knew that the meditation would help “lighten the load” but I didn’t think it would be as great of an amount as it turned out to be. I could defiantly see myself implanting more meditation into my lifestyle.

I. A) I chose to meditate with the Heart Space meditation by Ronna Kabatznick.  It sounded like a pretty relaxing title so i chose that one.

II. A) Prior to the meditation the moods i experienced was exhausted, confused, bored, and anxious.

B) I would rate my anxiety level on a 1-10 scale a 6.  I had to study for a test and was lacking time.  I would have rated higher if i did not know any materials at all, but luckily i do.

C) I noticed a high level of physical tension in my head.  I rate it a 7.  All my moods triggered a headache.

III. A) After the meditation i feel exhausted and a little bit of anxiety.

B) I rate my anxiety after the meditation a 2-3.

C) 4

IV.  I chose the Heart Space meditation.  I was thinking about what would happen if i gotten a low grade and i was thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving break.  I felt much lighter in the head area.  The challenging part of this experience was focusing.  I had a lot of different thoughts popping up throughout my meditation.  I would try this in the future again.  I usually stand and close my eyes in the shower if that counts as meditation, but it makes me feel relaxed.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I was feeling anxious, and exhausted.  I worked for 12 hours yesterday, studied until 2am, slept for 5hours, and just finished one exam in my morning class. I really wanted to go home, and took a deep rest, but I had two more long classes left.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I could say my overall level of anxiety was 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 pain on my both shoulders just like somebody was sitting above! My overall tension would 8.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

I felt hopeful, and confident among the feelings on the chart.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My level of anxiety became around  3.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension  and rate it from 1 to 10.

I did not feel the pain of my shoulders as much as I felt before. The rate changed to 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 followed “ Guided Meditation : Confidence and the Breath” by Gil Fronsdal.  At first, I could not stop thinking of many things I had to do. I doubted “How is this going to help me get rid of  stress for a short time? ” However, I tried to believe the effect on meditation, and followed the instruction correctly. ” Why do people do meditation on the ground of park even though it is so cold outside?” Soon, I felt relaxed, and hopeful. Actually I was in the library, but it seemed that I was at my quiet room. I felt like there were only me and his voice. My pain on both shoulders disappeared at that moment. After finishing it, I felt I was awake from a sleep.    I think now meditation could help my high tension life. I will try to do it in the near future definitely!

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.
I felt happy and excited because my best friend and I went to eat dinner together. Before dinner I felt so hungry because I haven’t eat anything until 6PM. After dinner I was so full. Then I have to wait to meet up with my friend for almost 3 hours that’s made me feel bored and sleepy.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.
The overall level of anxiety is 5.

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.
The overall tension is also around 5.
My shoulder hurts a little but didn’t bother me much.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.
I felt really relaxed, calm, peaceful, sleepy, and numb.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.
My anxiety level is 3

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.
The tension level is about 2-3.

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 choose to do the Intro Guided Meditation by Ajahn Sundara which is approximately 19 minutes long. As the instructor in this meditation said, we have to sit at a certain posture which distracted me because my leg got numb then I have to change the sitting posture. When the instructor told to feel the body, I was trying to relaxed my shoulder and I felt more relaxed. I felt like most systems in my body started to slow down and shut down. I noticed the breath in and out that’s made my mind to focused to my tummy. Toward the end of the meditation, I felt like my mind is floating in the air. I stop thinking about everything and only focused on breathing. When it finished, my eyes open, I felt so peaceful and calm.
Definitely, I’ll try it again in the future. During the meditation, I tried to focus on only the breathing that’s made me forget about other things that running in my head.

I meditated to “Guided Body Scan by Gil Fronsdal; Guided Meditation by Mark Abramson).”

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

Right at this very minute I feel as if I could cry more tears than how it’s raining outside. I’m feeling sad, overwhelmed, and frustrated.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

Level of anxiety 8

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.

Overall tension is about 8. Location mainly jaw area. Feels as if I’m my biting down on my teeth but in reality I’m not.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

1.Reassess your mood on the chart.

I’m more relaxed. Calm.

2.Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

Level of anxiety 2.

3.Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

Physical tension 2.

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 choose “world of thoughts” guided mediation by Gil Fronsdal. As the mediation begun I started to tunes all sounds out of my mind even though I was still quite aware of them. I slowly channel all of what was being said taking in deep breaths. As I exhale over and over with each exhale I became a little less tense. As thoughts enter my mind I tried not to fight against them. I notice as bad thoughts enter my jaw tends to tighten as if that ‘s my way of fighting against them. Once I stop and breathe in and out the tightest in my jaw starts to relax. Most challenging aspect is the amount of thoughts that comes in and out.  This isn’t a bad exercise; I would probably try again in the future. It’s a good way to sit back and center your thoughts and understand where its coming from and just be aware than letting it get the best on you.

A) First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

–When I first woke up early at 6 a.m., I was exhausted, sleepy, and with no energy at all. Throughout the day, my mood elevated between being happy, to frustrated, and then to being bored. Towards the end of the night, I went right back to where I had started, exhausted.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

–To assess my overall anxiety, I would have to say its 4. Even though, I had a long day, the level of anxiety was at a decent level.

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.

–The level of physical tension is mostly on my shoulders, back and my calves. Level of tension would have to be a 6.

III) After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

–(After yoga class, I felt like a whole new person, because I was happy, hopeful, confident, and ecstatic)

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

–(Level of anxiety dropped to 1, because my mind was free)
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

–(Level of tension also dropped to 2, especially the tension from my calves)

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 to meditate at a yoga class that was offered at my gym. When I first got there, I had a lot on my mind, and a lot of tension in my body. Trying to concentrate on the meditation was quiet difficult, because I was so restless, I just couldn’t get all the things that happened during the day out of my mind. So I thought, whats best then couple of deep breaths, and slowly trying to release all that was going on in my mind. I would definitely take yoga class again in the future,  because its a great experience. I did take yoga for 4 years in high school, and I think that, I felt like a whole new person, after every session, both my mind and my body were at a perfect state, no tension or anxiety at all.

In the last 24 hours I’ve experienced exhaustion, frustration, and anxiety. Im not depressed or can’t function under such circumstances, I just deal. We all deal when scheduling is a bitch and can’t get into the right classes. When we’re trying to prepare for the future, or waiting for that drug test to come out negative. lol. That is life…I would have to say that my anxiety and physical tension are at 6 from a scale ranging from 1-10. Lately I’ve been experiencing tension right in the middle of my forehead. As if I’m frowning so hard it hurts. Also on my lower back. I honestly feel exhausted, for no real reason. If that makes sense.

I chose the Guided Confidence and Breath meditation. Since I started this extra credit at 10pm the day its due, I picked this because it was 30 minutes long. Giving me pressure to hurry and get it over with before the dead line. I started off confident and ready to embark on this wonderful journey to relax and “wake” up transformed. Sadly enough I only got half way when I just couldn’t bare to sit a minute longer. The breathing didn’t help. Felt out of breath and couldn’t control it. I kept thinking “I just want to write my post already and go to sleep.” The meditation was actually making my antsy.

Why I started off with such eagerness and ended not even accomplishing the whole video was subject to my tiredness. I wouldn’t do a meditation exercise having in mind that I’m tired and that its due in an hour.

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.

-I woke up this morning with a sore throat, and I felt very sick and exhausted the whole day. Even doing really basic things got me really tired.

Also maybe its the sore throat, but I got annoyed easily at small things.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

– I would rate the level of my anxiety to be 6/10; its bed time right now and thinking about going to bed soothes me.

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.

– Obviously I feel a lot of tension in my throat. Beside that my head, shoulders and toes are feeling the tension. Physical tension around 6/10, given that I just took a nice bath.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

– I feel slightly calm and hopeful, but still tired. And my body feels very warm.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

-I would rate the level my anxiety to be 4/10.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

-Physical tension to be 4/10.

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 the meditation Guided Meditation on Forgiveness by Gil Fronsdal.

While listening to the audio, Fronsdal asks the listener to repeatedly say out things like ‘I forgive those who caused harm to me, I forgive myself for causing harm to others and I forgive myself for causing harm to myself.’ While saying those words out loud, it was quite emotional, because you start thinking about the mistakes you made that hurt people, you cared about. Even the small things!

The part that I  loved the most was when Fronsdal reads out a poem by Buddha which ends something like this, “May all beings be happy”. We are at an age where we are so preoccupied with our wants and desires that we forget there are other beings that also exists who only wishes for simple basic needs. The sentence wishes for every beings happiness and that was quite touching and it warmed my heart.

I did not come across any frustrating thing during the meditation process. But maybe not knowing what to do next could count as one challenging thing. Or maybe that is a task in itself.

I meditate occasionally, and therefore would definitely do it again. Meditation helps you to relax and calm down and I would definitely not pass up on something like that.

Before meditation:

Before starting this experiment I was very tense and very anxious.  For the most part i could identify my tension and stress coming from all my school work. My mood was  frustrated, confused and a bit angry. If i had to rate my anxious level it would have been about an 8, and my tension level probably a 9.

During meditation:

When I began the meditation it was a bit difficult to stop the thoughts from appearing into my mind. But after about 5 minutes I would say the thoughts decrease and I could focus on meditating and my breathing, but every once in a while  a thought would arise. During this time I felt relax and a bit sleepy. But very at peace. My focus was not on anything that was going on around me but rather on my breathing, bringing my awareness to different things the instructor told us.

After Meditation:

After meditation i felt a lot more relaxed and happier. My anxiety and tension level dropped radically. I didn’t feel worked up or mad about anything, everything was calm and relaxing. If i had to rate my anxiety/tension level I would say it was about a 3 after meditation. I would totally recommend meditation, but not only recommend it, but make it apart of my routine. Sometimes we get so stressed out with life and think we need to party or let loose to feel relaxed, when its as simple as just meditating.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I am currently stressed out about school and internships. Im worried i won’t be able to get anything for the summer and I’m not doing so great this semester in my classes.

B.   Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I would say my anxiety level is a 5.

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.

My level of physical tension is 5. Ummm my tension would probably be in my shoulders.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your

state of mind and body.

A.   Reassess your mood on the chart.

When I was done meditating, my mind was very clear compared to before. I felt less stressed. My shoulders were a bit more relaxed and i was more calm.

B.   Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My anxiety level is currently a 2.

C.   Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My physical tension level is a 2.

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’ve decided to do the Guided Meditation by Mark Abramson. My mind and body was focused on just breathing and i tried not to think about anything else. At first, it was hard to block thoughts, but it got easier as I got used to mediating. It was very relaxing and that focus helped me become less stressed  about school and work. Since i really am a person who dwells on things it real helped me get my mind off it. I will try this again to help me focus on other things to avoid stress and anxiety.

I. For this reflection, I choose the first option “Guided Meditation on the breath” by Gil Fronsdal.
II. Before I began my meditation, during the 24 hour period leading up to the meditation I was so tired after I took midterm exam and I feel happy because I got 100 as my RES midterm and I feel so exciting when I made a joke with my families. I thought my overall level of anxiety on a scale was 3. My body tension was so tired and ache all over. After I finished my meditation, my mood was calm and quiet. My overall level of aniety on a scale was 1. And my level of physical tension was 1. During the meditation experience, I chooses the guided meditation on the breath. During the experience, I feel so relax both on my mind and my body. I think I will try this again in the future. Because it will help me keep calm and relax in my mind and body. And after it I feel so happy and unrestrained.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I am currently stressed out about school. There are so much
things to finish up with so little time. I am mentally fatigue due to lack of sleep.

B.   Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I am usually not very anxious. I would say my anxiety level is 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.

My level of physical tension is 8. I’ve been doing a lot of
pushups and lunges. There is tension on my chest, arms and calves.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your
state of mind and body.

A.   Reassess your mood on the chart.

When I was done meditating, my mind was a lot more clear
from before. I felt less stressed. My body was a lot more relaxed and a lot of tension from my body was gone.

B.   Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My anxiety level is currently a 3.

C.   Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My physical tension level is a 4.

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’ve decided to do the emtional reaction to pain exercise. My mind was focused on breathing and tried to not think about anything else. At first, it was hard to block thoughts from my mind, but it got easier as I got used to mediating. It was very relaxing and helped me become less stressed with my school work. During this experience, I was calm due to the quiet room which allowed me to focus. I would definitely try this again in the near future whenever I’m stressed out or
physically/mentally fatigue.

First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

This morning, I felt annoyed because of the weather. When I went to my Communication class, I felt relaxed and calm since I didn’t have to present today.  I only need to sit down with a free mind, watching my classmates but thinking about other things most of the time. Then I went to my next class, I felt bored and tired. At some point, I was extremely awake because my professor got irritated by students who came late to class. I felt excited when the class was over, because it meant club hours. I left school with a smile because I went to my professor’s office to check my midterm grade, and found out I did well on the exam (I took the exam last Thursday, I thought I did really bad, and I was very upset. In addition to other issues, last Thursday became an extremely bad day for me). At the end, I went shopping with my best friend. I was satisfied and happy when I saw the decorations, candies and treats for Christmas. I wondered how my moods fluctuated today; my mood experienced a huge change compared to last Thursday!

Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I am an anxious person, I am afraid of making mistakes. I do things slowly; I always worry about not having enough time, especially before something is due.  I would say my overall level of anxiety is 7.

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 think my level of physical tension is 3. I feel calm but sleepy.

After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your
state of mind and body.

Reassess your mood on the chart.

After meditating, I feel less tense and sleepier. I feel confused at the same time because I wonder if meditation will cause people to feel tired.

Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My level of anxiety is now reduced to 3.

Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My level of physical tension now is 2. I feel warm, but I am not sure if it is resulted from meditating or from the heat.

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’ve decided to do one of the audio guides found online. It is called Guided Meditation: Body Sweep. As I followed Leigh Brasington’s directions, I tried to be focused and not to think about other things. I followed my breath. My attention moved and reached different parts of my body.

During meditation, there were many pauses. My mind was empty during those quiet moments, and I can hear the clock ticking. Since I was already sleepy before meditating, I felt calm and sleepier as the process continued. To be honest, I almost fell asleep during the process. I think meditation is similar to hypnosis. I may try this again in the future, but I will do this when I am awake and when I feel stressful, not like this time, when I felt sleepy, tired, and not very stressful. In this way, I can compare my experience before and after meditating with less confounding variables.

I. For this reflection, we ask you to find a way to meditate. To do so, you have two options:

I choose “Guided Meditation” by Mark Abramson to do with the 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.

I am really stressed and anxious because I have so many midterm exams recently. Furthermore, I start to apply for my master degree and I have to prepare the GMAT. Therefore, I feel extremely exhausted.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I think my overall level of anxiety is 6.

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 think the level of physical tension in my body is 6. My tension would be much nightmare. It’s hard for me to be asleep and I have a lot of nightmare everynight.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

After I finished the meditation, I feel better than before and I have less stress and anxiety.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

Now my level of anxiety is 2.
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My level of physical tension is 2. Also, it’s much easier for me to be asleep. I can have a sweet dream after I completed the meditation.

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 choose the “Guided Meditation” by Mark Abramson. At first, it’s hard for me to blank my brain, even though I followed the instruction which Mark Abramson taught me. I tried to focus on it slowly. After around 10 minutes, I blanked my brain and followed Mark Abramson’s instruction. I felt relaxed and comfortable. I started to enjoy the process. It helped me to decrease my stress and I feel much better during the meditation. I thought it’s a good way to relax myself. And I would try this again in the future, when I met some troubles in school or in work. It did help me to be out of exhaustion. Moreover, I will introduce the meditation to my friends and my family. It’s a good experience.

I. Gil Fronsdal’s Guided Meditation: Confidence and the Breath

II.

A. During those 24 hours, I felt many different emotions. I felt sad, angry, depressed, cautious, jealous, shy, ashamed, embarrassed, frustrated, confused, confident, suspicious, anxious, bored, exhausted and hopeful. I will elaborate on these feelings if needed to.

B. I guess my anxiety level is around 6-7.

C. My physical tension I would rate a 5.

III.

A. Well, I definitely feel more calm. I guess you can say I feel a little bit more confident.

B. My anxiety level is now 0.

C. I still have physical tension on my arms for personal reasons. The rest of my body is less tense so I rate it 2-3.

IV. I chose Fronsdal’s guide because I assume it would help build up confidence. I was following his instructions as he was going on so I felt my breathing. Air going in and out, the quickness, the cold feeling going through my nostrils and into my throat, my chest expanding and compressing as well as my stomach. I felt the cold air around me and I felt confused in a way as to whether I was doing the meditation right. I could not find a correct posture and position to sit in during the first half of the meditation so I was constantly thinking about that. In the end, I chose to sit on my sofa in a upright position with my arms on my stomach and feet down touching the floor. I would definitely do this again because it did calm my mind much more than I expected even though I was confused for the first half. I believe the next time will be a much better experience.

My initial emotional state before the meditation  was anxious, frustrated and exhausted. These emotions are very common for students around the end of the semester. These emotions sometimes can be overwhelming. My anxiety level was about an 8. The pressure of satisfying gpa requirements and paper deadlines increase the level of anxiety. If I had to pinpoint the area of my tension due to the stress, I would say it was at my temples and my neck. The level of tension is about a 7.

A friend of mine had a meditation tape she was using when she couldn’t make it to her meditation meetings. She let me borrow it for this assignment. After the meditation, my stress and anxiety levels went down considerably. My stress and anxiety levels were around a 4 after the meditation. I also felt very calm and relaxed. During the meditation, all these thoughts of anxiety and stress were coming. After about five minutes, my mental state changed and these thoughts began to dissipate.

I enjoyed this experienced and will begin to meditate on a regular basis. It is a nice and healthy way to relieve stress and gain control of oneself.

I have never meditated on my own before. I do think about my thoughts on rare occasions or about my feelings but only for a moment. I have never really just sat down and focused. One of the tasks asked to take notes on our state of mind before mediating so thats what I did. I knew I was in the best state. I felt anxious, sad, angry and a bit depressed. The weekend did not go so well for me but I’ll spare the details. My anxiety is probably a 9 because of that plus school and work. I also noticed tension in my shoulders, arms and neck. I would say my physical tension lever was a 7 out of 10.
I chose Ines Freedman’s “Guided Meditation: Mindfulness of Thinking.” At first, I felt silly sitting there breathing in and out slowly with my eyes closed; I could honestly feel the angry look that I had on my face even with my eyes closed. I felt the tension in my shoulders and noticed that I could hear everything around me. As I breathed, I started to let go of the tension. My face relaxed but my thoughts were running like crazy.
I heard Ines say to visualize are thoughts and put them into words I immediately did so. I could see what took place over the weekend and hear the harsh words that had been exchanged but then I started thinking it over slowly. That was frustrating for me because I just wanted those thoughts to disappear. I didn’t want to be reminded of it but I had to just accept it. I needed to let go of all of that anger and ease my body when I thought about it deeper. My body tensed up but then relaxed as I kept breathing. I finally stopped thinking of anything or at least it felt like I wasn’t thinking of anything. It was just a relaxed feeling as if you don’t have a care in the world. I knew that the negative thoughts were all in the background but I did not want to be stressed by them. I would try this again in the future. It felt good to take some time to sit down and relax my body and mind.

I. Choosing the Meditation

I choose to do my meditation through a program at the YMCA.

II.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

Before beginning my meditation I was feeling calm and relaxed. Ready to take on anything.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

My overall anxiety was about a 2.

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 notice tension around my arms. This was due to exercising a couple of days ago. The tension level was about a 7.

III. After the Meditation

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

I still feel calm and relax but now more happy and confident with myself.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My anxiety after the class was a 1

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My arms did feel better after stretching and focusing on breathing and relaxing the body and mind.

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?

My experience was great. This was my first time taking this class. I choose to take something called Qi-Gong. This class involves slow moments and deep breathing. Random thoughts were going through my head while taking the class. I did notice that I was thinking about things that didn’t have anything to do with the class and that I was just thinking about little things that were going on in my past life. I did have some challenge on focusing what the instructor was saying. After a while I did loose interest and my mind just wonder off. I would definitively try this again in the future because it did help me realize that I was more aware of things around me and it did help me focus on things that I was more concerned about.

II

a. Before starting the meditation exercise, I was feeling exhausted, confused, bored, overwhelmed because of the amount of school work, some slow classes, my job and some personal issues.

b. On a scale of 1 to 10, my anxiety level were a 9 by the time the day was over. I’ve been worried on how I will do in all of my classes. If I will do good in my first semester here at Baruch. I barely have the time to relax, which factors in as well.

c. In my body, majority of the physical tension seems to be in my neck and my chest area.. so it would be rated about 8. Under stress I tend to have a heavy feeling in my chest and it feels as though it is being squeezed.

III

a. After meditation, my moods were much more relaxed, happy, confident and more in focus than being all over the place. I was easily able to figure out a game plan on what I will do when and how and I have been working effectively on this assignment as well as multitasking with a few other tasks easily since.

b. My anxiety levels are now around 2 instead of the 9 before I started with the meditation.

c. My physical tension, I now feel as though there is a less burden in my chest and my neck doesn’t ache or feel as stiff as it was (No longer had the need to crack it). I would rate that now a 3.

IV

The meditation that I chose was the Guided Meditation by Ajahn Sundara. The reason why I chose this meditation was because it is always a good idea to start off with a proper guide in meditation. It allowed me to focus easily on one thing, which was to relax and ease the tensions in my body. At first it is tough to block out thoughts from racing through my mind but after a little while, those thoughts began to fade away. In the future when I am extremely stressed and exhausted or in a similar position such as I was earlier, I do see my self trying this exercise again. However, instead of it meditating alone; I would rather have another person also following the meditation. I would try this again because It is a great way to loosen up your muscles and it clears your mind and allows you to work much more effectively.

I chose Guided Meditation: Forgiveness Meditation for Depression.

Last week i lost my job, i’ve worked five years there, I miss my coworkers and my paycheck… The day i lost my job it felt like if I’ve lost a relative, a close friend. I cried, I was mad at myself. Anyway, the hours before my Meditation I felt happy, confident, and hopeful, however I still think about my old job. On a scale of 1-10, before the Meditation my anxiety level was 5. My neck hurt, and i’ll say before the Meditation, the level of physical tension on my body was 5.

The guided Meditation was very useful, my mood i think is still the same, but i’ve accepted the fact that i’ve lost my job, and that i should start applying for others. My anxiety level and physical tension levels remain the same.

While i was listening to the speaker i realized that probably losing a job isn’t that bad after all. This is probably a new beginning , has to be, and hopefully i’ll do better in my next job. Anyway i think that Meditation is a great method to cope with daily issues.

I. Choosing the mediation
I chose “Guided Meditation: Confidence and the Breath” by Gil Fronsdal.
II. Before the meditation
A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.
I was feeling happy, bored, anxious, and exhausted.
B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.
My overall level of anxiety would be around a 5.
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.
My tension is around the stomach. My overall tension would be a 6.
III. After the meditation
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.
My mood is now confident, hopeful, and bored.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.
My anxiety level is now a 3.
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.
My physical tension level is now a 5.
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 choose guided meditation that focused on breathing and meant to raise your confidence level. Many thoughts came in that I became aware of. I felt kind of drowsy, but I also felt more calm. I felt some of the tension leaving my body and my anxiety level decreasing. Some frustrating aspects was that I was trying not to succumb to the drowsiness and fall asleep, while trying to concentrate solely on my breathing. It was hard to think about my breathing for a long period of time. I would try this in the future, but not focusing on my breathing only. I tried meditation before and it always calmed me down, and it helps a lot, so it’s definitely a useful thing to do.

I. Choosing the mediation

I chose “Guided Meditation by Mark Abramson.” I chose this one because I don’t think I could sit still for longer then 30 minutes.

II. Before the meditation

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I was feeling exhausted, excited, a little guilty, anxious and happy. I felt exhausted because I went out the might before. I was excited because it was football Sunday and I love football. I felt guilty because I had work to do but I chose to do it later. I was happy and anxious because there was some great football games on TV.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

My overall level of anxiety would be around a 7. I would attribute this to the football games I was watching yesterday.

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 feel tension in my stomach and as well as in my chest. My stomach feels as if it is contracting and my chest is beating harder then usually. My overall tension would be a 6.5.

III. After the meditation

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

My mood is now calm, cautious, confident and hopeful.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

I would put my level of anxiety at a 3.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My physical tension level is now a 4.

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 choose the guided meditation by Mark Abramson and he focused on breathing. As I sat in the library listening to the recording I couldn’t help but feel like I was on a beach or a long drive on a quiet road. I started to feel relaxed, calm and a bit drowsy. The more I concentrated on my breathing, the deeper I would fall into this state of mind. There was also a sensation of happiness that hit me. Like it didn’t matter where I was but I was just content. I found staying awake through out the whole recording a bit challenging but I occasionally stretched and felt more awake. I would definitely try this again and I’m excited to check out the other recordings. I live with 3 guys and we tend to get on each others nerves a lot. I think these recordings can bring me to a better state of mind and I truly look forward to it.

A. I was pretty relaxed all day, I was working in the SEEK office so i just talked to people. I showed people a picture of my new cat. No stress at all.

B. I started my report that’s due Wednesday  a few hours ago so my anxiety level is a bit higher, but still pretty low, about a 3 out 10

C. Body tension, maybe a 4.5, I’ve been cracking my back and neck all day, no bueno, and my feet are a little tired

Ok meditating now………….

A. I’m still pretty relaxed, I do feel a bit more awake now, less groggy.

B.I finished my report so I feel zero anxiety, wohooooo,

C.A lot less body tension, me feet don’t hurt as much and I stopped cracking my back every 30seconds, which is a good thing. I didn’t really experience anything supernatural. I guess I didn’t go into like super-deep meditation. I focused on breath a lot so I guess that helped me relax. Yes, I would try this again, maybe when I’m get home, I’ll try to see if I can dry an ice-cold towel. I used to take yoga back in high school. and we use to do this kind of thing, it was pretty dope. Sorry to whoever reads this, I feel like my meditation was uninteresting.

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.
Today, I am feeling bored & exhausted.  But in the past few days I have experienced anger, annoyance, and impatience.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.
My level of anxiety is about a 5.  I feel the anxiety from having my business presentation coming up soon.

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 think overall tension is 0; I don’t feel tension anywhere.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.
I still feel bored, but a little less exhausted now.  I do not feel any anger, annoyance, or impatience anymore.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.
I feel less anxiety also.  I would say I feel about 2-3 on the scale.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.
I actually now feel a little tension in my lower back and neck.

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 to follow one of the guided meditation prerecorded audios by Gil Fronsdal.  In my mind I was trying to tell my body to relax as much as possible.  I tried to listen to what Gil was saying at the beginning of the audio, but I wasn’t really trying to encode the information; instead I kept wondering when the actual meditation process would start.  I read a little bit about meditation before.  So I was already trying to notice my breathing and the sensory cues around me.  The sound of cicadas outside was more noticeable to me and after about 10 minutes (or it felt like 10 minutes), I started to feel uncomfortable in my back.  The difficulty in this process was to sit still.  I have difficulty sitting in class all the time, even if the class isn’t boring.  I just have the feeling of “ants in my pants.”  I need to constantly move around and it was the same for this meditation process.  I was consistently twitching while sitting.  When Gil told me to try and feel the different parts of my body, being aware of them (i.e. my right hand), that part of my body actually felt even more uncomfortable.  I notice it feeling a bit numb as I focused more and more on it.  I felt a slight headache too when he said to be aware of my head.  Also, I wished I had chose a shorter meditation clip.  I thought from time to time about if the clip was going to end.  I think I would try this again in the future.  A lot of times, during the first exposure to a certain experience, I know I am quite resistant to it.  I think maybe if I try this 2-3 times more, I may start to have a different experience and start to find meditation more helpful.

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.

– Quite a wide spectrum of emotions have decided to show themselves actually.  First, exhaustion from barely sleeping (4 hrs or so) due to thoughts running through my mind that have to do with planning out the week ahead, and dealing with a variety of issues that they will bring about.  Second, feelings of being overwhelmed from trying to coordinate 2 different group projects and having to study for 3 different exams all on the same week.  Third, anger from having to do all of these things (assignments, reading, studying, etc…) and not being able to do what I actually want to do for my own enjoyment.  Finally, frustration due to the fact that the week is only going to begin and all these things still need to be done!

B) Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

– About an 8, and this coming from an overly optimistic individual….

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.

– Shoulders, neck, and my head feels like it weighs a ton due to a headache; overall tension is probably a 7.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A) Reassess your mood on the chart.

– Still feel rather frustrated, but overall hopeful of the things to come as the fact remains that once the week ends, it’ll be behind me.

B) Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

– Around a 5 as I still need to get things done.  They aren’t going to get done by themselves, but that’d be great.

C) Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

– Shoulders and neck feel a bit less stiff, but my headache is still present, 4.

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 picked the guided meditation (Ajahn Sundara: Intro Guided Meditation) as I’m not keen on these sort of things, and this seemed like a good one to try for the sake of being introductory.  Just like when we are asked to try these things in class, I had a ton of thoughts running through my mind ranging from the things I still needed to do, to new ones, such as the individual’s strange nasal voice (hard to describe, not fond of it).  Eventually, I did start to feel a bit relaxed and got used to the voice, but I still had thoughts on my mind albeit fewer of them.  Soon, before I even realized it, the time elapsed and it was over.

During this meditation, the challenging aspects were definitely trying to eliminate the thoughts running through my mind and trying to relax.  When one thought dissipated, another took its place, and this continued throughout the whole experience.  As I mentioned earlier, I am not keen on the whole meditation thing, so I doubt I’d go out of my way to do it again as I’d much prefer to take a walk somewhere quiet by myself when I need to get away from things.  As a matter of fact, I’m a fidgety individual by nature, so the whole sitting and zen thing isn’t part of my routine.

Comment Prompt (Group’s A & B):

1. After reading the reflection writer’s description, what do you think was happening to them during the meditation on a physiological level?
2. Based on your readings throughout the semester, what areas of their central and peripheral nervous systems may have been effected during the meditation?
3. What questions do you have for the writer about their experience?
4. Based on the description provided, would you be open to trying the same meditation exercise?

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I was feeling suspicious and frustrated.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

My overall level of anxiety is 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 have tension in the back, 8

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

My mood is confused, happy, and confident
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My level of anxiety is 2
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My physical tension rate is a 5

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?

The type of meditation i chose was Guided Meditation: Confidence and the Breath. In my mind i was thinking about all the things that was stressing me. I was feeling a little bit drowsy. It was frustrating on focusing strictly on my breathing. I would definitely try this again in the future because it was very relaxing.

I chose to do the Guided Meditation: Confidence and Breathing by Gil Fondal.

In the 24 hours before I did the meditation I was extremely stressed and frustrated because I had four papers due for different classes on the same day. However, I wouldn’t say that I was particularly worried and my anxiety level was probably a 5. There was no tension in my body and so I would rate tension as perhaps a 3. Overall, I was just really energized and working hard to finish all my assignments on time.

I felt exhausted after completing the meditation. Since I had constantly been working for the past two days, I hadn’t really stopped to consider the strain on my body that all the hard work was causing. But in the 30-odd minutes that I had to sit still and alone with my thoughts during the meditation, I became acutely aware of all the exhaustion and pain in my body. I would say that my anxiety level dropped down to a 2 but, this could have simply been because of the fact that I am done with all my assignments and am looking forward to the long weekend. The tension in my body has definitely gone up to an 8 because I performed the meditation sitting on the floor in the traditional cross-legged posture. I haven’t done this in a long time and as a result, I felt a lot of pressure in my legs and lower back.

I chose the Confidence and Breathing meditation because I was expecting to have a relaxing session to help me clear out all the tension of the past few weeks. However I became extremely tired after realizing that I hadn’t taken a substantial break or slept for more than a few hours in the past 2 days. I had no trouble focusing on my breathing and the meditation for the full time period but it wasn’t a pleasant experience because of my mental exhaustion and the physical tension in my body due to the posture. I am not sure if I would try this again since I usually am in a better frame of mind when I am working and actively thinking about things. I find it unsettling to sit still trying to empty my mind of all thoughts.

A. Feelings before meditiation

At first I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and love struck.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

My anxiety was about a 6. My papers for 3 of my classes are due today. ( Tuesday 21,2011)

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.

MOst of the tension is in my back, shoulders, and knees.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

After the meditation I was more calm, relaxed, love struck and my legs did not hurt as much ( I don’t really know which emotion that is I guess relief lol)

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

After the meditation my anxiety dropped to about a level 2.  This meditation was a whole body meditation and it relieved majority of the emotions I was previously feeling.
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

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?

The meditation that I choose was ” Guided Sensation: Body Sweep by Leigh Brasington”.  At first It was really hard to concentrate on what he was saying because I was really focused on trying to perfect my papers that were due for each class and also because I found out my grandmother was just diagnosed with cancer which hit me pretty hard. ( this is why I choose to do this meditation now because of the many things that were on my mind ).  During the meditation what helped me the most what the concentrating on my breathing.  I sat with my legs crossed and usually after a while my knees start to bother me but because I only focused on my breathing nothing else seemed to matter.  The mans voice was a little bit annoying to me because he would constantly talk during the meditation when I was just trying on focus on nothing I guess.

After doing this meditation I would request for all people to do meditations because it relaxes your mind if anything else.  I used to do meditations because I always seemed to make situations more stressful than what it really was and my mind just needed a break.  When it comes to finals for this semester and for every semester after that, Right before a final just do a quick meditation.  although Brasington’s voice to me was a little annoying, his thought of working through your body to relax it and going through each body party is a great way to relax.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced. |
This month is so busy. There are too much exams and assignments. I felt frustrated, anxious and tired.
B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.
In order to prepare all the exams and essays well,  my study schedule is so busy. So my level of anxiety would be at least 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.
Because of the exams and the pressure, my level of physical tension will be 6.5.
III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.
I felt more relaxed and happier than before. And I can be more calm.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.
The level of anxiety is 3.
C. Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.
The level of physical tension is 3.5.
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 choose the guided meditation by Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia. Initially, I’m curious that whether the meditation is useful. And I have seen a documentary film called “The Dhamma Brothers” before. It is about a prison meditation program and it showed that the meditation changed prisoner who joined the program a lot. I thought the meditation was so magical and I really want to try it. During the meditation, I began to focus on my breathe in and out. And I told myself relaxed. Firstly, I couldn’t easily pay attention on my breathe. But after a while,  I could do that and could imagine the scene what Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia said. Then I felt all my muscles relaxed. I felt calm and easy. In addition, everything at that moment became much easier and my mood became better.  In the future, if I have time, I will try it. It really can help me to be calm and easy when I feel frustrated and exhausted. I like the feeling after the meditation. It’s like a sunny day in your heart and feel energetic.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

bored, anxious, stressed.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

Due to a built up exhausting and stressful week at school and work, my anxiety level would be at least an 8.

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.

The overwhelming workload has made me sleep deprived; therefore, I feel a lot of the tension in my neck and shoulder area. Tension: 7/10

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

Relaxed, Happier, Surprised.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

4/10
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

3/10

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 the guided meditation. Originally, I was quite hesitant whether this can truly relax the immense tension and stress built up in my body for a period of time. But I gave it a try. Tried to focus on my breathe in, breathe out; focused in the moment, and put all my troubles aside for that moment. Certainly, thoughts came up every once in a while, but I just kept going back to my oxygen intake. The hardest part is definitely to stay focused and keep calm. Overall, I am very surprised how rewarding this short meditation feels. After my body started to relax, I actually felt tingles in the tips of my fingers and toes; felt like the weight was lifted off my shoulders during that time. I’d definitely try to do this more often; either when I’m really stressed, or right before sleep, if I have some time.

I. I chose a meditation of Guided body scan by Gil Fronsdal.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I had a long and stressful day. I woke up with a loud music from next door in the morning. I had been working on project for another class. Then I went to work. After work, I usually take F train, but it was not woking, so I had to walk to take another train to come back home. I was exhausted and under stress.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

I would say my level of anxiety was 8.

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.

The level of physical tension in my body was 9. I felt physical tension around the shoulders, especially.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

I feel more calm, relaxed and less under stress.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My anxiety level is 3.

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My physical tension level is 4.

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 a meditation of Guided body scan by Gil Fronsdal. When I started meditation, I was still thinking about work and school project. At first, it was difficult to let the thought out from my mind. but as I followed the guidance, I didn’t think about those things much at the end. Another challenge was focusing the sensation of the body. Maybe because it was the first time to do a meditation. When I focused on breathing, I realize that my breathing was short and fast. At the end, my breathing was slower and deeper. After finishing the meditation, my mind was clear and feel more relaxed. I still feel physical tension, but it’s much better than before. I will try the meditation again because it released my tension and stress. I feel it!

The last month and a half has been extremely stressful for me. I have started  a new job, while holding on to my previous one. Now I am working six days a week, at two very different schedules and trying to juggle it all with school. The extra income is the goal, but the toll on my body and brain is excruciating. I have been waking up with a headache every morning for the past 2 weeks or so, and it  usually goes away with my coffee fix. I used to get those headaches only when I did not have a cup of coffee before 12.00pm, now i wake up with one every single morning.

My anxiety level is probably a 9, because I am worried that I will not be able to keep up with everything and that my body will fall apart. I am definitely more than stressed out at this point.

The tension in my body is in my shoulders and my lower back and can be rated at a 9 as well.

I started this meditation totally as an assignment, which is the reason why I choose the same exercise as the professor. Going into it, I did not expect much, but was hoping for a somewhat refreshing outcome. I got a lot more than I expected. At the beginning of the meditation, “Rolling in the Deep” from Adele kept on playing in my head, because I had just listened to it. It did not completely go away throughout the whole experience, but it was in and out. As I focused on my breathing, I could feel the muscles in  my neck relax, and my head swung forward at a snail pace. It felt extremely good, as my body was relaxing. My shoulders felt lowered and my breathing was loud at times. Unfortunately, I had crossed my legs under me, and somewhere past the halftime, my right leg started cramping. It got so bad that I could not remove it from under me, without the help of my left hand. I was careful enough not to be rough with it, because I  still wanted to attain the end of the meditation. As I lowered my right leg to the ground, a huge grin came upon my face and would not go away. I was not sure why I was smiling, but I could feel the muscles in my face stretching form one ear to the other. It lasted a good few minutes. Then it went away gradually.

I can’t say that I will not be anxious tomorrow, but tonight, I feel really good. I called my best friend and recommended that she tries it too sometime. My shoulders are loosened and for my back, I am not too sure, I am still seated, so we will see when I get up.

My anxiety level is about a 5 right now and the tension in my body around 2 or 3.

I am glad that we got this assignment at this time in the semester, because I got to appreciate it and I will repeat it as soon I get a chance.

I-Choosing a Meditation

The meditation experience was done at a yoga class in NYSC

II A) First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.                                                      Before beginning my meditation I was feeling excited and a little nervous because I have never done anything like this before.

B) Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.                                                 My overall level of anxiety was about a 3 from 1-10 scale, I think i t was a normal level because I had a long day at school

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.

There was tension in different parts of my body I noticed, tension occurred in my arms,legs and ankles. All this tension was due to the football game I played the day before. My tension overall was probably about  a 7.

III) After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A) Reassess your mood on the chart.                                                                                 After the mediation I felt happy, relaxed, confident and ready to take on the world as a new refreshed person

B) Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.                                                                          My Anxiety level was I think  was very close to a 0 because my mind felt relaxed and at eased

C)Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.                                          My tension level non existent as I breath and relaxed throughout this process, I would rate my tension to a 1.

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 to meditate at my gym as they offered a Yoga class. When I first got to the gym I was very lethargic, and bruised up from playing football and basketball the day before. The most challenging part was during the beginning because I felt all my bruises and many different thoughts kept coming into my mind and stopped me from focusing. As the class proceeded it became much easier and more relaxing. I never took yoga or anything like this before, I would go to the gym and workout and leave but, I’m going to start going to the Yoga classes at least once every 2 weeks because it refreshing and makes me feel like a new person. This was very healthy for body and mind; I recommend it to everyone.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced:

I have been feeling disconnected from the surroundings, as though I haven’t slept for quite a while. Myriad thoughts are passing around my mind, but I can’t concentrate on a single point.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10

5.5

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 am feeling a bit sleepy. Tired and exhausted.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.

A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

After the mediation, I feel single-minded and relaxed. A not-too-common pairing!

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

1.5

C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

2.25

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 choose a guided body scan meditation, which seems to have suited well with a beginner like me. I had to record my body sensation. I focused on my breathing , allowing stomach to rise as you inhale and fall as I exhale. This meditation process eventually helps me to purge unnecessary feelings. As a result, I could concentrate more on the physiological and psychological changes. When I finished the meditation, I found myself unusually calm and single-minded. As it was my first meditation, I enjoyed the controlling of thought. That is to say, I didn’t find meditation frustrating. I hope to try this again future for these very reasons.

I. For this reflection, we ask you to find a way to meditate. To do so, you have two options:

I’ve decided to do option B for this particular project because I’ve done Yoga before during my high school senior year and it was actually fun. I haven’t done meditation and yoga in such a long time so I’ve decided to do the Yoga class again.

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.

I felt very stressed and exhausted from the continues studies (on average 2 exams per week), internship interviews (every other week), volunteer work and the family responsibilities for this particular week and particularly the last 24 hours. This is very exhausting as my schedule involves attending classes Monday through Saturday. Although I did feel a sense of confidence because I did study a lot and actually understood the material for my exam and felt very secure about my results.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

My overall level of anxiety would have to be 5-6 (where 10 is the highest level of anxiety).

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.

The tension in my body has to deal with the level of tiredness and drowsiness experienced at particular moments of the day such as when I am reading for a long period of time. The tension on my body is on a scale of 4-5 (where 10 is the highest level of physical tension).

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

My mood did improve as I was able to deter the constant thought of “What do I have to do next? Am I missing something?” and I had a sense of calm and relax feelings. This helped lower my exhaustion as I was able to relax during the meditation and acquire focus. For some reason my confidence did not disappear but it was not on my mind or in my thought. I did not think about the exams that I just finished and I was not worried about my confidence but instead I was released of these thoughts. I did not have a huge improvement in the level of happiness but I can say that it was a slight improvement.
B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

Surprisingly as I said in my previous comments, a lot of the constant thoughts and worries either disappeared or weakened and this lower my anxiety a dramatic level. I would categorize my anxiety after the yoga and meditation at a 3-4.

C. Reassess your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My physical tension improved much more than my anxiety because the yoga and meditation involved stretching and relaxation of the muscles and focusing on a particular task. I really enjoyed the particular tasks where you had to do a tree like pose and keep your balance with one foot and focus on your breathing. My level of physical tension after the yoga and meditation would be 1-2.

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 performed a yoga form of meditation where you would perform different forms of stretches and moves (positions) in an effort to release or gain back some of the energy within your body. The meditation actually involved staying in a particular position as still as possible and trying to relax your whole body as best as you can. Then as you did this, you would try to control your body, which involved moving nothing (no part of your body, including your eyes). Then you would breathe and relax and get everything off of your mind. Finally as we approached the end of the meditation, we would start moving one body part at a time and come back to “life” – first the toes, then the fingers, then our arms, etc. During this whole process I had a sense of calm and relaxation because the room was such a quiet place, there was nothing to distract us and it was comfortable. My mind was able to gain control over my thoughts and I began having less and less thoughts. I did not have any challenges as I actually did this form of Yoga/meditation in the past during my high school life. Although at first it is difficult to block the thoughts, it became easier as I acquired more focus on the task of meditation. I would try this again in the future since I’ve done this in the past before (right before my classes in high school, beginning of the day) and I felt a lot more awake and energized during the classes after when compared to the days that I did not perform this particular form of yoga and meditation. I just felt a sense of energy and relaxation that made me feel better and that is why I would like to do this again.

I. I chose yoga as a guided meditation

II. A. This has been a very stressful semester, especially lately. Before going to yoga I felt stressed and frustrated that I was going to yoga when there is so much to do, when there is always so much to do.

B.  O n a scale of 1 to 10, I would say my overall level of anxiety was a 6.

C.  On a scale of 1 to 10, before yoga my level of physical tension in my body was an 8, especially on my lower back.

III. A. After yoga I was exhausted, definitely more relaxed and less stressed

B.  On a scale of 1 to 10, after yoga my level of anxiety was at a 4

C.  On a scale of 1 to 10, after yoga my level of physical tension in my body was a 5, I especially feel it in my arms and legs.

IV. I chose to go to yoga with a friend that’s been begging me to go with her for a while now. Yoga takes a lot of focus and I was grateful because I definitely needed an hour away from my life. My body was definitely feeling the burn but it was a good burn. I felt great after the session. This was my first time ever attempting yoga and it was definitely hardcore. I was very frustrated trying to perfect poses that everyone but me seemed to be doing with ease. I quickly let go of my frustration and kept telling myself this was my first time and to enjoy it. I would definitely go to yoga again because even though I wasn’t good at it, it was a great distraction.