Meditation is a mental exercise practiced through concentration, observation, and awareness. By concentrating on an object (internal or external), paying attention to the present moment and whatever is happening, and trying to get rid of the distractions that come to mind, one is able to calm the mind and provide solid moments of introspection. While mediation is often associated with stillness there are walking and moving meditations as well, and the ultimate goal is to bring mindfulness into most of our everyday lives.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and add moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity (such as resistance or weights) on at least 2 days per week.
During this 30-day period, every day I will try spend 30 minutes in some type of meditation and at least 30 minutes doing a form of exercise that gets my heart up, thus setting aside an hour each day for self care.
Day 7:
Bike ride in the evening because party during the day. It wasn’t super difficult, but was definitely a way to get back onto a 30 minute focus of exercise and not be stressed about it. Meditation for 30 minutes without mala, only focusing on breath. Ujaii Pranayama, thumb and middle finger together. Took about 5 minutes to get settled. Mind continued to race entire time from one topic in life and thing to do to the other. Felt tired and needed to focus on breath in order to not fall asleep. With 10 min left I let the hand position go. Afterwards, feet asleep and feeling tired and a bit dizzy. I wonder what it’s like to do 30 minutes first thing in the morning?
Day 8:
Hot zen during hot yoga with rain outside. Took 20 min meditation on cushions at studio after duty. Wouldn’t look at phone but wanted to. Kept focus on breath and sound of it entering/leaving. Felt soft waves of energy throughout body as I would let thoughts pass by. Difficult to keep back straight, but I worry if I lay down I’ll fall asleep. Came back in the dark with sunset in the distance.
Day 9:
Busy through day, and my partner was with a student's parents, so I was only one on floor to respond and couldn’t go to lunch. I had an appointment after school, but came back so I could practice Kung fu for an hour. It had been too long and I really missed it. My goal is to get Lim Bu Chuan this week. After coming home I mowed the lawn, cooked dinner, put away dishes, reloaded the dishwasher, and folded clothing. This left me with the 30 minutes at 9:30 PM being my first break from the day. I sat and meditated with my mala in super slow and deep breaths every bead. By the time I was at the end of the mala, 30 minutes had gone by. At one point I felt like my body was simply a shell and that I was piloting this shell though life.
Day 10:
Today was our first day of starting school-wide clubs and Principal Pass (the permission stickers that the Principal give so students can go off-campus), so it ended up being a super busy day. The Principal Pass actually went very well, and we only had a few students who left campus and weren’t supposed to, but clubs were a bit crazier, with no teacher assigned to Student Leadership club. I was asked to be the representative today, while another teacher is being found, but this prevented my partner or I from getting to get our breaks in. This doesn’t happen every day, though, so I can make sure to get the break tomorrow. I poorly estimated how long the homework for Chemistry would take me, so I ended up missing my Hot Yoga class and barely getting through all of it in time for the class. In the future, I’ll need to do it all during the weekend, because I’ll have more time and won’t stress out during the week and miss out on an activity. Class got out a bit early, so I was able to come home, eat, and head upstairs to meditate. Again, I used the Mala beads to breathe slowly, this time concentrating on making my breath softer. It was a wonderfully strange experience, and felt like the time went by so much faster. I also started to feel more lightheaded and ‘out of body’, so I’ll probably try to continue practicing this way.
Day 11:
As I promised myself, I got to eat my lunch but had it with two kids in my office who had watched a fight happen and didn’t report. This isn't ideal, and prevents me from being able to take a break from everything that is happening at school and get meditation in. Today being Wednesday, I decided to do a double workout with yoga. These are always a lot of fun but take two full hours to complete. I do a Vinyasa flow class with one teacher and then a full Hot class with another. When I got home and was finally able to settle on my meditation cushion, I wasn't able to focus on anything. I tired to sit in stillness, but my attention would get pulled by the sounds of music my husband was listening to, the dogs barking, or even my thoughts about what was happening at school. Meditation truly is an active practice, and it's hard to fulfill that active practice while you're exhausted.
Day 12:
I woke up still exhausted from the day and previous week. I started off the morning with a parent meeting, and left immediately from there to a training at a different school. From that point on, it was one thing that kept going to another. I'm trying to figure out what’s the most important in this practice. Is exercise the thing I should be focused on or meditation? How can I put both of them into my daily practice? Is an hour of pulling myself away from things even possible every day? What will success look like? I had to lay down halfway through meditation because I’m so tired. I just lay on the the ground and tried to bring my attention to my breath, but almost fell asleep a few times.
Pizza Dough From Scratch
Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups bread flour (I used whole wheat flour and needed extra water for it)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup corn meal
Whatever toppings you put on your pizza
How to make it:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and add pizza pan or stone to heat with oven.
2. Clean a large, flat surface and cover with parchment paper.
3. Add the salt and flour together in a bowl and stir. Place flour mixture in a pile in the center of the parchment paper. Create dip in the flour pile like a volcano top.
4. Add the dry yeast, oil, and sugar to the warm water. Stir together
5. Slowly, add a bit of water to the top of the flour pile. Let flour absorb water and begin to roll into a ball.
6. Continue adding water to pile and rolling into a ball until all of the flour and water are used. Dough should be only slightly sticky (use more flour or water as needed to get the right firmness).
7. Place in a bowl, cover with a towel, and let sit for an hour.
8. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round flat surface. Roll up the edges of the newly formed pie crust.
9. Remove pizza pan or bakers stone from oven, dust with cornmeal and transfer crust to it.
10. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Note: Don't forget the corn meal dusting on the bottom, this helps prevent it from sticking. Also, don't add toppings until crust is added to the baking sheet/stone or it will be hard to transfer.