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When you skip a meditation session...

clearviewclearview
edited August 2010 in Buddhism Basics
So the past few days I haven't meditated because I've been busy (lazy). It's the longest time I've gone without meditation since I started my practice 2 months ago. What I've noticed is that when I don't meditate, my mind becomes noticably more active & anxious. I just meditated and already feel better. I think not meditating for a few days gave me a glimpse of how my mind operated before meditation all together, it was just now that I was aware of it. Stopping meditation showed me just how important meditation is, and I realize that now. Just curious if anyone else has similiar experiences when they skip a meditation session or two

Comments

  • WavesWaves
    edited August 2010
    Yes, I've had that experience a few times and am really beginning to notice it now when I skip sessions. I just skipped one this morning in fact. For the past two weeks or so I have been meditating for an hour every morning. Today I slept in a bit too much and then had to go to work. I certainly feel much more calm and relaxed when I meditate. I've also noticed that it seems to help me keep a very stable emotional state, which tends to flutter around more when I don't meditate.

    Dan
  • BhanteLuckyBhanteLucky Alternative lifestyle person in the South Island of New Zealand New Zealand Veteran
    edited August 2010
    clearview wrote: »
    Just curious if anyone else has similiar experiences when they skip a meditation session or two
    Yes! I think your experience is universal.
    I highly recommend everyone skip a couple of days, just to see how much things change. Then start again!
  • nuageuxnuageux
    edited August 2010
    Yes, definitely. I think I notice it the most when I haven't meditated for a few days and then I meditate - my mind is flying around all over the place. It makes me wonder how I ever managed to live in this chaotic state all the time, before I got into meditating! But I guess I must have done.
  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    edited August 2010
    Yes, at a certain point, a brief hiatus in meditation has actually been useful, because the suffering is then closer to the surface and easier to attend to.
  • redcordialredcordial
    edited August 2010
    Good timing for this clearview. I have a self-management project to do for Uni and my topic is the association between meditation and stress levels. As a part of my experiment I have had to stop meditating for a few weeks and boy am I a cranky cow! My 'intervention' for the project is daily meditation and I can't wait to get back into it as I certainly feel different. I am thinking sooo much about what is happening tomorrow, the next day etc and my tolerance has been challenged on several occasions. I just have to keep reminding myself it is in the name of research and on a positive note it is a good chance to practice all the things I have learnt through Buddhism. Which is proving a bit more difficult without meditation. In any case it has so far been an interesting project for me, as until now I didn't realise how much of a difference was making to me.
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    edited August 2010
    Yes very much so. But I'm not going to say how many but it was more than one or two. Probably need a calculator to figure it out.:D
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited August 2010
    This is more long term skipping. About six years ago I didn't meditate for almost nine months and had little Sangha contact. I was high on money and status during a successful run in my profession. It was big time "me", big time karma, and big time painful fruit at the end of it. I crawled back to the meditation cushion after that. The beautiful thing was, when I suddenly showed up at a Dana (meal offering for monastics) after months of absence, everyone acted like I had never left, and we shared a laugh at how we so often choose to suffer.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    edited August 2010
    I definitely do notice.
    I try to meditate twice a day.
    15 min each session...
    Zazen is what I practice and I have skipped days and definitely see a big difference between practicing everyday and not.
  • ThusThus
    edited August 2010
    Without consistent daily meditation I feel like I am on some sort of cloudy distorted autopilot. When I do string together consecutive days of meditation I can feel the momentum of daily life slowing to a more manageable and healthier pace.
  • shenpennangwashenpennangwa
    edited August 2010
    For me the tantric vows have been extremely useful.
    My commitment to a daily practice is constantly supported by the vows I have taken from my teachers and promises I have made to them.
    Without my commitments I could easily fall into laziness and start missing days of practice.
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