Have you ever had one of those seemingly ordinary conversations that ended up totally inspiring you?
Right before my yoga class at The Soul of Yoga last night, I was talking with my dear friend Libby about the latest happenings in our lives. For the most part, the conversation stayed pretty much on the surface level until we got to talking her devoted daily routine. She was waking up at 5:30 am every day and doing a solid hour of meditation. She made sure to get in some yoga on a regular basis. As she said, she was "in it!".
As she spoke, I could sense that she was genuinely reaping the benefits. She looked great and sounded even better. As we started our yoga class, Libby's words stuck with me. After a solid hour and a half of flow, it was clear that I needed to get back into my solid routine.
For years, I woke up right before 6 and did 30-45 minutes of meditation and at least 30 minutes of yoga. Since I left the Chopra Center and my stable schedule went out the window, I have been doing little selfcentering chunks throughout my day but I really haven't created a dedicated time. Some days I get 30 minutes, some days I get an hour, and some days I get 10 minutes (not enough for me right now). Though I make it a point to spend some time with my eyes closed every day, Libby assisted me in remembering that the tools are more effective when used consistently.
Libby unknowingly fashioned my vantage last night. I realized that I had been staying up too late and sleeping in too late. So instead, I decided to start going to bed before 11 and waking up at 6. Signed, sealed, and delivered.
Last night, I hopped into bed by 10:58 (yes, I was aware of the exact time), set my alarm for 5:50 am, and zonked out pretty quickly. As my alarm went off the next morning, I woke up and realized that it was still dark. hmmmm.....it had been so long that I had forgotten what time the sun came out. Soon, I'm sure.
Even though my body was clearly still in sleep-mode, I sat up to meditate. I was staying on track whether my body wanted to or not. I got comfortable, closed my eyes and drifted into what I can only described as a sleep induced haze meditation.
Was I conscious? Yes!
Was I aware? I'm going to go with no.
At exactly 7 am (my normal waking hour), my foggyness lifted and I arose. Wait, did I just meditate for an hour and 10 minutes?
No dude. you just fell asleep while sitting up for an hour and 10 minutes.
I might be able to possibly argue (maybe) that there were some (emphasis on some) moments where I was clearly in an awakened state of conscious (I think....haha), but the bottom line is that I broke one of my own teaching rules. When you want to make changes to your routine, do them in small steps. For the last three months, I've been sleeping until 7 am. So what gave me the impression that I could suddenly jump to 5:50 am and everything would be fine?
My ego....that's what.
The lesson to be learned: don't be in such a rush to change. Let it happen organically and it's more likely to stick. The more drastic the attempted the shift, the more likely you are to create expectations and not fulfill them. Tomorrow, I'm shooting for 6:40 am. Seems like a much more reasonable next step.
Do you have any good stories about trying to make massive changes in small time periods and falling into a sleep induced haze (metaphorically speaking)?
Posted
Jan 17 2008, 02:43 PM
by
Max Simon