Has “meditate” ever been on your to-do list, only to never get done?
That was me —until 100 days ago.
I’ve studied the many undeniable, evidence-based benefits of meditation. And my strong cultural and religious connections to meditation are not lost on me.
Yet, I barely got as far as downloading some apps.
But 100 days ago, everything changed.
Since then, I’ve meditated 2x/day. Each time for 24 minutes:
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01 minute of a specific breathing technique (“Pranayam”)
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20 minutes of transcendental meditation
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03 minutes slowing getting back to reality.
Changing habits does not come easily to me. Why was this time different?
/1/ This was not someone else’s idea; it was mine.
Meditating came out of the blue, as far as my family is concerned.
And that’s true.
I knew in advance that these past few months would be intense. For better or worse, I was right — they were. Thus, there was no better time to make this investment in myself.
And so, I committed. Night or day.
Nothing was going to get in the way.
I meditated on a flight to a conference in Texas.
I meditated while parked outside of Panera.
I meditated while parked in my driveway.
I meditated on a local train to Paris.
I meditated on my back porch.
I meditated before sunrise.
I meditated before bed.
I meditated in a Lyft.
I meditated.
I showed up.
No matter what.
/2/ This was not about the end result; it was about the journey.
I drilled this into myself. My objective was not to quickly achieve some elevated state, transcendental trance, or any of the many benefits.
Importantly, I normalized 2 common problems:
During meditation…
(a) Having thoughts was OK. It was a signal of stress being released.
(b) Falling asleep was OK, too. It was nature’s way of giving me rest.
In other words, I wanted to set myself up for a LONG journey.
Who was I emulating?
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Seinfeld has been meditating for 52+ years.
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Ray Dalio has been at it for 55+ years.
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And my local instructor: 37+ years.
As I got deeper into this world, I regularly encountered more people who had practiced daily for years. It was both inspiring and humbling.
100 days, therefore, is just a blip on a very long journey within.
This is not a Tiny Habit or an Atomic Habit. Instead, ideally what I’d like to call a 🚀 ‘Forever Habit.’
Wish me luck on this journey within 🙏🏽 (and consider this an open invitation to check in on my progress at ANY time…in 100 days, 1 year, 10 years!)
📸 credit: my 11-year-old yesterday…past bedtime
(he’s realizing the many benefits of my 24 min out-of-comission sessions)