3 Weeks

Yup, that's right, 3 weeks, 21 days, 3 fourths of a lunar cycle, a little over 2 thirds of a month (non February... March to be exact).

Yesterday, Sunday, March 15, 2009 was day 21.

A very pleasant surprise also, I sat for 28 minutes. Just kept falling into my self and becoming very relaxed. I guess a couple of things about my sitting.

First, I sit in a closet. Yes, yes, many jokes to be made, but it's a walk in closet, much room to be had, not crowded by any means. It's dark, but I keep the door cracked just a sliver and that provides a beam of light for focus when needed. I really don't have much trouble with the dark anyway, my mind is much too active to have problem becoming drowsy.

Second, I don't time my sits in the conventional way (you know, with some sort of clock, incense (not an option) or other timer. I count my breaths, I have a set number of breaths that generally takes about 22 minutes depending on my state of being on the particular day. Yesterday was 30 minutes. That meant I was relatively slow in my breathing.

My respiration has slowed down in the last year since i started practicing yoga. I am very cognisant of my breath and meditation has made me more so. I try not to control it during meditation, just observe. I think I've been able to do so most times, and yesterday I was aware of having a very slow breath but didn't think I would have been sitting 30 minutes. I was just so relaxed I cold have sat for another 15.

Again, being a relative newbie at this, I'll not indulge myself. One reason being that I am sitting Burmese style and it tends to be physically a challenge and even when I don't notice issues during a sit, they pop up later. Something I learned from years of physical activity (running, skiing, hiking, biking) is that during a really, really good session.....don't push too hard, it'll catch up to you. More so as the years go by.

So, 3 weeks came and went yesterday. I noted it, acknowledged it, let it pass. On to 22, it will be a new experience and not the same as 21 was or 23 will be, it'll just be 22, later today.