Hi friends, 

When I retired recently, my regular routine of meditating first thing in the morning went out the window as my husband’s and my schedules abruptly changed.  

It was the beginning of what would normally be my summer break and Jay was now retired too. We started having our coffee together first thing in the morning and then off we would go with the day’s activities. We were able to do many fun things like vacations, golf, exercise, and spend more time with friends and family,

And I was feeling pretty okay in spite of not sitting on the cushion.

However, 3-4 weeks into not meditating I noticed a shift in my sense of inner okayness.  So, instead of getting my butt on the cushion I doubled down to see what would happen if I continued to abstain.

Approximately, 8 weeks went by and let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty.

Over those 8 weeks I continued to deep breath and practice mindfulness when my thoughts were noticeably far-a-field,  or I felt anxious, usually for no apparent reason. 

Interestingly, those practices weren’t as effective minus the meditation practice.

As I prepared to restart meditation, just recently by the way, I planned to incorporate it into other times of the day because it seemed to be an easier transition than first thing in the morning.

It has only been a week or so and I feel better already.

What I’ve noticed is that the rest of the day goes better after I meditate.  No surprise, but it also supports the idea of meditating first thing in the morning, to better set a person up for a more skillful navigation of the whole day.

The experiment reminded me how I operated prior to nurturing a meditation practice.  Yuck, no thanks.  I prefer feeling balanced, calm, able to respond versus react to stimuli, and be more present for the people around me. 

Depending on how you look at it, this experiment was either a complete failure, or a grand success because I re-discovered for myself that my inner and outer life is far better with a daily meditation practice.