The 10 ingredients in the The Joy Diet are intended to be added slowly and retained - this is a habit building exercise. Week one's new ingredient is Nothing. The instructions are to "do nothing for 15 minutes each day."
Wow. Nothing is hard for me to do. Simply making the 15 minutes to be unavailable is a challenge. It has to be a time when I do not need to be on call for the children - which really means never. So, rather than scheduling a time that I would definitely be unavailable, I have tried grabbing 15 minutes each time that I think I might actually be able to finish it. And, by the end of each day, I have managed to find a 15-minute block of time to do nothing.
Giving myself permission to let the chores slide for 15 minutes is usually hard for me. In the context of this experiment, however, it has been easy. I have been able to remind myself that I waste at least 15 minutes a day trying to de-stress and have been able to convince myself that it is probably better to actively "do nothing" for 15 minutes than to bumble around uselessly or vegetate in front of the tv for 30 minutes or an hour.
My experience this week has come as no surprise to me. About half-way through my "nothing" time, I have drifted into a hypnagogic state - that place between wakefulness and sleep where awareness becomes odd and dreamlike experiences invade a waking consciousness. When I meditate while sleep deprived, this is very common for me. Interestingly, I did not actually fall asleep during any of these sessions this week. I remained aware of these experiences and was able to separate myself from them at some level.
After each session, I felt more ease. The ease didn't last, but it was there for a brief period. And, every experience of ease helps.
I love doing nothing. It feeds my soul like no activity. I come out of my time with more calm, more focus, more ease. I know this. I have a history of building a meditation or yoga habit and then letting it slip. I am hoping that the fact that this is the base ingredient in this "diet" will help me rebuild a habit. Maybe I'll even keep it around longer this time.
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6 comments:
This sounds wonderful and I'm so glad that you were able to find your 15 minutes...and you said, it's making this a life long practice that will probably take work. I'm willing to keep going, hope you are too! If we are willing that is half the battle.
Looking forward to exploring truth with you this week.
good to hear you gave yourself permission to set aside 15 min of nothing where you could.
i too love doing nothing. it can bring so much joy! here's to the truth! :)
What a marvelous exploration of nothing... I'm a mom too, and my, it sure does make it a bit more challenging. Bravo to you for discovering your 15 minutes, and moving past the excuses to not do it!
Wow! good for you for finding the time to do nothing in midst of it all! You're doing great!
Great observations into your nothingness. I like nothing too. Here's to Truth.
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