Day 9: June 26, Newcastle, Maine

Treating myself right on my second day of our short summer vacation. 10 minute meditation before I got out of bed, half a bottle of water and then a coffee and some reading. Looks like a rainy day, so taking it easy this morning, planning an adventure.

I am working my way up to a 20 minute unguided meditation session in the morning and a 10 minute guided session in the afternoon. So far, I can manage a 10 minute session in the morning, unguided- meaning I set my Oura app to track my meditation session, but there is no music, no gentle voice guiding me to breathe, its just me, my breath and my mind. Trying to steady myself, train my mind to let go of the thoughts that pop in, that is the work of meditation, that is meditation practice.

So this morning my mind did a great job, as thoughts entered I was able to whisk them away with concentrating on my breath. I don’t feel any different yet. I would love to be blogging about the benefits, but right now, I am just in the practice zone and am not experiencing anything. Which is ok.

Morning Stats:

Readiness 69, lowest HR 61, Average HRV 18, highest 52

Sleep 91, deep sleep15%

Meditation Stats: Lowest HR 61 bpm

Average HRV 37ms, highest 40ms

Skin Temperature: Nice curve upwards

Day 10: June 27, Newcastle, Maine

Awoke to the dog scrambling up the stairs with Ella in tow. He had just gone out and was soaked because of course, its raining. She was trying in vain to get him to sit still so she could dry him off but he was so excited to be upstairs and seeing both Jason and I in bed, that he was not even attempting to be a very good listener.

So, hence, being awoken in such an odd way, I did not complete the morning meditation as planned. I will have to see how the day goes and see how a midday meditation feels.

Morning Stats:

Readiness Score 76, Resting HR 59bpm, Average HRV 31ms, highest HRV +80ms

Sleep Score 89, Deep Sleep 13% (had about an hour and a half of awake time in the middle of the night, not sure what precipitated that- but couldn’t fall back to sleep- lots of thoughts going through my mind, hard to settle back down)

Day 11, June 28, Newcastle, Maine

Spent some extra time in bed just relaxing. Meditated before getting out of bed, not wanting to disturb my bedroom mates. In Maine, Ella’s room has not yet been renovated, so she sleeps on a bed in our master bedroom. Makes for a cool vacation, but mornings alone can be tricky. It is really hard to get out of the bedroom without waking anyone.

Meditation was ok today- still in my brain- lots of thoughts, really not feeling a way to relax with all these thoughts.

Morning Stats:

Readiness Score 86, Resting HR 58bpm, Average HRV 29ms, Highest 70ms

Sleep Score 89, Deep Sleep 18%

Meditation Stats:

Lowest HR: 59bpm

Average 42ms

Skin Temperature: nice curve upwards indicating relaxation (even if I didn’t really feel it)

Day 12, June 29, Riverton, CT

Ended up on the couch in the middle of the night. Insomnia makes me squirrly. I can’t relax, can’t calm down after being awoken, for whatever reason in the middle of the night. I need to change my position, get some water and start over. So, I woke up to the sun pouring in our living room windows. I stayed right where I was for my meditation because I was quite comfortable. I decided to do a guided meditation because the last few times I have practiced, I have been having trouble paying too much attention to my thoughts. The guided meditation was about just that! Practicing what to do with your thoughts when you come across them during meditation practice. I have not yet mastered it, but at least I am not angry with myself for having thoughts. Thoughts are a part of your meditation practice, it is what you do with them that can be problematic for your brain. If you give them energy and let them roll around while meditation, gaining speed and momentum then you aren’t giving yourself the chance to actual relax fully. If you think the thought and then try to let it go, acknowledge the thought and then release it- that is a better way to practice meditation. Really in meditation we are trying to soothe our brains and nervous systems. We have to train our brain to not think during meditation and this will only come with practice.

Morning Stats:

Readiness Score 77, Resting HR 54bpm, Average HRV 31ms, Highest 66ms

Sleep Score 84, deep sleep 15%

Meditation Stats:

Lowest HR 57 bpm

Average HRV 45ms, highest 50ms

Skin Temperature, nice curve upwards, then dipped a bit at the end (I think some thoughts were invading my meditation!)

I am really striving for better sleep with this meditation practice. I am going to try an evening meditation before bed to see what happens with my morning stats. One of these days I’ll make that happen. Until then…

Day 13, June 30, Riverton CT

Friday, finally! Despite being off for a few days this week, I still feel exhausted by it all- and ready for the weekend.

Unfortunately, a bad nights sleep and getting up at the same time as Jason created morning time conversation over our coffee, that he and I have not had for a long time. Hence, no meditation. So, like any one on a quest like this, I told myself, “Self, we shall meditate in the evening before dinner instead!”.

Did that happen?

Nope.

Disappointed, but I am trying to have reasonable expectations of myself.

Morning Stats:

Readiness Score: 74, Resting HR 56bpm, Average HRV 28, max 65ms

Sleep Score: 78, Deep Sleep 15%

Day 14, Saturday, July 1, Riverton, CT

Uh oh. Well, now that is two days in a row. Saturday mornings are truly a blur until we sit down for lunch. This morning we woke at 4:30am and had baked goods in the oven by 5am. We scrambled to get everything done by 8am, and ran down to the Farm Store to set everything up in time for our first customers. No time for meditating this morning!

So, being reasonable, I think it is ok not to meditate in the mornings on Saturdays. One might say that is exactly when I should be meditating, when life is busy and things are crazy. I think I have to find another routine for Saturdays so that #1. I am not stressed about not meditating in the morning, #2. Have a routine that I can easily accomplish the meditation at another point during the day and #3. Feel good. Isn’t that what this is all about?

Morning Stats:

Readiness Score: 74, Resting HR 66bpm, Average HRV 16ms, max 34ms

Sleep Score: 81, Deep Sleep 19%

Day 15, Sunday, July 2, Riverton, CT

Redeeming myself this morning. Woke up naturally at 4:15am. Thought about trying to find another place to snuggle up and fall back to sleep but I could tell that I was awake for the day. Found a comfy chair in the living room, turned on a guided meditation and I nailed it. Feel awesome, enjoying my first cup of coffee with my blog, thinking, writing, being creative.

I am half way through the month and so grateful to be sharing this with you. I realize this may be a bit boring for everyone to read. I want to interject some other topics that have been swirling around in my brain and then come back to this month of meditation. I will keep writing every morning and trending my statistics, but next week, I’ll try to bring some other ideas forward.

Morning Stats:

Readiness Score 74, Resting HR 62bpm, Average HRV 25ms, max 53ms

Sleep Score 78, Deep Sleep 20%

Meditation Stats:

Lowest HR: 59 bpm

Average HRV: 46ms, highest 55ms

Skin Temperature: nice curve upwards

Thank you for being on this quest with me! I hope it is inspiring you to try meditation too.

Be well,

Teresa

Additional Resources and Readings:

Oura Ring www.ouraring. com