Dabin

The first time I tried meditation was in the morning, and I got distracted by the thought that I had tasks to finish. So I tried doing it before bedtime in a calmer setting. Meditating was way better without the lights on to prepare myself for the meditation mood. Since my eyes were shut, my other senses got more sensitive, and I became conscious of my behavior. I tried tracking my regular breathing pattern. I was surprised that it was hard for me to breathe normally once I started noticing it.

I also could understand why people light scented candles during meditation. Sense awareness is magnified when meditating. Anything that attracts the senses, even by small factors, is easily recognized. I ended up finding a stable condition, and I repeated it for several days.

Minji

One time, after hectic hours at my part time job, I was exhausted and my mind was full of busy thoughts about work. As soon as I got on the bus, instead of looking at my phone and reading some pointless articles to get away from my thoughts, I desperately closed my eyes and tried to empty my mind. This was a change. I did some more night meditations, and sometimes it was still hard to just stop thinking about things that had been filling up my mind the whole day. But the 10 to 15 minute meditation also had its introduction, development, and conclusion. So, despite my worries, I could slowly get into meditation and concentrate once the meditation began. Also, I found that focusing on my breathing was really helpful to reorganize and re-concentrate on meditation.

Dabin

For my last days of meditation, I tried doing it at the riverside or in cafes, since meditation can be done anywhere. I especially enjoyed doing it at the riverside listening to the wind and smelling the grass. I was doubtful about meditating outdoors because with my eyes closed I thought the surroundings would not matter. However, the noise and scents outside allowed me to visualize the surroundings inside my head, which allowed me to focus on meditation more. For this small 10-day meditation project, I realized the difference between ‘religious meditation’ that brings spiritual enlightenment throughout life and ‘mind exercise’, which is what I’ve been doing for the past two weeks. I think I gained the ability to look at myself from an objective perspective. After a day of chaos, I could reflect on myself before going to bed and improve my tomorrow.

After the 10 days of meditation…

• What was it like after 10 days of meditation? Do you feel a little closer to meditation?

Minji: I got a lot more used to closing my eyes and getting into a self-focusing mode. But I’m still struggling to get myself to sit and start the meditation. Once it starts, I feel relaxed. But starting is still a hard thing for me.

Dabin: I got used to doing the ten-minute meditation repeatedly every night, reflecting on myself. I still do not know the proper way to meditate but have developed my own mechanism of doing it comfortably. I do feel much closer to meditation than before, and I feel good that I tried.

• Did you have any changes that happened to you?

Minji: I could realize the effect of quietly settling my mind without getting disturbed by things like my phone, my busy thoughts, etc. If my mind suddenly gets really busy, I try to do a short meditation to relax, rather than avoiding my responsibilities like I had done before.

Dabin: It helped me to look back at myself objectively, in a more honest way. During the day, there were some mistakes I made or some problems that I had to think about more carefully. By meditating at the end of the day, I could conclude my day reflecting about my shortcomings and thinking with a different perspective.

• Will you keep doing the meditation now that the 10 days challenge is over? And do you recommend meditation to others?

Minji: Yes, I will keep practicing meditation. I will also recommend it to others. Meditation gives you relief, and also it gives you a feeling that you are in a different place even though you are in the same place. I think it will be helpful for people who are getting annoyed of being at home for a long time during this period of the virus. It will be a refreshing break time for you.

Dabin: I know I will be doing this afterwards, since it helps you so much with calming down and allows you to have a wider view of the world. I do recommend meditating to others and I hope they find their own adequate way of meditation.

Dabin

Since I was young, I had trouble focusing on one thing and wasn’t really into being calm and quiet. To make it simple, I was the kind of person who preferred EDM instead of classical music. I felt the need to challenge myself into being more stable, and that is why I decided to participate in a daily 10 minute meditation.

I tried searching about the relationship between psychology and meditation, but ended up with too many rules to follow. Since meditation was about genuinely focusing on myself calmly, I realized that it didn’t need to benefit me in any way shape or form. So I ended up selecting a random instructional video that lasted about ten minutes.

I started my first meditation in the morning, sitting cross legged on my chair. I tried sitting straight and still, and after a few seconds all kinds of thoughts suddenly flooded into my head. I tried to fight back all the thoughts inside my head, but it got harder every time I tried. However, the video instructed me that you do not have to try to get rid of the thoughts, and once you accept them, they would pass by. Ten minutes actually felt longer than I thought, but when I opened my eyes, I felt very refreshed.

Minji

To be honest, it was hard to make time for meditating in the middle of the day, perhaps because this was not yet a usual thing for me. So I tried meditating before going to bed. I turned off all the lights in my bedroom and sat down in a comfortable pose. In one Youtube video, the instructor told me to close my eyes and try to sense the parts of my body without moving. This was something I haven’t done before. I tried to follow the instructions, like trying to feel my ears, fingers, legs, etc. Because this video was especially made for night meditation, the quotes were relaxing and relieving the stress of the day. I found it helpful to wrap up my day and prepare for sleep. So, I meditated a few times more with this video.

I tried to do meditation outside in parks. First it was in the middle of a morning walk, and then also during an afternoon in a quiet park. It was strange sitting on a bench, closing my eyes, and feeling the sunshine. I could hear footsteps, birds twittering, and the sound of wind a little far away from me. It felt like ‘break time’ in the middle of a day, just sitting down for a while and doing nothing but focusing on me, my surroundings, and my breathing.

My first meditation was with peaceful music. I sat down on my bed in a cross-legged pose. I felt uncomfortable with this posture, so I had to change several times. At last, I leaned against cushions and I was finally able to focus on the meditation itself. When I opened my eyes after the first meditation, I felt like I was awakening or just finished some hard ‘brainwork’. Maybe this was because it was my first time to feel time pass without being distracted or doing something for 15 minutes straight. I really felt like the clock was ticking every moment.

I have tried meditation once before. I was fascinated by the reviews of daily meditation and how people described the positive changes meditation has brought to them. But it was a one-off thing, and it was too short of a time to feel a change of anything. So I thought it would be a nice opportunity to force myself to carry on a daily meditation routine, even if it had to only be for ten days. I decided to give it a go.

Minji

Are you a meditating person? Do you do daily meditation to ease your mind and relax? These days, it’s not hard to find people on SNS or Youtube who do daily meditation. According to them, meditation can settle their mind, revitalize their energy, and start or wrap up their day. After seeing these reviews, Dabin and I got curious about the effects of meditation and how much it can change our day. So we decided to try out meditation for 10 days. This was the first time for both of us to meditate on a daily basis. Below is an honest record of 10 days of meditation and how we felt after the experience.

Kim MinJi, Won Dabin  alstbvj@g.hongik.ac.kr, tiffanywon101@hongik.ac.kr

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