A new direction

This blog is going to take a whole new direction. I am starting a meditation practice and this will be my journal. It is my intention to begin attending zazen at the Great Plains Zen Center as soon as possible. Until then, I'm on my own. I'm re-reading The Three Pillars of Zen right now.

My practice is counting the breath.

Today I used the memory foam pillow and sat in the office in front of the closet door. I fed the cats first so they wouldn't be meowing. I used a 10-minute meditation timer I found on YouTube. I sat in a half-lotus; I'll have to work up to a full lotus. My spine wasn't aligned quite right because my lower back hurt. It was really difficult to keep counting the breath without being distracted by many other thoughts. I kept hearing the song Flying Without Wings in my head, which we're using in our wedding.

I feel calmer and more awake now. It is my intention to start waking up at 6 am in order to meditate daily. Rick is almost never up that early.