Teacher Training Week 2: Sitting for 30 Minutes a Day
Chill's 1st 100% digital Teacher Training program is well underway with students from Seattle to Chicago. Kenya, a current Chill student, offered to share ongoing stories about her journey. Her 2nd entry follows.
While it’s only been two weeks since I’ve started Chill Meditation’s Teacher Training, it actually feels a lot longer - and not in a bad way. I’ve learned so much invaluable information these last couple of weeks that it feels like I’ve been doing this for a longer period of time.
One of the requirements of the training is that we meditate everyday for 30 minutes. My maximum time meditating prior to this training was 20 minutes. It would seem that adding only 10 minutes would be a breeze but it was challenging. My legs became accustomed to sitting for 20 minutes and fell asleep the first couple of times. In addition to doing a 30 minute meditation, we had to do some sessions without music and unguided….eeek!
For me and likely any other human being, sitting in silence for 30 minutes seemed like a daunting task. I was worried that I would not be able to do it because I have a tendency to spiral in my thoughts. Instead of telling myself this would happen, I chose to practice what we’ve learned - to label my thoughts and let them go. I practiced with this intention this past week. Thoughts come in. Notice and label as ‘thoughts’. Let them go. Back to my breath. More thoughts come in. Recognize and label as ‘thoughts’. Let them go. Back to breath. Over and over and over again. To my surprise by my third session of sitting in complete silence for 30 minutes, I was really into it. It became easier each time I practiced.
One of the things that has helped me during my longer practices is my space. When I first started meditating I would sit in any quiet space in my house. As time went on I wanted a special place, something that was very separate from everything else. I created an altar that held my crystals and memories of people and pets that have passed on. Now I don’t want you to think that you need to have a fancy setting and fancy cushions in order to meditate because you don’t. Finding a space to sit comfortably, preferably on a pillow with your hips above your knees, is really all you need.
During this second week of training I came to realize that for years I’ve always been a “go hard or go home” kind of person. I’m happy to say that this training has helped me change that mentality. I would stress myself out about completing tasks. Not only was it exhausting, but it wouldn’t make things fun. I will admit that there have been a couple of days I have missed my daily 30 minute meditation. My day gets so busy if I don’t make the time for myself to meditate in the morning. The combination of watching a toddler and this stay at home order makes time move so fast. I did start to stress out about missing my daily meditations. I recognized this and began to reframe this narrative in my head, “I can meditate tomorrow and that is OK.” Once I admitted this to myself and became comfortable with the idea that it is OK, it has made this process even more enjoyable. I’m certain that I am not the only human that is hard on themselves. This training is teaching me that I am in charge of the things I tell myself. What a gift this is giving me to reframe and train my mind to be more kind and helpful.
Teacher Training Week 1: The Power of Labeling
Teacher Training Week 2: Sitting for 30 Minutes a Day
Teacher Training Week 3: The Power of Connection
Teacher Training Week 4 + 5: The 7 Attitudes of Mindfulness
Teacher Training Week 6: My “why” for Taking Chill’s Meditation Teacher Training
Post Teacher Training: For My Friends That Want To Know More About Meditation
CLICK HERE if you are interested in signing up or learning more about our Fall 2020 Virtual Meditation Teacher Training.