25Mar 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 12

Week 12

2018 Update
Graduation From Meditation I've reached a point where I've successfully added meditation to my early morning routine. The whole point of this weekly post is to track whether or not I'm following through with my goals. Meditation was part of that "craft your perfect morning routine" I wanna consistently follow. Why? Help me "win" the day. I don't complain about Mondays like I used to. I don't look forward to the weekend either. Every day is a day I can use to help me become better at doing the "basics". Why? The positive "feelings" you get from doing the basics (ie. good sleep, coffee, read, meditation, reading, cold shower, and breakfast ) will carry itself out throughout your day. Regardless of how happy or stressful your day is (especially when…
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18Mar 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 11

Week 11

2018 Update
Meditate No new updates. I kept up with the routine. I'm back to listening to guided meditations. Why? My mind kept wandering around when I tried to do meditate on my own. Multiple thoughts would come in and out. Ideas pop up - ideas I wanted to put more thinking into but since I'm meditating, I have to postpone the process until the session is done. It's been almost 30 days of consistent meditation (the approximate number of days to build a habit). By now, I thought I'd be able to share its benefits by describing the experience of meditating. But I can't, at least not in a way that I would convince others to do it. Quick Morning Exercise Failed consistently this week. There are mornings when I feel…
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11Mar 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 10

Week 10

2018 Update
Meditation I stayed consistent with my morning meditation. Ten minutes every day before going to work. I recently stopped listening to guided meditations and tried to sit in silence on my own. Why? I wanted to see how well I can resist the temptation of dwelling on a thought, idea, emotion or recent memory. During this moment of silence, the experience could be described as being presented with ten of your "favorite dishes" when you're super "hungry". This will drive your instinct to devour the first "dish" that catches your eye (ie. focus on that thought, idea or memory). My goal is to replace that instinct (instantly focusing on a thought) with the ability to stay still and watch the thoughts float through my mind. Recognize the thoughts without analyzing them.   Why am…
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04Mar 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 9

Week 9

2018 Update
Meditation I reached a milestone. 10 consecutive days of meditation. I still don't see or feel its benefits. Probably due to my lack of awareness. But regardless, this goes to show I'm improving (at building this habit). Important lessons I noticed while learning how to meditate were: Accept things (or thoughts) as they are with no judgment. If you mess something up, don't be too harsh on yourself. Start over. The point is not to find perfection, it is to notice when you're doing something wrong. Use self-awareness to avoid further damage.                   Exercise for 2-minutes I was able to keep up with the new set for 6-days, except Saturday. Why? I got up late. Why? I went swimming the day before…
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25Feb 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 8

Week 8

2018 Update
Finding Time to Meditate I found the time. It would be between 5:30 to 6:00 AM right after reading a book. I was able to do that consistently for 5 days (yup I reached a milestone). Did I feel any different? Am I benefiting from the meditation? The answer is YES. It has nothing to do with positive thinking or ignoring the bad things that have happened. It simply relaxes my brain. I remember taking 10-minute breaks back in college. Our brains needed a break from consuming too much information. I see 'meditation' as the 10-min break from everything (stress, hunger, emotions, etc.) to help us tackle the (more) important problems in our lives. Exercise for 2-Minutes I was able to do the sets for a week with no miss. Next…
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18Feb 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 7

Week 7

2018 Update
Finding Time To Meditate Meditated twice this week. Each session lasted for 10-minutes (before going to work). Did I feel any different? No. Minimum dosage is 10 consecutive days. But two is better than zero so I would still consider last week a 'progress'. Exercise for 2-Minutes I was able to do this almost every day (except Friday and Saturday). Why? I think I caught the flu everyone's getting. No fever so far, just a little sore throat. But my throat is sore for almost a week now. All I'm saying is I'm not at my 100%. I feel lazy but I try (hard) not to use my sore throat as an excuse to avoid doing my quick-wake-up workout. Next week, I'm going to change the 'set' to do a total of…
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11Feb 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 6

Week 6

2018 Update
Finding Time to Meditate I was able to meditate for 10-minutes on Thursday at 6:00 AM because I had extra time to kill. What happened? I got up too early. Because I couldn't sleep properly. Because I had too many things going on in my head. Perhaps because I'm anxious and excited at the same time? Because I learned the night before that I can finally move on from my current job. I meditated because I needed to calm my mind from thinking too much. It's my go-to solution for stopping myself from creating too many scenarios that may not even happen. Our imagination can take us to a place where its way too far from reality. This article I read on creativity made me realize that. People often comment…
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04Feb 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 5

Week 5

2018 Update
Finding Time To Meditate 10-minutes before going to bed? I started using an acupressure mat before going to bed for 10-minutes to relieve my back from sitting all day. The acupressure mat (aka 'the bed of nails) was a cheap investment recommended by as self-proclaimed 'human guinea pig'. Does it work? I think it does but it could also be a placebo effect. I can't tell at this point. But when I'm on it, I couldn't think of anything else other than the pain of 1000 plastic 'needles' on my back. I wonder if I can consider this as a form of meditation. Guided meditations tell you to focus on the feeling or sensation you feel on a specific part of your body (body scan). Sometimes you focus on breathing. Sometimes…
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28Jan 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 4

Week 4

2018 Update
Meditation Finding Time to Meditate In progress. I wasn't able to find a good time to meditate. I thought about getting up earlier in the morning. But trying to get myself to sleep earlier is a whole another goal by itself. I've been thinking a lot lately about the direction of my career. Add that to the daily things I already worry about: breakfast, lunch, dinner, the dishes, drawing, grocery, catching up with emails, cleaning the kitchen, the dining table and scraping the frozen car windows. It's a challenge. But is it really? I need to remind myself "Busy is a decision" (the go-to mantra of priority and freeing up some of my time to do something). Exercise for 15-Minutes I've been doing 70 jumping jacks while I'm waiting for the Keurig…
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21Jan 2018 by RJ Reyes
Week 3

Week 3

2018 Update
Meditation Meditated. Once. On Friday after work. Seems like this goal is not something I should keep. I couldn't find the time to do it. Perhaps I should change the goal to 'Finding A Consistent Time To Meditate'. Exercise for 15-minutes Same deal. No exercise this week. What's my excuse? No time for it. Same excuse everyone uses "I'm busy". But busy is not a good excuse. This is where Debbie Millman's quote enters my psyche "Busy is a decision". It forces me to come up with a better approach. The being said, what can I do about it? Get up 30-mins earlier in the morning.  Annual Review (At Work) I really thought I was going to get fired last Wednesday. The fear and worry drained my energy to create those habits…
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