My 19 Minutes Meditation on my Chair at my Computer Desk

Back from food shopping and waiting for a text message from a friend to confirm where we’ll be meeting, I decided to do a little bit of meditation. The good thing about meditation is you don’t need any special equipment or have to be in a specific place, you can do it wherever you want.

As I close my eyes and lay my hands on my thighs, I started thinking about all sorts of stuff. The mind is like a wild horse which you have to tame to calm it down, otherwise crazy thoughts are going to take over. Here are the things which passed through my mind:

• The drunk guy in the queue from yesterday – he thought I was looking at him and judging him in some way and asked me several times whether I had a problem with him. I was annoyed, greatly!
• The article I needed to write for my website – the words, the images were flowing in.
• How fast my heart was beating initially.
• The feeling of being choked whilst trying to meditate.
• The noise my house mate made as he woke up at 14:15.
• The speed at which these different thoughts were coming in and going and my inability to stop them.
• The brown colour of my eyes as I focus my vision.
• How long my friend was taking to get back to me.
• How it would take me exactly 21 minutes to meditate and when I opened my eyes and check the time, it would be a coincidence that I already knew (it took me 19 minutes in reality btw!).
• A feeling of nausea developing at the back of my mouth.
• What I'm going to put in the bag for the homeless people.
• The temple bell sound for message notification on my phone is perfect for breaking the trance.
• Whether I'm going to get a penalty for overstaying the 2hr limit in Sainsbury car park.

It was only towards the end of the exercise that I finally manage to blank my mind. The silence didn't last for long but it was a beautiful moment because I felt lighter. No more thinking about anything. Problems gone. It was temporarily though as even before I realise it, I started thinking about some new things. I wanted to go back to the serene state again but I already lost the moment. I was too anxious now and I opened my eyes and look at the time on my PC – it had been 19 minutes.

What helps me stop the thoughts is focusing on my breathing and bringing my eyes towards my nose as if trying to stare in that space where the vision meets. The darkness seem to prevents flashes of images coming to the mind and concentrating on inhaling and exhaling deters thoughts altogether.