Counting and Calculating Meditation
I recently practiced seated meditation with an old friend, which was a shift from my usual guided meditation practice.
Right away I found myself counting seconds and calculating how far into the 30 minutes I had sat. It went something like this, “Ok I'm 10 seconds in... 10 times 6 is 60 seconds, which is a minute, 1 minute times 30 is the session, and 6 times 30 makes 180, so I must be about 0.5% complete!”
At 20 seconds I was 1% complete! Just 99 more 20 second meditations and I'll be done!
Somewhere around 2 minutes into the silence I started to see the silliness of these calculations.
Was I in a hurry? No. Was I in need of a math exercise? No.
So why was I counting and calculating the time? I believe it to be an extension of my habits around counting and calculating my life. Growth models at work. Weights at the gym. Calories at lunch. The list goes on.
Luckily I was able to follow my awareness away from calculating and into a more peaceful state of seated meditation.
Where in your life would you most benefit from taking a break from calculating?