Um…4am comes very early today. I sit on my zafu and confidently get ready for the start of the first meditation of the course which starts at 4:30 am. The assistant teacher gives us our first mental exercise and we are off to the races. I’m sitting crossed legged which, in the last 4 decades I’ve sat on the floor this way a grand total of never. ?
The exercise seems easy but my mind keeps wandering away from the task every minute or so. 30 seconds to a minute of work 5-20 minutes of my mind wandering. I’ve got a total of 13 hours of meditation today so I hunker down and keep bringing my mind back to the task as soon as I notice it’s gone.
My back is killing me and my legs have been asleep most of the day. I even somehow managed to fall asleep a few times. Yes…I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor and before you ask, no, i have no idea how i accomplished this feat. But at least it explains my sore back. Being crumpled over sitting on a zafu is not something I’m used to. But the mental exercise gets easier as the day progressed.