Ahhh Sundays. I think it’s quite possibly my favourite day
of the week. I take it upon myself to use the whole day for relaxation and
enjoyment. No email-checking, no list-making (and sometimes no social media,
shock horror!) just good old chilling out. Hence the message on the bottom of
my slippers- very appropriate.
I feel so good on Sundays as they’re more often than not
stress-free. I get stressed sometimes as I can get carried away with my
thoughts and can’t seem to see the bigger picture. For this reason I have
always been interested in meditation. I remember being in an R.E lesson in
school when I was about 13 and learning about meditation. When I got home I
immediately found my Mam’s ‘nature sounds’ tapes and lay on my bed listening to
waves and birds and all kinds of outdoor noises, willing myself to relax. I
never really got the hang of it, so was pretty excited when I heard of Headspace app’s
Take Ten.
The app is free to download, and can initially be used for free.
The Take Ten part of the app allows ten free sessions (10 minutes each) of the
lovely Andy talking you through the exercise. What I liked about this app was that
it contradicted my preconceptions of meditation as all baggy pants and hippies,
and really was just about taking ten minutes out of your hectic life to regain
some focus and control of your mind. Another thing that I loved were the colourful
animations that sometimes play before your daily session begins, analogies of
our mind and thoughts. One in particular that I warmed to was seeing our mind
as the sky and thoughts as clouds: often our minds can be pretty ‘cloudy’ with
various thoughts, and on other days less so. But despite the number of thoughts
or ‘clouds’, the clear and blue sky is still in there somewhere, reminding us
that we can have clarity as long as we have focus and perspective.
During the course of the Take Ten series, I can’t say that I
noticed a considerable difference in my focus until the last few sessions. I
found myself approaching situations more calmly, and having more of a clearer
perspective on things. The app offers users to carry on using it, but this
involves a fee. Considering that I am currently in saving-mode, I unfortunately
couldn’t take Andy up on the offer of 2 months free if I signed up for a year,
but I think once I have more cash to spare it is something that I feel would be
a good investment. I’ve read a lot about the health benefits of meditation, and
really believe it has a place in our modern lives. Plus, I’ve heard Emma Watson
and Millie Mackintosh use Headspace- that’s a good enough reason for me!
Attempting a yoga pose
For now I think I’ll stick to my 2015 goal of stretching as
being my relaxation time. I’ve been pretty good at it so far, doing it at least
once a day. I even bought this USA Pro mat yesterday to help me along, as it’s
not pleasant trying to perform some stretches on laminate flooring. It was only
£7.99 from Sports Direct, reduced from £15.99. Bargain! Happy Sunday!
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