March: The Month of Meditation

I’m not a particularly zen person.

I like lists.  I like order and organization and color-coded files.  I get riled up by politicians and misogyny and people being wrong on the internet.  I don’t lose my temper very often, but I do have a pronounced sense of justice and fairness.

Faithwise, I’m a generic “mostly believes in God but not sure of the rest” person.  I was raised Catholic to the point of First Communion but not quite to Confirmation.  I pray occasionally, mostly to express gratitude or ask for strength. I like the idea of organized religion for the sense of community and traditions but not for the harsh rules. 

All of this adds up to a person with zero experience in meditation.  This month is outside of my comfort zone, in a big way.  During the month of March, I plan on meditating once a day.

I’m taking two approaches to this.  I’m going to try to learn to with the help of four phone apps.  I plan on trying each of these for the duration of at least a week:

• Calm 
• Omvana
• Buddhify
• Headspace 

I’m also going to attend three different beginning meditation programs.  They range in formality from one that is offered for free at the public library, to one that recommends researching Buddhism, Zen, and Zazen before attending.  Mostly, I’m going to try to be open to learning something completely new and a little uncomfortable.

That’s a zen way of thinking, right?