During this past week, I have been practicing a form of Buddhist meditation called Zazen or Zen meditation. Zazen means “seated meditation’ in Japanese. There are two different ways to practice this form of meditation, however both require a seated position (on the ground or a chair), and the back must remain straight. Your gaze is low and focusing on the ground two or three feet in front of you. The form of practice is called Shikantaza, which means ‘just sitting’. When doing this, the meditator does not focus on a specific subject, the goal is to remain in the present moment as much as possible. It consists of being aware of what passes through your mind, without focusing on one specific thought. The second way to practice Zen meditation, which is the form I practiced, is called focusing on breath. During this exercise, as you breathe in you count one number, starting with ten and counting backwards. When you get to one, start counting over again. If you get distracted or lose count, start over at 10.
This form of meditation was extremely helpful with making me feel more centered and grounded. I tend to think and worry about the future a lot of the time, and practicing this exercise helped bring me back to the moment and focus on what needs to be done that day. I had an especially crazy and emotional week, and concentrating on my breath gave me a form of distraction and I was able to channel my energy into something productive, which lowered feelings of anxiety.
Kayla, I think that you will find your personal project to be very valuable and fulfilling because you are engaging in a project with tremendous personal significance. Meditation is a great way to address daily stress in a nonviolent way. Good luck with the rest of your project. Constructively, I think if you were to publicize to your friends, peers, etc. how much meditation has positively impacted your life, it would enhance what you learn from the project by (hopefully) spreading happiness and mindfulness.