I've completed three weeks of the Palouse Mindfulness course, which is a free online version of MBSR.
I am really liking it. I've done meditation before but have fallen out of the practice, so a lot of the material in it is familiar to me and has been easy to get back into.
I'm noticing big improvements like:
my pain level from chronic injuries and health issues is WAAAY down. the injuries are still there and still flare up but there are fewer days and moments where it interferes with my ability to do things. and perhaps what is most important, the pain level is lower when i'm at rest (it still flares up on certain types of exertion)
i am handling it much better emotionally when things unexpectedly go wrong in my daily life, something that has been happening a lot lately. stuff is still going wrong just as much, but it's bothering me less and i'm able to keep going and keep a level head and not let it interfere with my enjoyment of life as much
stupid and/or mean-spirited stuff people say online is bugging me a lot less, and i'm finding i have much more discipline to disengage early when it is not constructive
i've been using my phone WAAAY less. like...i went from 1 hour 45 minutes of phone screen time, on average, daily, to less than an hour, i'm down under 50 minutes. i still use my computer a lot because i use it for work (and Tumblr) but i think i am more mindful in my use of the computer relative to the phone and it's better for my body too because of the posture
i'm able to be more present with the people in my life and that is helping me to have better relationships with people and better appreciate people. i'm still more isolated than i want to be, but i am better able to enjoy the small amounts of quality time i have with people.
i would really recommend this course to anyone who is struggling with any of this stuff. it is free and also self-paced, like it's broken into 8 "weeks" but you can do them as slowly as you want. i did the first two weeks in a week each but the third i found harder so i have been progressing through it more slowly and haven't started the fourth yet.



















