2 years of daily meditation - here's what I learned

Edit***

Sorry guys a lot of you been asking, I'm doing today mantra focused meditation With each inhale i say a mantra And with each exhale That what works for me the best Keeping my attention on my breath with the Mantra. I don't know the prof name haha

Post:

Hello guys! hope you had a great year.

My last post last year of 1-year meditation got a lot of engagement and a lot of people talked with me about it in the comment section and in private messages.

So now I'm making the 2nd year post of my daily meditation.

here's a small recap from last year:

I started meditating for 5 minutes each day for a week two years ago.

It quickly became 10,15,20,30min and sometimes 1 hour.

At that time, I had just had one of the hardest break-ups of my life.
I couldn't cope with all the emotions I've felt, the good and the bad so I decided to give meditation a try just for the sake of it without knowing it would change all my thinking patterns.

So, I started meditating, each day for 5 minutes at a time because I wanted it to become a daily habit so I started slowly till' I got used to it. I was a bartender at a late-night bar at that time, so when there were days I did not do my meditation all day I just did it before work in the bathroom, or at peak hour, just to mark that I had committed to do it every day for 5 minutes.

I began understanding more and more about myself, and my needs.
So here's a new list of the things that have changed on the way from 2 years of daily mediation:

  1. I can enter an awareness state a lot faster, while doing anything like working, etc.
  2. I'm not interested anymore in conversations like gossip type.
  3. I don't have anxiety anymore. And if I have a bad day it can just change by being aware of my needs or recording myself talking to the camera about anything. like a diary.
  4. Stopped consuming alcohol for 1 year 3 months and going, And I'm a bartender.
  5. Found the woman of my dreams, 5 months ago, dating and living together since 2nd month, with no drama, no ego, no fighting, and she started practicing meditation with me, she stopped smoking weed after 3 years of smoking every day.
  6. I started a podcast about self-improvement (In Hebrew), and overall my communication skills became amazing. mostly cause I became a better listener.
  7. Gained a huge amount of muscle mass since last year.
  8. Memory is sharper than ever, and cognitive functions also.
  9. Sex is better than ever, I can be aware mid-act of my breath and sensations.
  10. Everyone new that I meet always loves my good energy.
  11. I don't masturbate anymore and If I do it's really rare and only from imagination
  12. I stopped trying to tell everyone they have to meditate, It happened last year but I understood that every person is different, and each one has his journey.
  13. My psychiatrist cut 1 of the medicines I've been taking Since 2016 when I had manic episodes and was diagnosed bipolar, So I was taking 250mg of valproic acid and 5mg of zyprexa olanzapine, and now only 5mg and soon nothing, this is one of my biggest moments in my life. Of course, I don't have any more manic or depressive events, I just live my life happy and meditative:)
  14. No toxic people anymore In my life. Only the ones I love and there aren't many haha
  15. I notice a huge increase in people using their phones on social media, on dates, and on friendly occasions, and I think the biggest problem is we're living on autopilot, Instead, we should listen when others speak, ask them questions, and be interested in what they say, especially in a relationship. we should notice the road on the train to work, and just enjoy the small moments instead of chasing our problems in our head, what matters is now.

Today my meditation is usually around 20-40 min first thing in the morning, on the train to work maybe also some 15 min, and sometimes 10 min before bed.

I have a lot more to tell I'm sure, but I'll leave it to you to understand by yourself.
It is important to say Meditation Is not going to fix your problems, I had a lot of bad moments this year also, but I kept my practice, Kept working out, and kept following my dreams. I kept searching for myself to become better. And If you're better with yourself, you gonna be better for everyone surrounds you.

I can say today, that I trust my intuition a lot more and this year will be a one to remember for me.
This is a habit for life.

Thank you for reading :)