I don’t know what possessed me to sign up for it.
I was looking at the Oprah website, and it had a 21-day meditation challenge with Deepak Chopra.
My mother recently described me to someone as Type Triple A. That’s why being a reporter with stress and deadlines has been a perfect career for me.
I tend to get obsessed about everything I do. Every. Thing. I. Do.
I do think I’ve made progress in the past few years. I can now watch a movie at home without also reading a magazine or making lists at the same time.
I watched a preview video on how to meditate. I was watching in the computer room.
I closed my eyes and repeated “I Am” out loud. He said to whisper it. Then say it mentally, and he seemed big on not moving your mouth “or your tongue.” I found that strange, and my mind wandered. I saw something on Deepak’s wrist, peeking out from under his jacket, and I wondered if it was a LiveStrong bracelet.
He said you don’t have to be “a yogi and do yogi positions” to do meditation. He said to sit up so you don’t go to sleep.
I refocused.
I found my heartbeat and listened to it.
My 19-year-old interrupted. “Mom, can I use the computer for a minute?” He was doing homework for college. I paused Deepak and got up.
“What is this snake oil?” he asked when he saw what I was watching.
I explained that I was learning how to meditate (I pray all the time — this is finding my center and intentions, or something).
Deepak said to find a place to do this and ask people to respect your time alone. Yeah, right.
After my son looked up what he needed, I resumed the video. I turned off the computer-room light to get more in the mood.
As I was watching and feeling the heartbeat in my fingertips, my son interrupted again.
“Sorry, I need the computer,” he said.
When I sat back down, I decided to start the video over.
My husband was talking to the cat. I could hear the dishwasher. I noticed on the website a sidebar of stories about things like “Food that is fattening; food that is flattening.” Ooh, I wanted to know.
Then, between Deepak’s instructions, the video was interrupted with a loud toothbrush commercial.
Deepak warned us that our minds might wander. Yeah, especially when OralB is yelling at me.
He said to focus and get rid of your ego, which he called an acronym for Edging God Out.
My husband thought he was being funny when he lit a little votive candle and set it by the computer.
When it was over, he asked if I felt calm. I kind of did.
Then I watched The Voice, caught up on my newspaper reading, unpacked my bags from a weekend trip, downloaded photos from my camera, folded clothes and answered emails.
As I write this, it is the first real day of my 21-day challenge.
I was running late for work, but I felt strangely calm. I mentally yelled at the cars in front of me, but not out loud.
I think this meditation thing already is working. I may go down to a Type Double A.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.