My 2-week Mindfulness Practice

So I embarked on a 2-week long mindfulnees practice, which I promised to maintain a vegan/vegetarian diet, and meditate 30 minutes everyday.
The results?

I was so enlightened I was practically floating at my work desk in a state of Zen.

Jokes aside, I actually felt great towards the 2nd week. I stopped feeling hungry and muscle pains, and started feeling light and strong. During these 2 weeks, I realized how impulsive my thoughts and my words could be. I also realized that because I became strict to myself, I also became strict to other friends, and being a vegan made me very anti-social. It was hard for people to hang with me because of my diet. However, the diet itself wasn't that hard. I stopped feeling the cravings for meat after a while. I mostly ate vegan, and I only remember having about 3-4 vegetarian meals. At the end of this challenge, I thought I would be so excited to start eating meat again, but I actually didn't care what I would eat anymore. Oh yeah, I lost some weights too, 4lbs going from 71 kg (156.5 lbs) to 69.2 kg (152.5 lbs).

The biggest gain was that I realized I made great progress in yoga. Most importantly, I kinda calmed my mind about the one thing that I plan on doing in the near future.

I also wrote down some thoughts, which you can find at the end of this blog.

As for relationships with others, this practice didn't help me make more friends =)))) Interestingly, this practice coincided with me losing some friends. However, my head was clear and I just couldn't see how I could continue my relationships with these friends. Well, just let life be.

Besides, all the girls that were wooing me are out of the picture now =))))))

Well, I didn't break any rules, so theoretically, I won't have to make any donations, but since I want to be cool ngầu, I will still donate $700 to a couple charity orgs. I already thought carefully about it. Material things haven't made me feel happy much anymore, probably since 2016.

I don't hope to make a change, but if I don't start doing this now, who will? After all my generation is the current owner of this world.
I only hope to be a little nucleus in a chain reaction, and day by day, soon the change will come.
 For example, a coworker started following my lead and started using re-usable plates/cups instead of disposable ones, limiting the amount of trash, which made me feel great! =))))

I also wanted to join one of the charity orgs, to make real contributions besides donations, but I realized I was late. Therefore, I will try again next year.

After this, I will go lighter on mindfulness practice. Just 1 vegan day / week, and only 10-15 minutes of meditation per day (30 minutes were too much on my busy schedule, making me go to sleep at 1:30AM everyday).

Anyways, onto the next projects, and the next chapter of life.

Cheers!

(Below you will find the details about my mindfulness practice journey, as well as some thoughts that I wrote down at the end)

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So I embarked on a 2-week long mindfulnees practice, during which I set the goals to practice the following,
- Go on a vegetarian diet, and if possible, strive for a vegan diet (i.e, no milk, no eggs, no honey, no animal products)
- Meditate everyday for at least 30 minutes
- Strive to live in the moment
- Go to at least 2 yoga classes per week
- Read more, and write down my arisen thoughts more (you know where my blog is)
- Spend time thinking more about my relationships with others
- Separate my feelings from worldly desires (for ex, stay away from girls who are wooing me :P)

If I break these requirements, I commit to donating $50/day that I break. I still have to figure out the details about which charity organization I want to donate to later.

The reason for this personal project is because my mind hasn't been still lately. I have been feeling some uneasiness, so it's the right time to detox my feelings :P
Plus, my sister has been a vegan for a couple years, so it is time I understood what she is experiencing.
Also, this project timing seems to be right, because after this, I will be off and away on a trip.

This is by no means trying to put a burden on myself, but I do believe I will enjoy the process and feel comfortable.
I believe this project will bring me values spiritually, put me in a state of mind where I become aware of things I normally neglect, as well as make me feel more fulfilled, and treat people more nicely.
I hope I can conquer this challenge, and continue lighter practice after this project.
I personally know great friends, and also my own little sister, who have done this for so long, so I am just humbly taking baby steps now.

Day 15

Last day. I just came home at 2AM after working out and playing basketball with a young 20-year-old guy. Shit, how bad have I become at basketball? I kinda felt empty because this project was over. What's next? Today I still followed the same routine, drinking smoothies for lunch and had falafel sandwich for dinner, followed by the usual meditation. Didn't start working until late in the day. Tried to apply for Vietseed but realized I was 2 months late. Now I have to wait until next year.

Day 14

I have not had such good yoga session like today for a while. I sweated like I was in a sauna, and at times I had to push myself. It felt great afterwards. I still stuck with my vegan/vegetarian diet today. Work + travel planning + interview preps ( I will interview a 12-year-experience guy next week) left me leaving for home at 1:30 AM. One more day haha.

Day 13

I didn't go to the gym today. Still super busy with work that I didn't have much time worrying about other things. Got vegetarian cactus and mushroom tacos today for lunch. I think this was the first time during this period I had a vegetarian meal instead of vegan. At night I had my meditation pretty late (cuz I had had to run some packing errands). Realized that I got distracted by some thoughts a little too much during my meditations in the last couple days. 2 more days. Wow, it has been quick.

Day 12

Just a regular busy day at the office. I felt great just like the previous days. My body felt refreshed and light. My workout session was energetic. There was only myself in the company yoga class today, so I asked the instructor to teach me how to do headstand and hurdler pose. She was very helpful and I thought I got a good grasp on how to progress from there. Meals were chipotle veggie bowl and smoothies. Meditation as well.

Day 11

I felt pretty energetic today. Probably I have gotten used to not eating meat lol. Got a good evening gym session with a lot of headstand practice (cuz I was so excited). Besides so much work today, my mind was also occupied with my friend's opinion. Well, what's done is done. A meditation was well needed.

My best vegan/vegetarian meal

Day 10

Today was probably the day I felt the most energetic at the gym. I think it was due to the fact I had good foods for lunch: I went to a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant in Orange County, and had rice in clay pot and beef in leaves (bo la lot). After lunch I went home and was napping the whole afternoon. I thought I didn't have energy, but when I got to the gym, I actually felt great! I managed to do yoga headstand against a wall, which I wasn't able to do before. My body felt light!
Oh, and I don't feel hungry or muscle pains at all today!

Day 9

I woke up to realize I barely weighed  69.5 kg (153 lbs). Woa! So I lost 3 lbs. Anyways, I didn't feel bothered by hunger and muscle pains. I still felt hungry, but it didn't bother me as much anymore. I ran some errands today with a friend, and ate my first meal at almost 3PM. Then I was knocked out and had a constant headache so I rested at home all day. Had tofufor meals and didn't forget my meditation. I realized that this practice left me so low in energy, making me seem very anti-social.

Acai fruit bowl

Day 8

Long day at work even though it was Friday, so it was easy, besides I felt super sleepy the day before. I was so busy and lazy that I lost interest in eating. At noon I went out for lunch with coworkers and in the evening I stuck to the familiar acai bowl. At night I went to the gym to work out as normal. I noticed I stopped feeling muscle pains.

Day 7

I went to yoga at a real studio after a long time, and oh boy, I loved that yoga class. I was sweating like crazy, and the flow included very hard postures too (like crow pose, hand stand, etc.). This class reminded me of the reason why I had a (little) love for yoga, which I thought I forgot. Maybe I should start going to "real" yoga classes like this more often. That marked my 2nd yoga session of the week. Besides, I still maintained my vegan diet, and meditation. Still felt hungry like hell. At the end of my meditation today, I just felt so inspired by a thought and decided to write a note. It's 12:30 AM now. Shit, I got to get this note done.

Vegan Pad Thai 

Day 6

I didn't go to the gym today, and felt super hungry in the afternoon just like previous days.
Had an acai bowl for lunch and vegan pad thai for dinner. Meditated 30 minutes of course. Snoozed through the busy work day, feeling sleepy. I could handle the meat cravings and muscle pains just fine, but feeling hungry all the time is hard to deal with.

Day 5

Aside from the expected hunger in the afternoon, this was the only day I felt awake and strong like normal. Woke up to realized I lost 1 lbs. Had Acai bowl for lunch and thai vegan for dinner, sandwiched by a protein smoothies before a regular work-out session. I felt great and strong after the workout. Oh, and I took a yoga class today at the company, and didn't forget to do my meditation.

Day 4

Monday - long day. Nothing much besides I felt hungry all the time, and sleepy too. And the muscle pain from working out didn't seem to go away like usual.
I realized how bad a Chipotle bowl was without any meat or cheese. I went home really late after working out, but still made sure to do my 30-minute meditation. It's 2:15 AM now when I am writing this.

Vegan Bun Bo

Day 3

Sunday! I went to a meditation center for a change. The center was away from downtown, so it was pretty calm there.
This was my first time receiving a guided meditation (I was learning from books earlier).
Anyways, I liked the session. Afterwards, I got vegan Bun Bo Hue for lunch.
After the late lunch, I went to the office and was hit with a severe sleepiness, and a headache afterwards.
I was scared  a litlte when my throat felt funny. "What if my immune system goes down because of lack of nutrients?"
Anyways, got an avocado + almond milk smoothies, boosted with 2 scoop of vegan protein powders. Surprisingly, that was enough for dinner.
I still felt normal, without going to the gym today because I was too busy.
Besides, I wrote a note about my best friend, and meditated for another 15 minutes to make sure I meet the 30-minute meditation commitment.

Fancy vegan sushi

Day 2

I am writing this at 12AM feeling more tired than usual.

I got up in the morning and did a short 15-minute meditation. Then I was off to eat at a Japanese vegan restaurant, then had a matcha smoothie, before going to Griffith Observatory.

After Griffith, we went to Hollywood and by this time, I did feel much less energetic than usual. I felt hungry, light headed, but not too extreme. I could deal with that.

Got my vitamin water to energize me up, before I got a Thai vegan fried rice for dinner. 

After this we got home, and I went to the gym to do some light liftings, and abs work-out. My left thigh cramped up. 

Not sure if it was because of the run the day before or because of the lack of nutrients.

I came home and did another 15-minute meditation. 

Today I realized how hard it was to socialize if you are a vegan. You introduce a big hindrance to your friends when hanging out, making them quite comfortable.

Day 1

First day of the journey. I still ate meat up until last night, so I am feeling strong. 

My current status is 156 lbs (roughly 71 kg). I can run 1 mile for 1 minute for work-out warm-up without breaking much sweat.

Had a fajita bowl for lunch. I felt hungry and sleepy towards the end of the working hours, so I was napping on some almond milk.

I made smoothies out of 2 apples, 1 banana, and 1 orange, with a whole bunch of plant based protein powder and almond milk. Surprisingly, this kept me full the whole evening. I worked out late at night. 

Oh yeah, I did do a 30-minute meditation at the company's balcony for 30 minutes. It wasn't too hard, though I forgot to set the clock.

At night, I re-read some chapters about how to breath and how to do sitting meditation, and realized that i could improve on the sitting meditation:

It's not about achieving something, it's about enjoying, sitting relaxing, giving you a chance to do nothing, getting away from the work day.

I think the hard thing is to keep me feel full, while I am also on a low carb diet, and avoiding soy.

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Some writings

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Today I offended a friend.

Well I have always thought that, you cannot please everybody, and no matter how perfect you are, there is always someone who dislikes you, right?
Even you let yourself down sometimes, so why do you have to live up to other people's expectations about you?

However, if the person you offend is someone of importance to you, maybe you should think twice, and admit that you're wrong - like I did today.

Throw back to earlier this year, I had a conversation with my friend, Kate, when I visited her in UAE. She told me that, to her, most of her friends were just transient - passerbys. She only needed a couple few important people by her side.

I disagreed with her immediately. I told her to me it was always more fun to have a big group to hangout with. A 12-person trip was definitely more fun than a 2-person trip.
I would try to organize a big group trip rather than a small one. In my experience, it was always more fun to have a lot of friends. Besides, looking in the long term, my loved ones - my parents - will be happier and more rest-assured to see me surrounded by friends - by people who care about me.

So stop pushing people away from myself. Keep the important ones by my side, I thought (I have to practice being nice to people more haizz).

Still, it always felt painful whenever a relationship was broken, by any reasons.
But recently, I have realized that sometimes there was just no way for a relationship to work, and letting go was the best option.

I came to the conclusion that, you cannot keep all the people as your friends. And if they decide to leave you, just accept it and don't force it. Let him/her go.
Just let it be.
11.13.2018
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Kết thúc một tuần thiền tịnh, mình vẫn chưa phá giới và vẫn đều đặn viết về những suy nghĩ chợt nảy lên của mình.
Đọc những dòng mình viết, mình nhận ra mình vẫn có phần ngạo mạn, và mình nghĩ là mình nên bỏ tính này (vì đọc thấy nó ngu si=)) ). Lý do của sự ngạo mạn là từ những việc trong quá khứ. Thế giờ mình nên nghĩ là những việc đó chưa từng xảy ra, mình bắt đầu lại từ đầu, thì có lẽ mình sẽ có nhiều cố gắng hơn trong cuộc sống và công việc.

Nhớ lại lời dạy của thầy Thích Nhất Hạnh, ngay từ lúc mình bắt đầu so sánh mình với người khác, thậm chí là không so sánh hơn thua, mà so sánh mình bằng với họ, thì mình cũng đã sai lầm rồi (cái sai lầm ấy gọi là ngã mạn).
Có lẽ mình cần tu tập hơn, ngay khi bắt đầu nghĩ so sánh mình với ai đó thì mình phải dừng lại ngay. Mình nghĩ nếu làm được vậy, mình sẽ hiểu và thông cảm người khác hơn, và từ đó sẽ có nhiều sự yêu thương hơn. 

11.09.2018
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Today at the end of my meditation, a thought came to my mind that I wanted to note down.
I liked to write! - whether to entertain people, or just to record a feeling or a sensation that I felt.
That struck me as surprised, because I hated literature classes back in grade schools.

I hated having to analyse novels and poems, because I had to get sentimental, and empathetic to really understand the authors' feelings.
However, today I realized that what I liked wasn't writing, but actually it was creating.
I have always loved to create! Be it a tiny project like a blog, a bad music composition, a goofy vlog video, or short writings.
I remember when I was young, during my family dinners, my dad always told me to build something of my own, rather than work for others.
My father's teachings have been carried from those dinners to my present life. I have a desire to leave my footprints all over the world, and make my presence felt.
What I am afraid most is to live this life meaninglessly.
As my friends put it, I have a big ego. Well, I can't help it.
Before I am done, all I want is to give life a shout so loud that it echoes back.
11.08.2018

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