Published: 17.01.2026
Today, I sat for 50 minutes, which is the longest meditation session I have ever done. What surprised me was that, despite the length, it did not feel as difficult as some of the shorter sessions. In the past, even 30 or 35 minutes would often leave me restless toward the end, counting time or quietly negotiating with myself.
For most of the time, I felt fairly present. I did drift into drowsiness a few times, but overall I stayed oriented inward, mostly noticing my body and my breath. I experimented with a few breathing patterns, and while some mental commentary did surface, very little of it involved replaying the past or planning far into the future. Most of the thoughts that did arise were loosely anchored in today. Small things from earlier in the day, or mild anticipation of what was still to come later. It was not pure presence, but it felt noticeably closer to it than usual. As my attention stayed inward, I began noticing subtle sensations in the body. They were not emotional, and not exactly physical either. The closest description I have is a kind of quiet arousal, like gentle waves of peaceful energy moving through stillness. I wouldn’t qualify them as dramatic, but they were very clear once noticed. Another observation was that when I placed my attention on a specific part of my body, it felt as if that part became more alive, almost as if it woke up in response to being noticed. It’s fascinating to consider that the body might be capable of recognising inward attention, and that it’s possible other people’s bodies (and minds) can also recognise attention directed toward them. I assume this is likely tied to neural activity and to how attention modulates signals in the nervous system. A more metaphysical line of reasoning could be that whatever this energy is, perhaps one expression of consciousness, becomes aware of itself the moment attention turns toward it.