I stopped trying to do my Art Of Living home meditation (Kriya) for the last few weeks. I decided that I was trying to add way too many habits, and that I would "simplify & prioritize" only those directly related to improving my sleep. Since I wanted to still be developing my mind somewhat, I learned some short, easy meditations which I could work into daily life, and have also been listening to the Power of Now audiobook.

The short meditations have been working - I've started to notice periods of "no mind", where I realize that my mind has been empty of thought for 5-10 seconds. Annoyingly, my noticing it is a mental/thought/voice process, so by definition I only notice it when it is over. Actually, that isn't quite true, there are times when I have a non-verbal awareness that I am in that state. But in order to congratulate myself or think about what it was like or do any of the other things that are my natural reaction, I need a voice, which ends it. Perhaps that indicates what I need to learn to make these last longer - learning to just accept and be with it, instead of analyzing it, so that no mind can continue.

It's really neat that this is happening! This awareness of whether or not I am present, and fleeting periods of no mind are exactly what the meditation books say, so that gives me confidence (that I'm doing it right, that they are teaching in a way that I can learn, etc.)

I've been having a somewhat tough few days w/ Shannon gone and Tovar's school closed for the holiday. Sunday was great until the evening, but then it started to wear on me. With no one to alternate mornings with, I end up being so tired in the morning that I lie around and doze for 1-3 hours, and then I can't fall asleep at night until 12:30 or 1, then Tovar gets up at 7-7:30 and it starts again.

With the sleep dep and frustrations of dealing w/ Tovar, I decided I wanted to do my home Kriya. I I tried to do it during his nap yesterday, but he woke up 5 minutes in. So today I tried again, after he'd been down for only an hour (normally he naps 2-3 hours), and he woke up 2/3 of the way in. Sigh. But...it seems to have been enough to help! I got some things done, and I've been noticeably calmer with him. Which I find really interesting, and so I wonder whether I should be making kriya more of a priority, and trying to do it every couple days.

It's not just the time commitment, I find it actively difficult to do the breathing, it's hard work. Anyway, at least I'm feeling "meditatively mellow" right now!

Wacky:

...interjecting high carbohydrate, high calorie refeeds of varying lengths (anywhere from 5 hours to 3 days) is (currently) the best way to raise leptin while dieting.

One of the interesting (and often missed points) is that, as dieters get leaner (and leptin drops more and more), refeeds need to become larger and/or more frequent. That is, rather than necessarily dieting harder as they get leaner, some people are actually doing better by ‘breaking their diet’ (with specific high-carb refeeds) more frequently.
...
An additional strategy, talked about in some detail in my Guide to Flexible Dieting is the idea of full diet breaks, periods of 10-14 days in-between periods of active dieting where calories are brought back to maintenance (and carb intakes brought back to at least moderate levels).

Not only does this provide a psychological break from the grind of continuous dieting, it helps to ‘reset’ some of the metabolic adapatations that occur with dieting. Leptin levels will come up, thyroid conversion in the liver is improved, etc. Assuming dieters have no strict time constraints, I strongly feel that inserting full diet breaks every so often (how often depends on body fat levels) is important for long-term success. Again, for both physiological and psychological reasons.

From the 6th in a 6-part series on the hormones of dieting. Strongly recommended if you are interested in the gritty details of weight loss endocrinology, especially relating to leptin.