During my year in Monk Mode I went to the gym every day and then completed 15 minutes of seated meditation, during which I would focus on my breathing and visualize myself sitting deep in the forest by a stream, or on a rock platform at the beach. The effect of completing exercise and meditation in the same session was that I obtained both the physical and cognitive aspects of relaxation. Research on the psychotherapeutic technique of Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) has shown that the relaxation process is normally triggered by reductions in muscle tension, as well as thought processes such as reappraisal that have a direct effect on our mood states and physiology. I had previously been taught how to use PMR on myself as well as others, so I was at a stage in my life where I was well-acquainted with the science of relaxation. By completing either cardio or weights, followed by a short meditation, I found some interesting effects on my consciousness. Firstly, a few minutes into the seated meditation (following exercise), I found myself perceiving a blue/purple-like wave in my vision as my eyes were closed. This wave moved back and forth, and created a sense of deepness and fullness in me. My research had shown that this resembled the start of a hypnotic state in which the brain’s restorative powers were being activated. In this state of consciousness, the level of restoration has been found to be greater than that produced during sleep. Through previous meditations I had found that I could only enter this deep hypnotic state after twenty to thirty minutes of seated meditation. Therefore, what I found was that through repeated practice, and the use of exercise, I could speed up this process of entering a hypnotic state, and enjoy the restorative powers of meditation sooner.

I also noticed some interesting effects on my conscious awareness soon after the exercise and meditation. One notable effect was on my object perception. In this state of mind, objects in the visual environment seemed much clearer to me. Specifically, the edges and patterns of objects were much more clearly defined, and my perceptual discrimination was greatly enhanced. In this state I noticed details of objects that I had never seen before, such as old shades of paints on single bricks, the movement of ants on pieces of cement several metres away, and the overall pattern of leaf movements as the wind blowed into the trees. My perception of the visual scene in front of me was also far more pronounced. As I walked along, I noticed that I took in much more of the visual environment around me, and it seemed that my peripheral awareness was far greater. I noticed the overall pattern of traffic moving in the distance, as well as the movement of distant pedestrians in relation to this traffic. It is difficult to truly capture this change in my conscious awareness in words, but I wondered whether through repeated practice it was something that I could experience on a daily basis. The effects lasted for about half an hour, and soon after this any noticeable changes disappeared.