Meditation Challenge
The world has changed greatly from the time of our ancestors and even more so before they lived. There are now extensive stimuli all around us that are attractive and attention seeking. They can get prioritized over our health and feeling well. People go from work to distraction and back and forth dissipating their time. For many, it results in few moments when they can be alone with their thoughts, so they may relax their mind and body. Instead, the spare time is filled with dopamine stimulating content – watching other people live their lives.
Therefore, stress is such an issue for people now. Any time you may be allowed time to relax, it is used for something that requires tension and focus. It can be difficult to admit, but we have much more time now because of conveniences like GPS, on demand services, and food delivery that include more than just pizza. So many things have been created to make our lives easier and provide more time; yet, how wisely is it being used?
Some of it could be used for meditation, reading, reflection, and exercise. If you take time to release your tension and perform healthy activities that develop yourself, your mind and body can decline slower as you age, and you can feel better and more capable.
The meditation challenge is a one-month challenge, and when completed, you may gain important benefits from it as well as improve your mindset for the future. A one month long duration works very well for this challenge, because for many, it can be difficult to meditate if they are not already very experienced with it. One month is also not too long to where you do not receive the satisfaction of completing a challenge. Micro goals are important for self-improvement. They can also help you to develop healthy habits as you experience them and gain understanding of their benefits.
The meditation challenge requires you to meditate or be still and minimize your thoughts for a duration of time each day. If you are already consistent with meditation and perform it well, the challenge for you would be to learn a new type of meditation that you have never tried before. During the first five days, attempt to build up from ten-minutes to thirty-minutes, or longer. Great times for meditating are in the morning before people you live with wake-up, or before bed when activities wind-down. If you meditate regularly, think about using the first five days to improve at the new type of meditation chosen.
Meditation is not simple, and it may require many days of practice before you can let go of your thoughts fully. It may even take months to really practice it well. Training yourself to stop thinking for a period of time is difficult, but the rewards are substantial. Below are some ways that may help you to enter meditation:
Set an alarm so you are not thinking of how long it has been or the time that remains.
Try to have a relaxed posture that will not encourage you to fall asleep.
Take some deep breaths.
Stay in the present time, avoid thoughts of the future or from the past.
Thoughts continuously arise for people, so you will need to avoid engaging with them.
Search for tense areas in your body, and when identified, try to let go of them while taking in a deep breath, and exhaling slowly.
To avoid discouragement, do not set any expectation for yourself other than the time you wish to commit to meditation.
Don’t give up.
If you are having difficulty meditating on your own, you can find many helpful, guided meditations online or elsewhere that may be a better fit for you. Pay close attention to the trainer’s words as it will help you move away from your thoughts and allow them to guide you into a clear and relaxing mindset.
After completing the challenge, reflect on your experiences during that month. Were you less irritable and stressed during this time? Did you feel more capable of doing things each day? Try to detect the benefits you might have experienced and the skills you've developed as they are reasons to continue this relaxing and healthy practice.
Live Well!
Alexander Pierce, CPT
Author of Well-Rounded Mind Health Fitness
