Happy August to all of my readers! I always look at the start of each month as a way to hit the refresh button on my life. This month I am really excited to announce a challenge that anyone else can do along with me. I am calling it the August Meditation Challenge.
What is meditation?
Picture your mind as a conveyor belt. On this conveyor belt are all of your thoughts. Some of them are good, some are bad, some are silly, some are serious. When our thoughts reach the end of this conveyor belt, some thoughts are kept and some are thrown away. How do you pick which ones to throw away and which ones to keep? By paying attention to what’s on that conveyor belt in the first place. If we don’t pay attention, the belt keeps moving anyway and we end up with all of these thoughts and feelings that may not make a whole lot of sense to us.
Meditation is a practice of awareness. The more we are aware of what our minds are doing, the more we can use this knowledge to our advantage. This means that learning what triggers certain emotions, or even physical symptoms, can help us prevent them.
How do I meditate?
As the infogram shows, meditation has a multitude of benefits including reducing stress, boosting immunity, increasing energy, improving quality of sleep, etc. The trick to achieving these benefits is practice. This is not a one time deal. It is a daily commitment that becomes easier over time. If you practice for 10 minutes a day for a whole month, you will definitely notice a difference in how you feel.
Would you like to know how to start? However you want! I like to use the Calm app (available on your mobile device or computer). It provides timed sessions in the meditation of your choosing, and keeps track of how many days and how much time you’ve spent meditating. (I get absolutely nothing for recommending this app, except the satisfaction of knowing I’ve helped you out).
Want to join this challenge with me? Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail, and I will give you access to a free unlimited month of Calm! And as always, please feel free to ask me any more questions about how meditation can help you out. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!