How it started
I previously stated in a recent post that I had been thinking of doing a 30 day meditation challenge. It’s something I had been thinking about doing for a while but wanted to feel “ready” before I began.
I kept thinking that once I began meditating more frequently then I would decide to challenge myself. Well May 1, 2017, arrived and that still hadn’t happened, but in the spur of the moment I thought to myself, why not today?
Being the first day of the new month, it was an ideal day to start. Even though I didn’t feel “ready” I still decided to do it anyway. I posted a blog announcing this in order to put it out there and hold myself accountable. My goal was to meditate every single day for 30 minutes or more.
How it went
Challenge accepted! I am proud to say I meditated every single day! Two days out of the month I fell slightly short of the goal meditating for about 20+ minutes instead of the full 30. I was bothered by this initially, but then realized life happens and I’m not going to beat myself up about it. All other days I meditated for at least 30 minutes to at times more than one hour. This was clearly a huge improvement from my previously sporadic meditation practice.
The results
The best part is I’ve gotten on a routine and now meditate regularly, and I look forward to the peacefulness I feel when sitting or lying silently. I’ve heard people describe meditation as being like a “best friend” and I can see why. The 30 day challenge has changed my life in a simple yet profound way. From this point forward it would be hard for me to imagine not having a regular meditation practice.
I’ve noticed by meditating my inner world feels calmer, and my emotional world feels calmer too.
When I start to meditate I soon begin to feel more grounded, centered, and balanced. Meditation feels like a breath of fresh air. Once you feel yourself becoming more relaxed it just feels so good.
A quick meditation can be done anywhere, like at home, before getting out of your car, at work, etc., and counts towards the total time you spend meditating each day. Meditation does not have to be done by blocking off a large chunk of time during the day. It can be broken up into short lengths of time, and can act as an energy booster or refresher. As a personal example, if I start to feel off-center at work, then I take a few minutes to quietly sit at my desk and meditate.
I was told in an intuitive counseling session earlier this year that meditation would benefit me by helping me to better listen to myself, to my own inner voice. From building up my meditation practice in this short period of time I already feel like this is true. I was also told one time by another intuitive practitioner that my mind is like a “hamster wheel” that never turns off, and meditation would help. That was a few years ago, and I didn’t listen. Maybe I wasn’t ready.
It seems that I am now, and I definitely think meditating consistently has quieted my mental chatter, and allowed me to better hear and reflect on my thoughts. I also noticed that when I meditate now, time seems to pass more quickly and I’m frequently surprised by just how much time has gone by when I open my eyes. I now look forward to meditating daily!