About the 30 Day Meditation Challenge
Successful people all seem to have one thing in common. They meditate. That’s something we see time and time again. Regardless of what industry they’re in. Irrespective of their values and beliefs. They all meditate.
And you can’t imagine what has happened in the company. People who used to have migraines, don’t. People are sleeping better. People have better relationships. It’s simply fantastic.
“Oprah Winfrey, media producer & talk show host
So if you’re looking to turn your life around, meditating is a great place to start. It’ll help declutter your mind, and allow you to see things more clearly. You’ll be able to focus better. You’ll feel healthier. Get more done. And you’ll be happier overall.
Benefits of Meditation
You guessed it correctly. I’m a strong believer in meditation. It’s something I practice regularly. And it’s helped me a lot. But fortunately, you don’t have to take my word for it.
Instead, you can just look at what the scientists say. Studies and scans of the brain have consistently found that cultivating a practice of meditation literally rewires your brain – for the better. The benefits of meditation are endless.
- Increases your overall focus: Meditating daily has been found to reduce mind-wandering, and increases your ability to focus on what you are doing.
- Makes you smarter: Researchers examined the correlation between meditation and problem solving, by asking participants to complete a variation of the Einstellung water jug task. The researchers found that individuals who practiced MSBR were more likely to find novel & adaptive ways of solving problems.
- Reduces pain: a 2016 study found that mindfulness meditation helps reduce back pain in adults between the ages of 20 to 70.
- Reduces blood pressure:
Challenges of developing Meditation habit
Monkey Mind:
Most of us have minds that are unsettled, restless, and uncontrollable. Minds that just don’t stop thinking. In the eastern tradition, the mind is compared to the drunken monkey that has been bitten by a scorpion, because of how unpredictable, and confused it is. Lots of people start to meditate, only to declare that they are unable to do so. They think it’s pointless because, their mind keeps wandering and so they’re not really meditating – just wasting time.
Once you understand the purpose of meditation, you’ll realize that it’s okay for your mind to wander during meditation– in fact, it’s expected. Even after years of meditating, you might find that your mind wanders. The purpose of meditation is to teach your mind to be aware of the fact that it’s wandering. Meditation is not about emptying your mind of thoughts – that is not possible. It is to become aware that your mind is wandering, and whenever possible, even if just for a second to bring it back to the present moment. Each time your mind wanders, and you bring it back to the present moment, your brain will change just a little bit.
You’ll learn more about this in our recommended videos. For now, it is enough to understand that mind wandering during meditation is 100% normal – and meditation is effective even when that happens.
No time
I can still remember the first time I considered cultivating a meditation habit. It took me a long time to start meditating because I just didn’t have the time. I had to find time to study, work, socialize and manage housework. Even though meditating only required 10-20 minutes, I found it hard to find the time. And I didn’t want it to take away from the things I absolutely had to do.
Here’s what I realized after starting to meditate. You will always make back the time you spend meditating. Once I started meditating, I found that meditating actually reduced the amount of time I needed to spend on other activities. When I was stressed at work, or unable to solve a problem, I would meditate. A simple 5-minute meditation was enough to clear my head and look at things from a different perspective
And research has proven this. Meditating makes your brain sharper, helps you focus more, and solves problems both more effectively, and creatively.
Our minds wander 47% of the time. If meditation will help you focus, and reduce mind-wandering, imagine how much time you will actually save.
No instant benefit
Some people notice a benefit immediately after meditating. But for others, it takes a little bit longer, which can feel frustrating. Remember the secret is to keep doing it. And research backs this up – Meditation is effective within 8 weeks, and just meditating for 8 weeks will benefit you for years to come.
Too many distractions
Life is busy, and sometimes it can be difficult to find a completely quiet environment to meditate. That’s okay. While meditating in the quiet can be easier, meditation focuses on your inner mind. It doesn’t matter what is happening around you. I used to meditate on the bus, on my way home from work. Yes, it would be noisy, and sometimes it meant meditating while standing. But it was still an effective practice, and I can assure you it was worth it.
New Age Hype
Some people believe that meditation is new age hysteria and that it’s actually not useful. But if you take a quick look at the research you’ll find that this is absolutely not true. Researchers have found innumerable benefits to meditation. I’ve discussed these benefits in detail above, so I won’t repeat them here. In addition, we see meditation is readily accepted at all the major universities and top companies. You can meditate to get enlightenment, but you can also meditate to become more successful like all the other successful people before you.
Don’t lose hope
Just remember. It gets easier. Your mind will quiet down. And you’ll find yourself meditating for longer periods of time.
But you have to get through the difficult sessions first. That’s when you will need to remain strong. You’ll need to remember why you started to meditate in the first place. And that the practice of meditation is going to change your brain – and your life.
The 30 Day meditation challenge
That’s where the 30-day meditation challenge comes in. We’ve done all the research for you and prepared a science-backed program to keep you going.
We’ve gathered all the meditation resources you’ll need. And we’ll help prepare you for any roadblocks you may encounter.
And if you want, we’ll help connect you with other people who are completing the challenge.
In a nutshell, we’ll do our best to help keep you on track and accountable.
How the 30-day Meditation challenge works
We suggest you take a couple of days before you begin your challenge by completing our planning tasks. You can access these videos by signing up for the 30-day meditation challenge for free.
You will start with 5-minute meditations in your first week, and then gradually move up to 20-minute meditations by the end of the 30 days.
The 30-day meditation challenge includes a mix of different types of meditations so that you are able to avail of maximum benefit during the 30 days. If you find you enjoy doing 1 type of meditation more, then feel free to increase the number of minutes you complete that meditation.
Types of meditations in the 30 days meditation challenge
- Body scan meditation
- Walking meditation
- Guided meditation
- Mantra meditation
- Loving Kindness meditation
- Mindfulness Meditation
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30-day meditation challenge tips
In order for you to be successful, we recommend the following tips
- Start small.
Our 30-day meditation guide recommends starting by meditating for 5 minutes a day, and then gradually increasing your meditation time. - Be forgiving
If you miss a day of meditation, be forgiving towards yourself. Don’t be angry at yourself. It happens. - Don’t miss 2 days in a row
This is probably the most important advice. On the second day force yourself to meditate, even if it’s just for a few minutes. - Mindset:
Start with the mindset that you will complete the full 30 days of meditation no matter what. Complete the planning worksheet (accessible through the curriculum tab) before you begin the 30-day meditation challenge. This will help put you in a mindset that will ensure you meditate for the full 30 days. - 30-day meditation calendar:
Before you start your meditation practice, print the meditation calendar we have provided in the curriculum and pin it on your fridge. Each time you complete a meditation, mark it complete on the calendar. Just the satisfaction of seeing it marked complete, will motivate you to stick to the full 30 days
Experience of a College Student Taking the 30-day meditation challenge
I’ve meditated for a long time. My parents encouraged me to meditate since high school. And I always found it to help.
Meditation helped me relax. Reduced my stress. And it made it easier for me to focus on my school work.
I stopped meditating during my second year of college. I was going through a nasty breakup and needless to say I was overwhelmed and emotional. I found it tough to meditate because if I didn’t keep myself busy, I would think about my breakup. And meditation by definition is doing nothing.
So I stopped. And I tried to deal with my emotions by repressing them. Obviously not very healthy.
Fortunately, one of my professors pushed me to get back to meditation. She made me promise to commit to meditating for 30 days.
I started small. For the first few days, I meditated only 5 minutes. And even that was tough. After meditating for a few days I broke down and cried those feelings I had repressed began surfacing. But it was a good thing. It forced me to deal with my emotions.
My advice for anyone doing the meditation challenge would be to customize it based on what you need. If the challenge says to meditate for 10 minutes but that’s too much for you, reduce it. Do what feels right to you.
Experience of a mom taking 30-day meditation challenge
After having my daughter, my mind has been all over the place. I was unable to focus on anything, other than my daughter, and was starting to feel depressed. Completing this 30-day challenge helped pull me out of my funk, by giving my mind a much-needed break. It also significantly helped with my post-partum anxiety.
