Will You Join Us For The Meditation Challenge?
Anyone who already meditates on a regular basis can testify to the powerful and wide range of effects and benefits that they get from it. These days meditation is starting to gain traction in mainstream media, and we are seeing meditation being taught in schools, even in Europe and USA. Many of us make important decisions every day whilst leading stressful lives. It is often when we are feeling fearful or under stress that we make bad decisions, and are unproductive and inefficient.
What better challenge could we have here on Steemit than a meditation challenge!? This challenge is for everyone, whether you have never meditated before, or you used to meditate but haven't in a while, or even if you do meditate regularly. I hope you will join us in this opporunity to make your day and the world even better!
The @ecoTrain will also be participating in this challenge, and we will be kicking things off starting on Sunday 21st Jan. Therefore we will start posting our experiences starting on Sunday 28th Jan. Are you ready for the details! !?
The Meditation / Chant Challenge. Meditate for at least 15 minutes every day for one week and write about your experience...
The challenge is very simple. Set aside 15 minutes each day to meditate as described below or using any method you like, and then carry on with your day! At the end of the day or whenever you feel, write a little bit about your experiences. Then 7 days after you start please post your experiences along with anything else you would like to say or add around the subject of meditation. You can start whenever you like, so we can have a continuous feed of people who do try it, and we can all be inspired by each other!
Challenge Guidelines
- You may choose any style of kind of meditation
- You should meditate for at least 15 minutes each day
- Post once at the end of your challenge, or every day, and tell us all how it went!
- In your post, let us know if you will continue the challenge for another week ;-)
- Your first tag should be 'meditation-challenge' so we can all find your post. You can use any other tags you like.
- Copy These Guidelines and the Recommended Meditation in your post.
- Nominate one person to do the challenge
- Please Re-Steem this post to encourage others!
- You may start this at anytime. This challenge continue indefinitely!
Recommended Meditation For Beginners
How To Start Meditating
It is best to meditate in the morning, when there are least distractions. You can meditate anywhere you like, so just choose a place that you have some privacy and quiet. If that has to be the toilet, so be it! You could even meditate in the car before you drive off to work or wherever you are going. Wherever you choose, try to mediate in the same place each day. This builds up familiarity, and also builds up the energy so that you can more easily slip into it as you practice. It's usually a good idea to use a timer to count the minutes for you, and that way you have a clear goal and will likely meditate for more than 2 minutes.
Now simply close your eyes slowly, and breath in and out as you normally do. You don't need to try to change your breath or do anything differently, but instead just observe it and notice that you are indeed breathing. Notice the weight of your body, and if you are sitting straight or not. Try to sit as straight as you can and cross your legs if possible. You can also sit on a chair if you are not comfortable on the floor, that works just fine too! Whilst you are noticing your body and posture you will no doubt have thoughts coming to your mind. Let them come. Then let them go and remind yourself that for the next 15 minutes you are going to let these thoughts go. This is your time, so tell yourself that these thoughts can wait a few minutes. Come straight back to your awareness of your breathing, and continue. New thoughts may come VERY quickly, and that is normal and totally OK. Just do the same thing each time. There is NO need to get frustrated or angry when they come, because you are not trying to stop them. You are NOT doing it wrong! What you may notice is that the time between thoughts gets longer quite naturally, or the effect of them on your feelings reduces. You MAY find quite the opposite too, and feel even more tense because you are not distracting yourself from them.
After 15 minutes are up, you can open your eyes and get on with your day. I OFTEN have some brilliant ideas pop into my head either during or just after meditating, and I don't even have to try! Even if I don't have a brainwave, I feel SO much more relaxed and able to take on the challenges of the day in a positive and productive manner.
If you want to HODL, meditate!
Have an Amazing Day!
How's this going with everyone? Want to share your experiences?
I am Clara, I am also on ecotrain and also on board this wonderful challenge that @eco-alex has set up so nicely. Thank you Alex, it is such an opportunity to create the habit of meditation and a real gift to yourself. There are not many gifts that are greater.
I have meditated daily for years with a lot of joy most of the time. For me it's like turning my light switch on and when I don't meditate or connect to the Divine in some way, I feel like I'm stumbling around in a dark room, not able to find anything.
Today I did the mantra Om Amriteshwarye Namaha 108 times. It is a mantra of the holy Mother that works very soothing for me. I do different practices and pick each day what I feel I need. I have a lot of experience with many different kinds of practices and want to offer my humble service to answer your questions should you have any.
If you are new to meditation this might be the easiest way to start! We hope you share your stories with us as the @ecoTrain also posts starting Sunday 28th Jan.
Remember you can start anytime you like, as this challenge is on-going. We hope to keep inspiring everyone to meditate!
It's s great to see us inspire each other to start meditating, or getting back into it. There are SO many of us participating! This is what @ecotrain is all about!
Here is a good 10 minute breath meditation for you all to see. It is much like the Recoomened meditation above but in a video so you can see how it all looks.
I'm so happy to hear of this challenge - and I saw it through the MSP contest so good job promoting it! Is it continual ? My girlfriend and I are starting tmrw for sure because we meditate daily in the morning, and I personally enjoy chanting 108 japas sometimes. @lonestarpoet
welcome aboard! the meditation train.. I also do 108 japa, and that helps take meditation to another level!
You're abSOULutely right :)
Great initiative. Though I try to make time for meditation every week, I should do it more often. Thanks for the reminder and let's get started ;)
thanks amy! I am like you, and REALLY need to get back into it.. so this challenge is really helping me to Just Do It.. <3 I hope you do take the challenge on and post !
I sure will... starting today! No more excuses ;)
Yeah really huh! How many years has it taken for me to do nothing! ;)
I feel like sometimes I meditate on my long runs, but instead of letting go of the thoughts, I just analyze them. I will try this challenge, but the true challenge for me is going to be to find the 15min!
Resteemed
Oh it is on!
U can do it! trust me.. this 15 minutes can save you HOURS .. or even days or weeks .. it can be surprising what inspirations can come to mind once you give it a chance to rest..
I'm on it!! I'm meditating every day for 25 mins, I challenge myself to raise it to 30 minutes. And I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences at the end of the week. Happy meditating everybody!
Happy to hear this! Look forward to reading your experiences!
I believe that it's a very good challenge. I will participate! I tried to meditate only once, it was a very interesting experience, however, I understand that it is important to do it regullary.
glad u are joining in! Yes once is just like dipping your toe in the pool, quite different to actually swimming.. Congrats on taking this challenge, Im already very happy i did!
Mmm I love this. You nailed it on the head in your opening line... I want to mediate more, but just don’t make the time.
Thanks for the push. I probably won’t start until next week because I have a big dance competition/convention this weekend, but I look forward to starting this meditation challenge when I get back!
I really like that you are suggesting 15 minutes. That is the perfect amount of time so that I can fit it into my daily schedule more easily. Thanks again!!
"I want to mediate more, but just don’t make the time." That's why I meditate in the shower, and the water helps too ;)
Oooh interesting idea @misslasvegas!! I never thought of trying that before, but it’s actually kind of brilliant.
Haha @coruscate, for me, it's the only time of the day that I really have to myself, without kids around me. And in the evenings I found I'm usually just too tired, plus I'm usually working then or here on Steemit (or both). So those 15-20 minutes in the shower twice a day or even in the bath help a lot. And the water on my head kinda helps to get into the feeling.
thats great, and you can start anytime!
Great that you are giving yourself this <3
I have to take this challenge,in fact this is just a sign that I have to do it because my goal is to meditate 15 min a day!😊Let’s go!
ha haaaa , YES i hear you!! its quite a group we are pulling together ;-)
Thanks for the challenge! I've been just getting back into meditation, so this is a great push to ensure I do it for 7 days straight and at least 15 minutes each time! Count me in!
yes thats what i want to hear! me too! we can encourage each other too!
Day #2 - I hope people are enjoying it so far!
Yup! So far so good!!
I do a dance meditation on the beach for an hour everyday. I love it!
Here is a clip of my dance mediation:
https://steemit.com/earthnation/@nomvula/my-dance-where-i-ground-the-new-earth
I am keen for the meditation challenge!
thats beautiful! i love your outfit ;-) what a way to start the day! Im sure you are full of energy and positivity! Glad to have you on board @nomvula
I meditate almost every day.If you practice much,you can achieve out of body experience.I would recommend everyone to experience this at least once in lifetime..it's a life changer.
How does that work for you? I am working on getting fully in my body while being grounded and present while I'm meditating.
I'm excited to participate in this :-) I already meditate a few times a week, but I don't usually find time for journalling - it'll be really interesting to reflect on my own and others experiences. Thank you!
Thank u Alice, now ur posting it on steemit im sure youll find the time... ;)
I am so excited to write on this. I am not exaggerating when I say that meditation absolutely saved my life.
I believe u, and look forward to reading your experiences
Yes! I've been meditating daily for the past 3 weeks for 15 minutes and believe me if there is one day that I don't meditate, I can feel it (like yesterday). I am more than glad to participate in this challenge as I believe this will help everyone integrate meditation as part of their daily routine. When you meditate, you become more aware and focused and so much more! Why not give yourself that simple 15 minutes? It is totally worth it and YOU deserve it ;)
It will be great to have some support to respond to and encourage others! Glad younare here for this with us jess
One of the most beneficial challenges I've yet to see around <3
Great Initiative Alex !
yeah huh! im in! ;=))
Yo I'm in! Been meditating almost daily for a year or so now. What's your favorite type of meditation? I love guided gratitude and visualizations :)
awesome! congrats!!! i do a very simple breath awareness meditation,, and also chanting before hand. i also do qi gong which is like a moving meditation.. i REALLy like that!
Great idea @eco-alex and a worthy challenge indeed. I started this morning and it was quite a profound experience. Thanks for reminding me to practice and spurring me on to do so.
Good Alex, set the example!
yes! i set one for myself too@ ;_)
Challenge Accepted! ReSteemed.
Though I already love meditation and it calms me down but as of now I have not been regular.But now on I have decided to be more regular and will do it at least 15 minutes daily as mentioned in the Challenge guidelines.I know that the outcome is going to be great and will share my experience definitely.Eager to do it.
YAY! that is why i made this up.. to help us all either start or Restart our practice..
Lets start a Wave!
Meditation challenge accepted. btw, thank you..this was very much needed :)
REALLY happy to see a few of us pick this up!
i agree!! this week has been slightly stressy! ;-)
What a great challenge worthy of everyone's participation. I am working towards a Vipassana this year but I know it will be very challenging. Right now I'm just trying to do 1 - 1.5 hrs per night but as you say the morning is much better.
You mentioning Vipassana brings back a lot of memories.
I had never done any meditation of any kind before when I joined a ten days Vipassana in Ladakh, India in 1992.
Now if anybody wants to know what pain is, I suggest they do exactly like I did back then. 😉
But it was of course also a life changing experience.
Oh yes, I see many people believe meditation is a peaceful and easy thing to do... until you try for more than 5 minutes haha. I'm absolutely sure it will help the way I see life and myself within this life so I must try.
it will help in ways you wouldn't have thought! If you try the method i described it is VERY easy as you cant do it wrong.
you mean body pain or emotional pain?
no pain no gain!
body pain
oh yeah, i heard about that.. i can imagine! sitting through a totally dead leg must be torture.. or a bad back ;-!
i have a few friend who did Vipassana,.. in fact @nature-jon has done many and he LOVES IT!!! but yes its hardcore challenge too.. One hour a night is also a lot, if you can do that I think you are well on the road to Vipassana levels!
Yes it does seem very challenging and maybe it's my ego but I feel very scared but also I know it is to discover the best version of me I know I have inside.
Both body and emotional pain. No pain, no gain, yes exactly haha. Everything in my life that has been challenging has been worth it :)
Hi spaceginger, I am part of the ecotrain and have meditated for years. I m sorry to hear you experience discomfort during your meditation. May I offer you some suggestions?
Hi @clara-andriessen I guess just the quietness of my mind makes me realise how short life is and how many people surrounding me don't love life with much passion. I realise it's not up to them, it's all on me, but this is a challenge when I feel like I want to live a passionate life but no one to live it with. I'm not an 'outgoing' person at all, but I want to love everyone and feel many people are closed off in this way, including my wife. Physical discomfort is understandable (though I do get a numb left foot quite often sitting in the half-lotus position lol) but it's more the lack of passion surrounding me that threatens to bring me down. I feel if I didn't find Steemit and meet people, such as yourself, I would be on a very lonely road.
Hi spaceginger, I appreciate your sharing. Thanks for that. It's indeed nice to exchange. Sometimes I feel even lonely on steemit when no one commenst on my posts. I get the lonely feeling it is something many of us struggle with. It is good that you can acknowledge it. Part of your meditation could be just to surround that feeling with warm love/attention. This is a good practice to 'hold space' for your emotions. When you do you become much more comfortable within yourself as if you're making friends with yourself again. and you'll find that the loneliness is either gone or much easier to bear and for people around you to connect to you with more ease. I hope this helps. As for the physical pain, I understand you practice Vipasana? This is a meditation based on the masculine principle of discipline. While we do need some discipline in our meditation we need to balance it with feminine principles such as practicality and compassion. If you're not comfortable in the half-lotus position, take a higher pillow or even sit on the couch. Make yourself comfortable, when you are, you will have more joy from your meditation and will want to do it more often. It shouldn't be a punishment but a gift to yourself.
There are also different kinds of Vipassana, I did the traditional hardcore Goenka one, with nothing but meditation, 10 hours a day.
But I know a guy in Germany offering Vipassana retreats and he sprinkles some Yoga exercises in as well.
i think its normal to feel that way, but i also know meditation makes it all seem so much less traumatic or challenging.. we can breeze through things or push against them.. sometimes its just our perspective that needs to change
Challenge Accepted! ReSteemed.
awesome! hope you post about it too!
I've always wanted to meditate, but i've been lacking the right motivation and always procrastinating. This time that its a challenge, and i'm performing it with many people. I'll definitely take this one more seriously... I've resteemed already.
Thank you for this... Till 21st when we officially start
GREAT! happy to hear! its true.. sometimes we just need to make something a challenge and do it together and then we can do it!
i look forward to reading about your experience!
This whole thing is relatively new to me.
But I’m willing to try
thats the spirit! its only 15 minutes, an might be the best 15 minutes you spend in the day!
I've 🐝 trying to carve out time for regular meditation. I did start a yoga nidra class this week, but daily meditating at home is definitely a goal of mine. This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
oh nice,, yoga nidra is amazing .. ive tried is a few times.. it really helps to relax... might be good before a short upright meditation ;-_)
I will definitely try this. Have never done it before, let's see where it leads me to.
happy to hear this! im sure you wont regret it.. i look forward to seeing you post!
Wow! Great post.
Meditation is so much important in our stressful life.
Listening to soothing music that relaxes your body and elevates your mind can significantly reduce how much stress you feel. Relaxation music helps you connect to your inner peace. When you quiet your thoughts and feel your source of peace within, it's like having a stress-proof field around you. Reducing stress not only makes you feel much better, it can also bring improved health.
Thanks for sharing this post.😊
Have a wonderful day!!
thanks for your feedback! A stress proof shield.. yes something like that huh! I would have probably sold everything at rock bottom prices by now had i not have meditated this week ;__)
Amazing post!!
Meditation is essential to feel well and live a Happy Life. Meditation can help us to eliminate negative thoughts, worries, anxiety, all factors that can prevent us feeling happy. It has been proved that the practice of meditation, carried out on a regular basis, will mitigate the symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Thanks for sharing this post.😊 💙
thank you @stardivine ! you are right, and so much more.. i think the list of benefits might be quite long! Anyone who has tried it knows, and i hope soon many more of us will do too!
Challenge accepted,it will be my first time though,but its worth trying out.
CONGRATS~ i look forward to reading your post afterwards!
I have never done it before but the way you talk about it makes me want to start up tomorrow morning... Thanks for sharing this useful information.
just try it and see!!
I like to see meditation as a heart to heart talk with yourself...
thats a nice way to put it ;-)
Yes, that works for me too regularly. I think there are so many different kinds of meditation and we don't need the same one each day.
Thank you mediation advice, I will try.
Permission me follow you and hope vote from you because I still new in world steemit
please try and post your experiences.. then we will vote you ! ;-)
Thank you very much for your support
I am in! It looks like we start this Sunday and report our Meditation practice info above once a week. First report on Jan. 28th! I love this!!!!! I am having trouble keeping to a routine so I think this is just what I need!
Actually u can start any time, but EcoTrain will start on Sunday... glad to have you on board!
Meditation is very good..it helps US to relax our head and take valuable decisions..do you know those that meditate are hardly presurized by any problem..there are never hasty to make decisions..try it, I assure you will never regret it.am also very new to itnbut am catching up.
thats nice to know! thanks for your comment, I hope you will take part ;-)
I got as far as,"Now simply close your eyes slowly", then couldn't read any more.
;-)
Does laying in bed in the morning ,not opening your eyes and trying to go back to sleep for 20 min.s before give up and getting coffee count?
:-)
Namaste
As long as you don´t think while trying to go back to sleep, it is actually one of the more advanced practices. 😉
But joking aside, I do that in the evening in bed before/while falling asleep, this way your sleep will be better.
lol,
everything counts, but some things more than others ;-)
I’ve been meditating for years now and I LOVE it! Just recently, as I got into crypto and found this brave new world, I’ve been overtaken by excitement and the insatiable hunger to learn more. And I neglected my practice somewhat over the last month. This is a great opportunity to get back! Thanks xxx
thanks for this comment! You are just the type of person we are also reaching out to.. Like myself, who used to meditate and really need to get back into it!
And yes, its exactly that, this is an opportunity for everyone to jump on the train and try it out. You can't do it wrong!
My landing strip is ready this morning :) Actually, yesterday I had an almost proper
practice - 20 min yoga and instead of 20 only 12 min of meditation. I'll aim at 20:20 today :)
nice! i also do some chanting before i meditate, so the whole things takes a lot longer.. i guess its ok to do a little less meditating if u do yoga! You can just stretch out Shivasana a bit more. ;-)
Whenever I managed to meditate for 30min it felt amazing! 20 is also good though. Just finished (although honestly this time I mangaged only 8min - my min needs to calm down from all this crypto craze and excitement :)
i SO understand what you mean.. 8 minutes is still much better than 0!!! keep going ;-))
:) Yeah! I think it'll be like Facebook at the beginning - it was soooo exciting, and then you adjust, calm down and find a place for it in your life :)
Very great post on how to meditate. Thanks @eco-alex for sharing.
Thank you @eco-alex for making a transfer to me for an upvote of 27.50% on this post! Half of your bid goes to @budgets which funds growth projects for Steem like our top 25 posts on Steem! The other half helps holders of Steem power earn about 60% APR on a delegation to me! For help, will you please visit https://jerrybanfield.com/contact/ because I check my discord server daily? To learn more about Steem, will you please use http://steem.guide/ because this URL forwards to my most recently updated complete Steem tutorial?
One day i want to get to the level of helping people with my own funds,changing peoples life too big ups to you guys
good information..
Great post. Thank you💛
Good post
Meditation is useful for life but difficult to do. Great challenge.
u may find its easier than u think! try the method described in this post! you can't do it wrong!
Thanks @eco-alex. It's one of the method. I think.
Your post is Physical exercise .and good informative post.so thanks for sharing this post. Upvote and resteem done @eco-alex
I would like this challenge to succeed, but I doubt it. If one being start to meditate because of this post, it will be success in my opinion. Unfortunaly most of people are under constant influence of mind. To be specific about meditation, they are under influence of minds inner unease.
let's see! i agree if just ONE person meditates as a result of this post it will be a success,, but who knows many many people will try it!
You did your thing, invited people from your heart. Can't do more then that! Thanks! :)
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by eco-alex from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
super stoked at the alignment of this with the 40 day practice we started yesterday! thanks Universe ! and #ecotrain ;) <3
Meditation helped me find myself ;)
i understand! that is a real goal of it ;+__
Indeed. I am super grateful I got inspired a good few years ago by this guy on youtube (can't remember his name). He convinced me by saying most CEO's/Celebrities do it and I figured there must be something to it. Never did I know it will work out to such an amazing experience.
yes,, its one of those greatly unreported an misunderstood things.. it IS starting to bec considered less wacky then even a year ago, and initiatives like this might help a bit too!
I love it going mainstreem - it is innevitable with the collective consciousness expanding at such a rate now! :)