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It’s day 31 of the 31 Days of Mindfulness Challenge and today’s task is to meditate.
Day 31: Meditate
“The habit of spending nearly every waking moment lost in thought leaves us at the mercy of whatever our thoughts happen to be. Meditation is a way of breaking this spell.”
— Sam Harris
It’s the last day of the mindfulness challenge – the last day in January… already! My hope is that you took something away from these 31 days, whether it’s less overwhelm as you say hello to 2019 or tools in your back pocket to quiet your mind and live in the present moment, or a better understanding of the importance of living a mindful life.
I want to wrap up this challenge with my favorite ‘tool’ for bringing awareness and mindfulness back into my life: meditation. When my mind starts to wander, when I can’t get to sleep at night because I’m racing through my to do list, when the overwhelm starts to creep up, the first check in I do with myself is mentally count back to the last time I meditated. Usually it’s a few days or weeks and I know, it’s time to work it back into my daily routine.
A few months ago I wrote a post on getting into meditation and explained why and how to get started.
I also rounded up some great resources for getting started and I’ll share those again (affiliate links are used for your convenience, at not additional cost to you):
10% Happier by Dan Harris. This book was my informal introduction to meditation. It’s an easy read and understanding the benefits from a naturally skeptical person helped put the idea of working meditation into my daily life approachable and attainable. I cannot recommend this one enough if you’re just getting started.
10% Happier App (click here for Android \ click here for Apple). At the end of the book, the author Dan Harris mentions an app that he developed with guided meditations. They range in time from three minutes (totally doable for a beginner!) to 30+ minutes. They’re guided which means someone is talking you through the process and there are tons of free ones available to everyone (along with a paid upgrade that allows you access to more options.)
Calm. This is another app for meditations. I haven’t used it myself but several friends have recommended it, with nothing but good things to say!
Real Happiness: The Power of Mediation by Sharon Salzberg. I haven’t read this one but I’ve done several of the guided meditations given by Sharon on the 10% Happier app. She is a big deal in the meditation world and knows her stuff. If you’re looking for a more structured start, this would be a good one to pick up.
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris. This is the follow up to his 10% Happier book. It dives deeper into the how-to of meditation.
If you’re joining in, let us know how your meditation practice went and what you thought of this 31 day challenge in the comments!
All our best,
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Miss a day? Catch them all here:
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