My personal meditation challenge

Meditation has many physical and mental health benefits. It is something that really appeals to me and yet I have never learnt how to meditate.

I think this is because I have some preconceived ideas about what meditation is and how it works.

Notions that are not based on reality.

So, it’s time to rethink meditation, get over myself and start reaping the rewards.

[I was intending to post the second blog about using SWOT analysis. However, having covered MOST yesterday I thought this would be too much. It will now be published next week. Sorry for the delay.]

Now back to ….

Sister’s Meditation in Thailand

I think part of my challenge with meditation is due to an experience that my sister had while travelling in Thailand. When ever I think of meditating it makes me smile as I remember my sister’s story. Worst than that, it makes me giggle.

My short video explains what I find so funny and I also explore one of my biggest challenges regarding meditation.

As part of my preparation for meditation I have been using a deep relaxation audio every night. This is amazing and really helps me to sleep. It’s helping me to calm my mind and relax my body. I’ve been doing this for about 10 months now. I still struggle with thoughts muscling in occasionally when I’m in full creative-mode. Yet the majority of the time I can ignore the thoughts and let them go.

The audio I listen to is a small section of the webinar that Russell Treasure hosted as part of last year’s We Are Worthy Summit. You can watch the whole of that webinar here. There are also some free videos on Russell’s website which you can access here.

“The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is 
peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will 
experience true happiness. But if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it 
very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions.” 
Kelsang Gyatso

I know that meditating will help me in so many different ways. It can help lower my blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety and ….

To learn more about the benefits of meditation click here.

My personal meditation challenge

So, it’s time to take this to the next stage.

We’re almost at the end of February and have March stretching away ahead of me. 31 days in which I can give meditation a good test. If I like what I’m experiencing I can do another 30 days during April and see what happens.

Because I am setting myself a challenge to meditate every day, I decided to search for some guided meditation videos on YouTube. What I discovered is that the voice of the person recording the video is very important. The content can be brilliant: however, if their voice grates in some way then it is not relaxing.

I spent a couple of hours dipping in and out of different recordings until I came across this one by The Mindful Movement. This is a 20-minute guided meditation on reducing anxiety and stress. It’s about clearing the clutter to calm down. Absolutely perfect for my needs. I’ve subscribed to the YouTube Channel so I can explore some of the other guided meditations that they focus on.

At the end of March, I will let you know how I have found my meditation challenge. Hopefully meditation will become a major element of looking after myself whilst I am Creating A New, Beautiful And Courageous Existence.

“Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is 
very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work.” 
Thich Nhat Hanh

Practice makes perfect

It’s all well and good writing about things in theory: however, we need to start applying what we learn. If you already meditate, consider meditating with gratitude for the benefits that you get from this form of self-care. If you are like me and a novice, make a pact with yourself that you are going to give meditation a try. Visit The Mindful Movement channel on YouTube or search for a video/recording that resonates with you.

To help you keep track of all your work for the daily activities mentioned, we have created a Monthly Diary for you to record your progress. To download your copy of “My February Canbace Diary” please click here.

Be kind to yourself …

In CANBACE friendship!

 

If anything I have written resonates I’d love to hear from you in the comments. I appreciate that this can be a difficult subject to speak openly about. If you don’t want me to publish your comment on the website, please let me know. I will keep your words private.