28-Day Meditation Challenge! Join Me?

New Year's blessings to you! And blessings upon this new adventure I'm launching here.

Two years ago, the Buddhist magazine, Tricycle, launched a 28-day campaign they titled "The Big Sit."

When I learned about it, I thought to myself, What a fabulous idea! One full month of meditating, once each day. I imagined people all over the world meditating together in this way and knew this could be very cool.

But did I do it? Nooooooo... I tried, and I let the practice fall away. I still meditate, but not everyday. It seems there are always excuses to keep me from doing what's good for me.

This year feels different. I have a blog. I have you. We have each other. And I'd like to try it again. This year with all of YOU. What do you think?

After I penned my last post (scroll down to read), during one of those 5:00 a.m. Muse whooshes, the idea came that with your help, and the help of other experienced meditators, I could break through my issue of "Meditation Abandonment." I got very excited just thinking about it. So here's my plan:

Here, at Awake is Good, for 28 days (beginning January 3, cutting us some slack to get through the holidays) we'll have our own version of  "Commit to Sit." Though—and this is the fun part—we won't just be sitting. We'll be exploring meditation in all its many forms, from many different spiritual traditions. No chance at boredom here!

And, after 21 days, we will (hopefully) have created a new habit. For that is exactly what it takes to undo old ways of being and launch effective, new ones—3 weeks, 21 days. (That leaves 7 days to bask in the glory...)

I'm staging a free e-course here, if you will, for how to meditate AND how to keep on meditating when you feel frustrated, or feel like quitting and running away to a far off country where they've never heard of meditation (though I don't think there is one).

And guess what? I won't be the only one sharing/teaching. I'll be calling upon other bloggers who have successful meditation practices to help us along. I'll take your questions and issues to some of the experts—yes, real meditation experts and teachers from a variety of traditions—and get the answers for what ails you.

I'll log my daily progress (what kind of meditation I did that day, roadblocks, breakthroughs, awarenesses, etc.) and will invite you to do the same. For the next 30 days, this blog will become a sangha so that we can support one another as we journey inward.

Part way through the month, I'll host a (free) teleconference where we can all chat about our experiences so far. We'll hear others' voices for the first time. It will be like a blogging reunion! (I'll make sure the call is recorded and posted as a podcast for those of you who can't be present live.)

And guess what else? There may be a surprise guest or two, book giveaways, and, if I manage my time well, and learn the technology, a podcast of a guided meditations offered by moi.

Does this vow/course sound as wonderful to you as it does to me? I hope so because I really need to do this for me, with you as my witness (shades of Scarlett O'Hara here) and if you desire, as my new meditation pals (dharma buddies).


For in the new year, I really do want to get to know myself better, be happier, more peace-filled, and when I take time for meditation I am. I am also more calm, clear, and wise, and who doesn't want more of that?

To get us started and pointed in the right direction, here are some recent thoughts about meditation from a dear blog friend Laura at Shine the Divine.

Jan,
I love how in this vow you have taken you have completely opened to compassion by allowing for variety. This is how I operate too. Often the recommendation in meditation is to stick to one set ritual practice...Like you I prefer a broader approach. As long as there is a daily practice, it doesn't matter what it is. We are omnivorous creatures...we derive nutrients from many forms of sustenance...so it follows (at least for me) that our spiritual health is best cared for by listening to the little voice inside that says "today chanting is what I need...in this moment my breath will be my teacher...this morning awareness of my shifting emotions will offer me greater self acceptance...for the next 20 minutes walking with attentiveness will guide me in being more present"...and so on. This to me feels like it honors the shifting needs we all have, and still fits within the parameters of a vow to meditate.

I am honored to be witness to your vow.

Now that's what I'm talking about! Thank you, Laura. Words after my own heart. They express my hopes for this meditation challenge that we will do so with compassion and self-acceptance—and creativity. 

So, dear bloggie friends. What think ye? Are you willing to join me now? 

Remember, each of us will be doing this 28-Day Meditation Challenge in the privacy of our homes. No obligation to comment here, only if you want to. If during the course of the month, you'd like to connect with me privately, please do. Just visit my website: awakenedliving.com, and send me a note via the Contact Box. 

I'll sign off today with a thought on meditation by Alan Watts. 

“We could say that meditation doesn't have a reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don't do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.” 

As always, I welcome your thoughts ...

(Again, to join the Challenge, just leave a comment here and I will add your name to the Roster. Or, send me a private e-mail through the Contact Box at my website: www.awakenedliving.com. I will confirm your participation here in the comments or via e-mail.)





(Meditation images courtesy of www.barbaradesign.net and www.eyes.closed.org)