Hi guys! A bit of a different post today… and as the title suggests, this is not your typical mediation post. (At least I don’t think it is?) As part of my 40 day sugar-detox/full body refresh I am supposed to do 15 minutes (minimum) of mediation each day. Without going in depth here, I think it’s important to have a little bit of background. The challenge that I’m currently partaking in is point based, so if you do well you get points and if you don’t do certain things then you don’t get points. Simple! When I read through the packet on the first day of the challenge I thought, meditating for 15 min each day? Well, that’s an easy point! Let me tell you something: I. Was. Wrong.

Gosh, I know little to nothing about meditation in the scheme of things. I know that mediation is good for you, I know that if done well it can be really good for you, and now I know that it’s not as easy as you’d think it is! Actually, the mediation part isn’t even the hardest part about meditating, so what is it then? For me it’s finding the time.

I can have a pretty busy schedule on some days, but in no way shape or form do I claim to be a monumentally busy person. I have 15 minutes to spare each day for meditating, easily. Heck, I could have an hour set aside for meditating if I really had the discipline. But you know what? Life gets in the way. Why is it that it’s so easy to choose the less beneficial alternative when paired up against mediation? For me if I can nap for 15 minutes or mediate, I really have the urge to nap! If I can watch TV for 15 minutes (which is a stupid short amount of time, I mean, who watches TV for 15 min?) or if I can mediate, well, I’d choose the TV!

Mediating to me seems like 99% deciding to do it and then the other 1% is carrying it out. This week has been a struggle for me, and getting my extra point each day for meditating isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I’m so thankful that my friend Emily (hi Emily!) suggested that I try an app called Smiling Minds, this was probably a few months ago before I ever knew I’d be doing this challenge. I definitely downloaded the app a month or so ago, when Emily first recommended it, but never opened it. Again, who does that?! I made the conscious choice to download something onto my phone and then just ignored it, pushed it out of my mind, forgot about it for months until it became relevant again. Obviously I need to make some changes!

I don’t have experience with other meditation apps, but I like the voice on Smiling Minds (an Australian man) and that is a huge factor into whether the experience is relaxing/enjoyable. I’m more than a few mediation series through the app and have gotten a good feel for the way they work. The app is free, so check it out, what do you have to lose? I’m enjoying my journey so far, keeping my mind focused on my breathing is so difficult, but I’m working on it!

This challenge has been so much more of a learning experience for me than I thought it would be! Moral of the story here is, I need to be willing to invest time in myself in ways that can potentially help me. I’m able to commit to working out each day and in my mind that’s a given, just like I’ll remember to drink water throughout the day. But mediation on the other hand, before I think I can be successful in any way shape or form, I think I need to change my mind set towards the act of doing mediation itself.

Do you meditate? Any suggestions for me/helpful tips? If you try the Smiling Minds app, let me know what you think!