You might've heard of the saying '21 days to create a habit, 90 days to create a lifestyle.' I had this idea floating around when I thought to myself, on March first, let's do a meditation challenge.
20 minutes of meditation a day, every day for the month of March. You can set your intention for what your focus is, and comment it down below! Whether you are meditating for mental health reasons, or to de-stress, whatever your motivation, you are welcome here.
I started my first month-long meditation challenge a few months ago, sharing it on Twitter, and some other social media. I remember feeling so happy and excited, knowing my friends and family, and strangers across the world were all meditating, together in our hearts and spirits.
It feels so much more meaningful now, that we have a safe place here at blue-wellness.com
to share and connect, and expand upon our individual experiences with this meditation challenge.
Below you will find a record of my meditations throughout this month. I believe that this may help or inspire you to switch things up or try something new in your meditation practice. This is also a great way for me to hold myself accountable, and I will have a record of my progress and evolution to look back on.
Abby's March Meditation Log
March 1: 20+ minutes of meditation, spent dancing to my favorite songs. I focused on simply feeling joyful. I moved freely with the music and was singing my heart out. It didn't matter what I was doing or what it looked like, I just moved as the music moved through me. It was freeing, fun, and relaxing! I wasn't even listening to meditation music, just songs that make ME feel happy and feel good. Some of the songs that I listened to were Cruise by Zach Beaver, and Sagittarius by Trevor Hall.
March 2: 20 minutes Metta Meditation, heart-focused meditation. Metta originates from Buddhism, specifically it is one of the four virtues. Metta translates to "loving" and "friendliness," among other meanings. When you engage in metta meditation, you are focused on love.
March 3: 20 or so minutes bedtime meditation. This day didn't go exactly how I'd planned. I had envisioned that I would listen to some affirmations by Leeor Alexandra, but it was a hectic day and I got sidetracked from that completely. I ended up doing my own meditation session, which included focused breathing, visualizations, and mantras.
One of my favorite visualization activities is to envision a waterfall. You can make it as detailed or simple as you want. Remain focused on the water, as if it is the only thing that exists. If a thought enters my mind, I imagine the thought drifting in the water, down the waterfall, away, and out of my mind. This makes it so easy to release self-judgment!! It takes the blame off of yourself and keeps your attention where it counts- the present moment.
March 4: 20 minutes grounding (walking) meditation. I walked along the shores of the rocky San Diego coast. I walked barefoot, grounding into Mother Earth and enjoying my rightful place as part of nature. My focus was on my feet. I envisioned kissing the Earth with every step that I took. I expressed gratitude and love to the Earth, for all that it provides.
March 5: 20 minutes of yoga and stretching before bed. Some of the poses that I did included pigeon pose, cat & cow, ragdoll pose, supine twist, savasana, child's pose, and Sun salutation.
March 6: 20 minute affirmation and subliminals recording. The video that I listened to is by Live the Life You Love on Youtube, available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvCb8jaQ9CM&t=9569s
At the beginning of the video, you can hear affirmations. The affirmations play for about 25 minutes, and then there's over 7 hours of meditation/white noise music that continues to play while you sleep. The affirmations continue as subliminals that work to rewire the subconscious brain.
March 7: over 30 minutes of affirmation videos. The first track that I listened to is by Leeor Alexandra, affirmations for self empowerment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFBu7xlRSEs&t=297s
Later in my day I listened to 'I Am Affirmations' by PowerThoughts Meditation Club, available on Spotify
here: https://open.spotify.com/album/32HwMvas3unyLt3e5Xa3au?si=YtxZvPUsTSKH6F5eD8fK5Q
March 8: 10 minutes of breathwork while soaking up the sunshine, followed by a 10 minute guided meditation. This meditation was for self-love and confidence, created by Marisa Peer. The guided meditation was recommended to me by my friend Brooke, @balancedmonday. It was absolutely lovely, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sSLAAIPEw0
March 9: 20+ minutes of meditation, sitting in the sunshine. I focused on the feeling of the ground beneath me, my breath, my heart, and the feeling of the warm sunshine. I could also hear lots of birds chirping and singing, and the wind rustling trees, while sitting cross-legged, with my back resting against the wall.
March 10: I have to preface this by saying that this has been one of my most spiritual meditation sessions this month. I was sitting on the beach, taking in all of the experience. The sound of the waves, the feeling of the damp soft sand, the wind, birds flying overhead, the salty sea air. It had finished raining a few hours earlier, so the air was crisper than usual, and the clouds were extra voluminous. It started raining little droplets, so I put my phone and headphones in my bag, and sat for a moment. As raindrops sprinkled lightly all around, I really leaned into it all. I listened to my intuition as I waited it out in the drizzling rain. I closed my eyes and leaned into the sensations in my body. I was feeling a deep release of energy all around my head, like my entire mind was being cleansed. The clouds parted, and the rain drops ceased. With my eyes still closed, the sunshine hit my face, and i imagined it coming in through the top of my head, and then the sunlight scanning over my entire body. The feelings of heart expanding joy and quiet bliss, gratitude and knowing, I cannot begin to describe in words. I sit on the other side of that moment now, and I just want to say as a word of advice to everyone reading this; don’t be afraid to visualize your own meditation. Your heart is so powerful in intuitively knowing how to heal. Lean into your own creative spark, and see how listening to your heart can free you.
March 11: 16 Minute Guided Meditation: https://youtu.be/n0xxDb1L-Jo This guided meditation was created by Marisa Peer, for inner peace. I would absolutely recommend this meditation to meditators of all experience levels. I like to spend an extended moment, both before and after my meditation, to consciously ease myself in and then out of meditation. It is so important to really milk this peace and quiet and get the most out of your efforts. Even if you take just 2 or 3 minutes to set your intention and get your meditation props ready. And then 2 or so minutes at the end, to check-in and see how the meditation went. This will help you in more ways than one. It makes it easier on your body and mind, it is a harsh transition to go from meditation to talking to someone, checking Instagram, or answering a call or email. Taking more time before and after will also help wire into your brain, all of the positive changes that are happening while you meditate. The neural pathways that are being rewritten, the decreased brain processing activities, the quietness of your mind... All of this and more happens when you meditate, so make the most of it.
March 12: 20 Minute Morning Yoga Flow, with Jessica Richburg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnrkkvx4d50 I took a moment before I began, to set my intention, and to breathe into the moment. I intended to have a grounding experience. This flow was the perfect medicine for my body this morning. I could feel my body releasing tension throughout the duration, and my body leaning, so lovingly, into the different poses. It was especially nice because I was doing it first thing in the morning, right after I woke up. It felt fulfilling to get such a well-rounded morning stretch in. It should be noted that some poses are more difficult, but just listen to your body as you go along, if you decide to try it out!