Meditation Challenge
Meditation Challenge
Right now, set a timer for 2-10 minutes, and meditate. Don’t tell me you don’t have time because you are clearly on social media.
Okay, challenge accepted. I don’t think I’ve formally meditated (outside of practicing with my patients) since the start of the pandemic. I originally started in 2020 for some pretty obvious reasons, but what’s less obvious is why I stopped. I honestly can’t remember—life probably just got in the way. Meditation is recommended so often these days because research shows it supports emotion regulation, reduces stress, improves sleep, increases self-awareness, and enhances concentration. I like this challenge because it holds me accountable to practice what I preach. I also remember that, in the past, once I established a meditation habit, it truly helped me relax.
Day 1: I fired up the Calm app. Tip you don’t have to buy the subscription to Calm to be able to use the meditations although there is a lot more content if you pay for the subscription. Even though I said that I remembered this practice being helpful before I kind of dreaded this. Dedicating time, mental, and emotional energy is not easy. For day 1 I chose a 2 minute meditation titled “Slow the Swirl in your Mind”. I actually really liked this one. It combined breathing with some movement which I actually find to be really helpful in settling down my thoughts. Maybe day 2 I’ll choose one that is a bit longer.
Day 2: I spent too much time looking for (procrastinating?) a good meditation. Honestly though I wanted to find a good meditation for kids and I should have just gone to one of my go-tos that I practice with kids but I wanted to try a new one. So back to the Calm app for a 3 minute meditation called “calming anxiety”. I definitely felt calmer after this one. I did notice that for me the first one was better. I think it was the combination of movement and breathing. This one also had some long pauses. That may be great for some people but for me that’s when I notice my thoughts start to drift.
Day 3: Note I thought I would have more time to do this over the weekend but I failed. Instead of beating myself up I’m just moving on and so this week long challenge is going to be a bit longer. I looked through some of the apps I have saved for work and realized a bunch of them no longer work. I did go on the app, Happier, and did a 5 minute meditation called “the present moment”. I felt calmer and more focused after this meditation. I also felt accomplished as this one was longer! However there were some long pauses that, like on day 2, were not my favorite.
Day 4: Ok, I found a kid friendly meditation that isn’t one of my go to’s with kids. I kind of cheated because I went on go noodle, which is an app I’m super familiar with. There are a lot of good kid friendly meditations in the “flow” section and also kid friendly breathing strategies. A lot of schools use gonoodle for “brain breaks”. They had a new meditation “reach for the moon” so I tried this one out. I think this one could be good for a lot of children. It combines breathing, movement, visualization, and setting an intention for the day. For me, I don’t love visualization - I have a brain that makes visualization hard but the rest of the components worked for me even though they were kid focused.
Day 5: Back to the calm app I did a 2 minute meditation called catch your breath. I didn’t have too much time in my day today so I liked that this was short. Since today was busy it was nice to take those 2 minutes to just focus on my breathing. I felt more relaxed after.
Day 6: I wanted to do another kid friendly meditation so I looked into the ninja focus app. This app has a free 7 day trial but it looks like you do have to pay after the 7 days are up. I choose a 5 minute meditation called “peace lenses”. I think this one is good for kids as long as they can pay attention for 5 minutes. There was a breathing, visualization, and body awareness component to this. While this was more for kids I did feel more relaxed afterwards.
Day 7: Back to the calm app. I did a 2 minute meditation called “balanced and present”. This was a nice mindfulness meditation that focused on breathing and being in the present moment. It kind of feels like cheating (but it’s not, it’s a tool) to use an app for mindfulness but I find it helpful to have a guided meditation to focus me on the present moment rather than relying on myself to guide my thoughts back. If you’ve ever tried mindfulness meditation and gave up because you couldn’t stay present this is actually super normal and gets easier the more you practice it. The guided meditations can help with this.
Closing Thoughts
I’m glad I did this challenge. It is so hard to get into a meditation practice but every time I did it I felt more grounded and relaxed. I’m hopeful that I’ll keep this up at least a few times a week
Ready to Start Your Own Meditation Challenge?
If you’ve been thinking about trying meditation (or getting back into it), consider this your sign! Start small—just 2 minutes today—and see how you feel. Whether you use an app, a guided meditation, or simply focus on your breath, the key is consistency.
Ready to start therapy?
Feel free to call me at (216) 245-2421 for a free 15-minute phone consultation. I’d be happy to hear about what is happening and if I’m not the best fit I’m happy to point you in the right direction!