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28-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 29 and on

Submitted by Nancy Thompson on Wed, 2/29/2012, 11:12am
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My mindfulness didn't need to get better or be as good as somebody else's. It was already perfect; so is yours. Sharon Salzberg

 


The challenge was to sit, with intention, with effort, with the guidance of of everymeditator Sharon Salzberg. No one is more fully human than Sharon -- or more willing to share it.

"Mindfulness wasn't inaccessible or remote; it was always right there with me. ... My mindfulness didn't need to get better or be as good as somebody else's. It was already perfect; so is yours," she writes.

The challenge, always, for me, is to find the mindfulness before falling into a thought loop or reacting reflexively. To remember that my mindfulness is always perfect -- and so is yours, and deviations from that are moments of confusion. We can lift the veils and see the perfection.

That's why I meditate.

It's good to know the book is always there to come back to for a gentle reminder, a deeply felt teaching.

Meditation is never one thing; you'll experience moments of peace, moments of sadness, moments of anger, moments of joy, moments of sleepiness. The terrain changes constantly. -- Sharon Salzberg

Check out all The Interdependence Project Blog team posts for the 28-Day Meditation Challenge.




 

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Comments

Thank You

Submitted by Patrick Groneman on Wed, 2/29/2012, 3:29pm.

Nancy, et all, thank you for taking the challenge, and sharing your experience with the IDP community. It was great to follow a re-immersion in practice over the past month.

<3

taking the challenge

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2/29/2012, 12:00pm.

So I"m committing to a 30 day challenge. My birthday is on March 30th and I'm going to challenge myself to sit everyday till then. Plus I'm hopefully doing a meditation retreat in 3 weeks, and need practice practicing. so my question is do I need the book? and is there a list or a criteria of things to focus on?

you don't need the book

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2/29/2012, 1:02pm.

but it's a really good support.

Do you have a meditation practice now? Do you have particular techniques that you use? Sharon presents a lot. If you don't have experience or haven't worked with a teacher, it's a good option. Her instructions are clear. It also comes with a CD, so you can listen to guided meditation sometimes.

you also could look up Sharon Salzberg or other teacher on youtube -- Pema Chodron has a number of videos on how to meditate.

What you're committing to is to sit for a period of time each day. Pick an object of attention -- breath is good -- and pay attention to it. and when your attention wanders, notice that and come back. It's a practice of noticing where your attention is and training it to stay where you place it. Don't get upset if it wanders a lot. That happens. Just come back.

I love meditation retreats. I hope that works out for you.

Nancy

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