The Mindful Challenge - Week Two

Hello, Mindful Friends! For week two of our Mindful Challenge we are moving onto The Meditation Challenge. If you follow our work, chances are you know how important meditation is, but are you actually practicing every day? In today's super busy world it can take a lot of effort to set aside time just to practice being still... time to focus on our breathing with our eyes closed and really go inwards. So, this week, we challenge you to commit to setting time aside every single day this week. You can chose the number of minutes, but the important thing is to start to make it a daily habit. If you are a novice, perhaps you want to start with 5 minutes and move up in 5 minute increments. If you have been meditating daily for years, perhaps you want to meditate twice a day this week. Or maybe you try a new way of mediating, such as walking meditation in the woods. Do whatever works for you, but give yourself a little push out of your normal routine and see how it feels after a full week. You may just want to continue with your new habit. We are really looking forward to this! Last week, our first challenge was a bit of a struggle but we did it! And the fact that it took a lot of effort to do just showed us how important it is to intentionally unplug and be present. Were you able to do the 24 hour Digital Detox? (If you missed the first week of our Mindful Challenge you can learn more on our blog here.)

As you heard last week, we are fundraising and meditating for mental health. These weekly challenges that we are doing are leading up to the big Mindfulness Challenge 2016: A Compassionate World meditate-a-thon that we are participating in. We are Community Partners in this event which is presented by the wonderful Centre for Mindfulness Studies. The goal of this event is to raise money to continue running programs that use mindfulness-based therapy to help those who are marginalized and disadvantaged gain the skills to help treat acute depression, anxiety, addictions, and other mental health problems. For every $75 raised one of our community members can receive access to an 8-week mindfulness program. Pretty amazing. Please join us in supporting this wonderful cause. More information can be found here: Mindfulness Challenge 2016: A Compassionate World

For our Meditation Challenge this week, if you are having a hard time staying focused, the easiest thing to do is focus on your breath. It will bring you inward and help to still your mind. Many people also find the use of a mala to help. We do have several malas available online, from simple wrist malas to full malas with wood beads or gemstone malas with a tremendous amount of energy flowing through them. For more information on our malas please visit our website www.mindfulnecessities.com We would love to hear how these challenges are going for you. Please share the journey with us either on Facebook or Twitter so we can all enjoy the experience together.