During the month of February, challenge yourself to participate in MMC’s 28-day meditation program. It’s simple: Commit to meditating each day and connect online to share experiences – pleasant, difficult or otherwise. We will follow the meditation program outlined in Sharon Salzberg’s book, “Real Happiness.” This blog will be your guide, including links to helpful Web sites and guided meditations. Meditation can help with overall wellness, pain, stress, anxiety, sleep and concentration. This is your opportunity to start a new practice to enhance your wellbeing or to continue your practice in the company of your fellow Griffins.

Sign up with the form below and to the right and check back here often.


Friday, January 31, 2014

Welcome to the Real Happiness Challenge 2014!


Welcome to the Real Happiness Challenge 2014!

The 28-day meditation challenge starts tomorrow, Feb. 1. You are welcome to sign up and begin commenting. The blogs and comments are an opportunity for the MMC community to become a community of meditators, sharing our experiences and supporting each other’s efforts.

The basic structure of the challenge comes from Sharon Salzberg’s book, “Real Happiness” a user-friendly, day-by-day guide to developing a mindfulness practice. If you choose to purchase the book, it’s easy to find and contains a CD of guided meditations. But you can participate in the Challenge by simply following along here.

The more you practice and contribute to the discussion, the more you’ll get out of the program. A core principle of mindfulness meditation is non-judgment. So don’t judge yourself, just do what you can!

What is Meditation?

As Salzberg puts it, meditation is training out attention so we can be more aware of both our own inner workings and what’s happening around us in the here and now. Once we are able to see clearly what is going on in each moment, we are freer to choose our actions and responses.

During the Real Happiness Challenge, we will strengthen our moment-to-moment awareness by honing three skills: concentration, mindfulness and compassion or lovingkindness.

Why Meditate?

Meditation helps with developing a greater sense of calm, improving concentration and a greater sense of connection to others.

It also helps you gain greater awareness of some automatic assumptions you make about yourself and the way the world works that may interfere with your own happiness.
Check back here tomorrow for brief meditation instructions and to begin to hone your skill of concentration.

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