How to Make a Commitment to Meditation through Sit365

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An Ambitious Personal Goal to Meditate Every Day in 2013

I am beginning an ambitious project on January 1, 2013.  I plan to meditate for at least 30 minutes a day each day of 2013 and blog about my experience here.  I also plan to include more articles here about the impact of online support groups and some related giveaways.  My friend Juan Manuel aka @NonEgoetLinguae named this project Sit365, and those participating will be writing about it on Twitter with the hashtag #365.  I've meditated several days a week for the past six years, and have found great friends and support through #OmCru, but I've never made such a big commitment as to meditate each day for an entire year.  I think that completing this project will have a profound impact on my life by making me happier, less angry, less anxious, and I hope that I will experience increased health and vitality.

Why Participate in Sit365, and Why Even Meditate at All?

A study published in November 2012 by the National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine (NCAAM), a division of the National Institute of Health (NIH), shows that beneficial brain changes from meditation persist, even when a person is not meditating.  Participants who studied compassion based meditation showed decreased depression scores, even though participants had no prior meditation experience.  Although more studies are needed, the preliminary indication is that meditation benefits include the ability to regulate mood, banish depression and be happier.  If study participants achieved these great results after just 8 weeks, imagine what we can do in a year.  Not only do we have the potential to improve our own lives, but through awareness and compassion we can try to improve others' lives too.

How to Participate in Sit365

• Anyone, whether new to meditation or experienced, can participate in Sit365.  This project is religionless and borderless.  I will be starting on January 1, 2013, but feel free to start when you're ready.  All you have to do is meditate a little each day for one year.
• I plan to meditate at 10:00 PM Eastern as much as I can, but feel free to squeeze in your meditation whenever you have time.  I have a feeling that my actual start time may vary.
• I will be blogging about my experience here on Buddhatropolis and tweeting @Lolastories.  If you want to tweet about your progress, please use the hashtag #365.  You may want to comment on this post with a link to your blog, so that others can read your updates.
• The idea is that many people will be embarking on this big commitment at the same time.  We'll share stories and support each other with the hope that we will all come out of this experience having learned something and improved ourselves and our world.
• I plan to eventually post some YouTube Videos featuring guided meditations as well as videos about my experience.  At the end of it all I plan to publish a free ebook, so stay tuned.  Links to everything will be posted on this blog.

Do you have ideas about this project?  What have been your previous experiences with meditation?  Do you have any comments or suggestions?  Feel free to comment here.

Posted as part of Blue Monday.