Challenge is from January 1st-31st 2021 - FREE to join in!
Have you been wanting to build a consistent home meditation practice? Or maybe you already have one and just want to practice with the community. We have created this month long meditation challenge to get more people to enjoy the power of this magical practice - no matter your experience level! Meditating a little bit every single day can make a huge difference in our lives and we want you to be able to experience those differences first hand! There is no better time than now to start a meditation practice - a new year (after what many would call a very stressful one) to start fresh with new intention. It can be easy to get caught up in all the movement of life while neglecting our own personal needs. If you're reading this now, you can MAKE time for a practice that can ultimately change your life. We can't wait to share it with you!
This challenge will be taking place on Facebook through our private Facebook group: Practice with Elevate (click link to join group). We have used this platform for prior challenges, and we are bringing it back! Okay, here's the part where we get you way out of your comfort zone. Each participant will post a Facebook LIVE video sitting for their practice every single day of this challenge. If you aren't familiar with Facebook live, it is a video that records while you are practicing to our group so we see when you start, the full practice, and when you finish. This part is important for us to ensure each person is meditating each day and for how long. It doesn’t have to be right on your face or in super bright lighting but we must at least be able to see that you are showing up for practice each day. Especially if you’re in it to win a prize (although the best prize is the meditation, of course)
MAKE A COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF
How to sign up & begin?
Once you join the group, all you need to do is make the commitment to yourself and share your live practice starting January 1st! We will keep track of everyone who posts their video each day.
What time of day? Try to commit to a specific time of day for practicing. Morning, afternoon or evening. We recommend first thing in the morning to jumpstart your day, but anytime you can practice consistently works just fine. When you don’t set a time, it can often feel harder to “squeeze it in” and can often lead to falling out of daily practice. It doesn’t have to be the same time every day, but if it can be, we highly recommend it!
For how long? Choose a length of time you'd like to practice each day. When choosing a time, pick a length that will challenge you yet inspire you to overcome. For beginners, we recommend 5-10 minutes daily. For those that have been practicing for a while, we recommend 15-20+ minutes daily.
We are asking you to commit to a specific time of day and length of time to hold you accountable in your practice. Consistency is key, and we want meditation to become a regular practice for you even after this challenge is over. Choose days and lengths of time that are reasonable & sustainable.
If you don't want to follow through with your exact day/time commitments, do what works best for you. It can also be easy to have days where you feel busy-minded and antsy to shorten your practice - we highly recommend that you sit for your original goal time to work through this hurdle. The busier your mind is, the more this practice is needed - don’t short change yourself.
We highly recommend using a meditation timer for your sessions. We use the App: Insight Timer but if you have another one you like, feel free to use that!
What if you miss a day?
Yes, we are challenging you to do 31 consecutive days of meditation, but ultimately, if you miss days here and there, we are still happy to see you continue to show back up for practice. Please do not let one day or a streak of days keep you from jumping back in. If you want to win a prize, you will have to complete all 31 days BUT if you are just looking to build more consistency in your practice, please just do what you can! How many days out of 31 are you able to commit to your meditation practice? Let’s see!
Posting with Facebook Live
Facebook live is just that... live in the moment. First, ensure you go to the group Practice with Elevate for your practice - you don’t want to end up posting this to your personal page (it has happened before) - although you may just inspire your friends and family to join in too! Make sure your video camera is facing you and that we can see you. Once you've completed your practice, you can end the video and BE SURE TO POST IT TO THE GROUP. We will check on videos each day to tally who has practiced. If you do not post it afterwards, it will not show up or be accounted for. We apologize if technology isn't your thing - we are giving you plenty of time to play with it or to reach out for help prior to the challenge.
You need an active Facebook account and ability to go LIVE from whatever device you are using to record your practice. If you use your phone to go LIVE, be sure that you are able to track your time or play music (if desired) from another device.
POINT SYSTEM
After each day, we will give points to each participant who shared & posted their practice with us via Facebook LIVE. You will be able to earn a total of 31 points for this challenge - 1 point each day and each practice must be completed before midnight to qualify.
You do not receive extra points for multiple practices in one day or cannot make up points for missed days.
WINNERS
If you are playing to win a prize, you must complete every single day to be able to participate in the raffle. If you do earn all 31 points, you will be thrown into our raffle for prizes. Only 3 winners will be chosen to receive a raffle prize - once again, the true winning is a daily meditation practice - gifts are just a bonus.
Once the challenge is completed on January 31st at 11:59pm, we will announce the raffle winners the following day! We have 3 prizes currently, and they’re all a surprise!
HOW DO I PRACTICE AT HOME?
Here are a few helpful reminders for building your practice at home:
Find a "quiet" place to sit (use ear plugs if that helps)
Find a comfortable seat (cushions to sit on, hips elevated, back support, knee support, sit in a chair or use anything else to help you feel more comfortable)
Play music or a guided meditation if you’d like (there are guided meditations on YouTube or if you’d like some from Kaycie, please reach out and we can help you out there)
Set a timer (Insight Timer App or any one of your choosing - they also keep track of your meditation streak)
Breathe (slow deep breaths in and out of the nose)
Don't forget to record live for the challenge