Day 13
Take me back to the lesson for Day 12
Here's your suggested reading from Bliss More:
Start reading Chapter 7 (Chapter 11 in the audiobook) up through The Discovery of the White Coat Phenomenon (7 mins)
What the studies say
In 2007, Time Magazine featured an article about a study that was conducted involving three groups of non-musicians playing the piano.
Group 1 was shown a five-fingered piano exercise. They practiced it for two hours a day over five days. By day five, all of their brains developed interneuronal connections for playing the piano.
Group 2 was shown the same exercise, but they were instructed only to imagine themselves playing the scale for two hours a day, over five days. By day five, their brains developed the same interneuronal connections as the first group, simply by using their imagination!
Group 3 was brought in and instructed to play whatever they wanted for two hours a day over five days. Their brains showed no significant changes after the fifth day.
There's value in practicing the same thing every day
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
— Bruce Lee
Today's Challenge:
Begin to systemize your approach as much as possible, as though you were conducting a scientific experiment to see if meditating in the E.A.S.Y. approach works as stated.
Commit to practicing in the same way and as close to the same time, and for the same length every day for the next 90 days. Obviously, you may get derailed from time to time, but at least you have your plan A in place. After your 20-minute practice today, put a meditation alert in your calendar that repeats everyday, reminding you to sit for your meditation at the designated time.
Assessment
Have you settled on a time that works best for you? 15 or 20 minutes? A place that works well? Your bedroom, car or living room. Start finding your go-to places so you can cut down the ambiguity and guesswork that ultimately leads to sloppy behavior and skipping meditations. The hardest part of meditating is making the time. And once you sit down, everything should be E.A.S.Y.
Accountability Exercise
Post an image that represents your plan A, which is your go-to place and go-to time for meditation. And as always, take an extra minute to "like" some of the other posts under the #blissmorechallenge hashtag and "like" or encourage a few others. Make sure to tag #blissmore and #blissmorechallenge on your post.
Sample accountability post
I'm on day 13 of my 21-day Bliss More meditation challenge and this has become one of my go-to spots for daily meditation first thing in the morning after walking my dog Peewee—the bench next to my bedroom window. #warpspeed #blissmore #blissmorechallenge
Wanna get a head start on tomorrow's reading?
Read the rest of Chapter 7 (Chapter 11 in the audiobook) (7 mins)
(Follow #blissmore to see everyone’s progress)