28-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 1

In conjunction with her book "Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation," Sharon Salzberg is hosting a 28-day meditation challenge -- which is just what it sounds like, a challenge to meditate every day for 28 days. The theory is that you'll develop the meditation habit, notice some benefit, get support, and receive benefits. She outlines the benefits in the book, which is wise and readable and warm.

You can follow for the challenge here:
http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/realhappiness

A number of IDP bloggers will be taking the challenge and blogging on the Real Happiness blog and the IDP blog. Tune in daily to see how we do.

Yes, I am among the bloggers, even though I have a daily meditation practice already. Why would I do this?

Like anything we do over time, meditation can get to be a habit, done without much thought. My practice could use a little freshening up. Just because your posture improves and it gets easier to sit without moving doesn't mean that the quality of the meditation is also improving. You can slack off and still look like you're meditating -- or even believe that you are.

So the challenge for me is not just to sit but to sit with intention, with discipline, and vigor. To shake off the here-comes-a-regular quality.

We're all newcomers to the present moment.

"We miss a great deal because our attention is distracted or because we're so sure that we know what's going on that we don't even look for new, important information." Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness.

Today's Day 1. Who knows what we'll find?