The Daily Meditation Challenge!

(ॐ) Welcome to the Daily Meditation Challenge! (ॐ)

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"Urges are often accompanied with sexual imagery. Getting caught up in that sexual imagery, i.e. fantasizing, gives the urges power and makes them much stronger. But if you can prevent yourself from paying attention to that sexual imagery, people report that the urge often dissolves in a matter of seconds. [..] You can use a quick meditation technique to combat urges. [..] Meditation and mindfulness may take some practice before you can successfully employ them against urges, especially if you are new to the techniques. But they are usually well worth the effort you put into them. Not only are they some of the most successful urge-killers, they have an added benefit of reducing stress and anxiety - two commonly reported symptoms of porn addiction AND two common emotional triggers."

—NoFap Getting Started guide (page 22) ​

(ॐ) Why you should meditate? (ॐ)
There are many benefits of meditation:

1. Meditation exercise literary makes the brain grow bigger and become thicker, particularly the frontal lobe, which is responsible for self control and will power, which obviously is very useful for people who try to reboot from PMO.​
2. Meditation trains concentration, which makes you more productive at work/school.​
3. Meditation trains mindfulness, which lets you become aware of the urges before they trigger you, this trains you to not respond to them. ​
4. Meditation can be a great way how to connect with God/universe/higher self/Buddha nature or whatever force you believe in.​
5. Meditation alleviates anxiety and depression, as well as helps with management of other challenges such as OCD, ADHD, SAD, BPD, etc. And the list goes on!​
6. Meditation helps to understand how your mind works, and knowledge is power.​

(ॐ) The challenge rules. (ॐ)

To join the Daily Meditation Challenge:​

1. Pick an amount of days for how long you want to commit to the daily meditation. Or if you don't want to commit to a specific number of days you don't have to, you can just join and see how long you can go, maybe you already know that you want to make this a lifelong habit. But for most people it is nice to have a clearly defined goal for that extra motivation, especially when you are just starting! It could be 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 365 days or any other number of days you choose, it's up to you. After you accomplish that goal you can then pick the next goal, or just keep going.
2. Pick a duration for your daily meditation sessions. My recommended length of time is 10 minutes a day, because it strikes the perfect balance between maximizing the brain health benefits and minimizing time investment, but it can be more or less than that, depending from your personal goals (according to the research 3 minutes a day is minimum duration to start getting benefits). Don't worry, you can change this goal at any time you need to without it effecting your daily streak. If you want to you can also spread the total daily meditation time over multiple sessions during that day. For example, if you goal is to meditate for 20 minutes a day, you could split it in two sessions, 10 minutes at the morning and 10 minutes at the evening. Etc.
3. Pick a meditation method. It's not uncommon for mediators to practice multiple meditation methods at once, all though for beginners it's recommended to stick to one method at a time for the best results. But that does not mean that you can not experiment with different methods to see what suits you the best, you can always switch to a different method at any time without it effecting your daily streak.
4. Make a commitment by replying to this threat and letting us know that you are in! If you want you can also post the amount of days you have committed to meditate for, if applicable, as well as your daily meditation duration goal.
   
5. Meditate daily at least for the amount of days you have committed to, and for the amount of minutes you have committed to meditate every day (not applicable to unranked meditators, who can skip days if they want to)! Once you reach your goal you can adjust it to a higher one and keep going!

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To stay and rank up in the Daily Meditation Challenge:
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1. Post regular check-ins in this thread, preferably every day, but at least as often as you can. It's not a big deal if you do not check in for a while, but even if you do not check in daily, you should still be meditating daily if you want to level up your daily meditation rank (if you don't care about ranking up in the challenge, then you don't have to meditate daily, you can still meditate every other day or couple times a week and post in this thread, you just won't be qualified for unlocking daily meditation ranks, since they require a successive streak—if this is you then you can enter in the challenge as one of the unranked meditators).
2. Once ranks are earned they do not reset, unless you do not meditate for one whole month straight! In other words, if you reset your streak, you do not have to reset your rank, as long as you do not take more than one month break from meditation. But your previous day streak will not count towards the new rank you are working towards of unlocking, obviously, because it is no longer successive. For example, if you meditated for 7 days in a row and unlocked the Beginner Meditator rank, but then skipped a successive day at day 8, and therefore reset your streak back to zero, then you can still keep the Beginner Meditator rank, but you will have to start counting from day zero to unlock the next Pre–Intermediate Meditator rank, etc.
   
3. If you do not meditate for a whole month, you lose the rank you have earned and have to reset back to the lowest rank, the Wannabe Meditator rank. Then you have to start again building up to higher ranks from the beginning. This does not mean that you have to check in at least once a month—as long as you do not take more than one month break from meditation, you do not have to start again from the lowest rank, even if you were not able to check in here for more than a month.
   
4. If you skip a successive day then reset your day count (not your rank) to zero and start over again from day one. You can still keep your existing rank (as long as you have not taken more than a month break from meditating), but your previous day streak will not count towards the new rank, because it's no more successive. Sorry but this is daily meditation challenge, which means that for the streak to continue it needs to be successive, to unlock new ranks. If you feel you are not able to stick to meditating daily I would recommend decreasing the length of meditation time so you don't burn out, for example maybe do only 15 minutes a day instead of 30 minutes a day, until you get used to it, etc. Or if you feel like you have no time to meditate then switch to meditation method that you can do while multitasking, such as mindfully brushing your teeth or washing dishes while being fully present in the moment. Don't worry though, like I said, if you forgot to meditate one day and had to reset, you don't lose the rank you have honestly build up over time (as long as you do not take more than a month break from meditating that is), or the brain training progress you have made; the point of this challenge is to build a long term healthy habit for the brain!
   
5. Once you reach high enough daily mediation streak you unlock a new rank. And once you have unlocked the rank you have to keep meditating every day to unlock the next rank (not applicable for the unranked meditators), until you reach the next rank; if you skip a day you lose the streak and have to start your streak again from day zero (there is no excuse not to meditate daily, since you can meditate while washing dishes or taking a shower, you don't have to sit still, you just have to be mindful and present)!
6. Your daily meditation streak is not tied to your nofap streak; this challenge is just purely about the daily meditation streak, if you relapse to PMO that's a separate thing and you don't have to reset here because of it. That is as long as you still kept meditating daily of course, but if PMO made you to stop meditating then you have to reset.

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You can also:​

1. Add the link to this challenge to your signature. Simply copy, "(ॐ) Type here your current rank ► The Daily Meditation Challenge. (ॐ)" and paste it in here (link).
2. You can journal in this challenge about your experience. Talk how today's meditation session went, were you focused, bored, happy? Was your mind distracted or calm? What did you feel before and afterwards? Etc.​
3. You can discuss with other mediators. Share knowledge, encouragement, motivation or inspiration, your struggles and thoughts, ask questions, etc. ​
4. You can encourage and motivate others by posting in this thread inspiring and motivational meditation quotes, GIFs, memes, etc. Just make sure they are meditation or mindfulness related and positive.
5. You don't have to meditate daily if you don't want to. Maybe you want to meditate for example only every other day, or couple times a week only, that's fine. Or maybe you want to meditate daily but just don't want to count the days, that is also ok. You can still post in this thread like everybody else, but you just won't be qualified to unlock any of the higher ranks, because they require a streak of daily meditation. In that case you can enter the challenge as an unranked meditator and pick one of the unranked titles below.​

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(ॐ) Meditation Methods. (ॐ)

There are many meditation methods available, so for those who are new to this it might be confusing to decide which meditation method is the best. That's why I will share some links to meditation videos here for you to choose from. If you already have a method that you prefer, you can just use that one instead, there is no need to pick one of these specifically. But for those who do not have a method yet, the links to the guided meditation videos might be of some use.
In and of itself meditation is a secular brain exercise, that being said, there have been many religions and spiritual systems in the past that have used meditation for it's spiritual benefits, because it deals directly with human operating system—our mind! That's why I will be sharing also some links to religious meditation videos along with non-religious ones, so if you are new to the practice of meditation you can then pick the method which aligns with your personal spiritual philosophy. But you don't have to be religious to practice any of them and gain the benefits—all of them effect the mind the same way, by training mindfulness and concentration. And like I said, you can always use your own method, these are just some suggestions.

Science Based Meditation—Focusing on the breath:

Science based meditation explanation by a Prof. Andrew Huberman of Stanford medical school.
Guided meditation by a cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Sam Harris.

Buddhist Meditation—Vipassana:

Buddhist meditation explanation by an ordained Buddhist monk Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu (also check out the whole playlist for even more in depth explanation on how to meditate).
Guided Buddhist meditation

Christian Meditation—Centered Prayer:

Christian meditation explanation by a Catholic monk and priest Thomas Keating—part 1.
Christian meditation explanation by a Catholic monk and priest Thomas Keating—part 2.
Guided Centered Prayer meditation.​

Muslim Meditation—Muraqaba:

Islamic meditation explanation by an Islamic scholar Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera.
Guided Muslim meditation.

Hindu Meditation—Yoga Nidra:

Hindu meditation explanation by a yogini Anandmurti Gurumaa.
Guided Hindu meditation by a yogi Amrit Desai.

Secular Spirituality Meditation—Being present in the Now:

Secular spirituality meditation explanation by a spiritual philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Guided secular spirituality meditation by a spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle.

(ॐ) Ranks. (ॐ)

Wannabe Meditator:

0 - 6 successive days of daily meditation.

Beginner Meditator:

7 - 29 successive days of daily meditation.

Pre-Intermediate Meditator:

30 - 59 successive days of daily meditation.

Intermediate Meditator:

60 - 89 successive days of daily meditation.

Upper Intermediate Meditator:

90 - 179 successive days of daily meditation.

Advanced Meditator:

180 - 364 successive days of daily meditation.

Expert Meditator:

365 - 499 successive days of daily meditation.

Master Meditator:

500+ successive days of daily meditation.

(ॐ) Unranked meditators. (ॐ)

If you do not want to meditate successively every day or do not want to count the days, to rank up in the challenge, then you can join the challenge as one of these unranked meditators. You can still post and check–in whenever you feel like, and participate in the challenge as everyone else, but you will not qualify for ranking up:

Occasional Meditator:

? - ??? successive days of daily meditation.

(For meditators who do not want to meditate successively every day—no pressure to maintain a successive streak—just occasional mindfulness and presence!)

Mysterious Meditator:

? - ??? successive days of daily meditation.

(For meditators who do not want to count their days, but still want to meditate daily—for you meditation is not about keeping the score, it is constant lifelong practice of being mindful and present from the moment to moment).


(ॐ) Tips. (ॐ)​

• You can meditate with eyes open, it is just as legit as any other method, this also helps with not falling asleep and maintaining focus.
• Don't think that short meditations do not matter! According to research done by Prof. Andrew Huberman at Stanford, the brain starts to get some benefits from meditations as short as only 3 minutes! So if you don't have time to meditate for 10 or 20 minutes, surely you could find spare 3 minutes in your day—it's all about the consistency; building that healthy habit!
• If you have trouble calming mind or falling asleep meditate in upwards position with an erect spine, and chin slightly pointed upwards, this will increase alertness and focus.
• If you are short on time meditate while multitasking; you don't have to sit in the lotus position to meditate, you can meditate while washing dishes or taking a shower—you don't have to sit still, you just have to be focused, mindful and present.
  
• Meditate in the morning after fully waking up, this is when your mind is the most fresh and the concentration will be most easiest to maintain.
• Meditate on empty stomach for better focus and calmer mind; food makes us drowsy, drowsiness makes the mind drift.
• If you happen to slip to porn, try meditating while in the midst of a relapse—obviously you should try to stay away from relapsing to PMO at all costs, but at the same time recovery is a journey, and it's normal to sometimes fail along the way. So if you find yourself in a midst of a binge try to be mindful, conscious and aware of the sensations, thoughts and feelings of the moment. If you practice the mindfulness meditation during it, some valuable and powerful insights might arise!
• Be patient, meditation is a brain exercise—just as with any other exercise it takes a while to develop the strength and the endurance, the same way it will take a while to develop the concentration and the mindfulness when meditating, but it's totally worth it! ​

(ॐ) List of Meditators: (ॐ)​

@Ūruz – @Mr.Tony – @Chuck Palahniuk – @stoner0072 – @bluedragon9 – @jasperd – @Om Prakash Vedanta – @CoolJG – @a_unique_user – @Eleodes – @nikolas59 – @Baki Hanma – @JoeBimbo – @RogueLeader – @YourLocalClown – @Fallen Demon – @Against_the_demon_in_myself – @Sebstepat – @ImprovingDutch – @Peppy – @purplebat14 – @gouda – @PeaceOnEarth108 – @monkish – @ILL-MAKE-IT – @Don80 – @Jacob Harner – @The man with the plan – @ExtremeProductivity2023 – @Diderik – @Kontrollat58 – @TheLinari – @Shockley – @Reghu – @Bloodstream – @skull67 – @ImpulseGuardian – @Elevate0623 – @TransparencyQuest – @A-shamed – @FiguresOfLight – @nomo – @born3 – @blaze234 – @el_bsln – @Jerry2Rick – @oretna – @victorrr – @Newwaters22 – @CBDave – @CaerwynLightbringer – @fortissimoBlues – @JB39 – @SelfControl4me – @Ignis Divinis – @MonguitoMatero – @Vir85685 – @futurelight – @Teenagegod – @Faithendurer45 – @Carteret T – @MrBorring – @Simorgh – @triwizardgryffindor – @kontroll – @girlsarecoolerthanscreens – @Itachi? – @D_I_L_D_O – @boston08 – @Frenkie – @Comedic Irony – @cyberman – @EdricKr – @Yin&Yang – @Elzapadelagente – @Sr nutriales 21 – @Odelshorn – @Force Majeure










Just post a reply in the thread with your commitment to meditate and I will probably see it and will add you to the list. However if I miss your post, or forget to add you, please feel free to tag me (@Ūruz) and I will add you then. ☺​

 

My goal for now is to meditate for at least 10 minutes a day, every day for a week, then slowly build up from there—let's do this!
Day 0/7!

 

I am happy to have you on board—welcome friend!
You seem to be experienced meditator; wow, one hour is a lot, and for over 100 days—that is inspiring! It's a little bit too much for me right now though, but I hope to build up to one hour eventually.
Feel free to pick whatever length of time you want of course; I made this challenge flexible like that, so different people with different goals all could join and do it together.
Of course, feel free to post and journal here every day, or how often you feel like—let's motivate each other!
Let's go!

 

Checking in: day 1/7 done!
Did 10 minutes of meditation before bedtime. Little too late for my liking though, I will try to do it at mid day today, since I was way too tired at late evening; focus and concentration was pretty bad.

Sounds good haha, let's go friend!

 

Checking in: meditated today before going to sleep again, for 10 minutes—gotta really get in the habit of doing it at early morning, or at least mid day, not push it to the end of the day cause my overly active mind thinks it's boring.
I think today I will try meditating for at least 10 minutes while going for a walk; the Power of Now method, which does not require sitting still with eyes closed. I might do anther 10 min sitting meditation with eyes closed later in the afternoon.
Been listening to Andrew Huberman again and he says that 3 minutes a day is minimum to start getting benefit, which is crazy small amount of time, so I guess there no excuse not to do it for at least 3 minutes a day!

 

Glad to have you onboard, mate! Let's get our brain and minds strong!

I am doing it because I want to have strong brain, so I can have more control of my emotions, feelings, thoughts and urges, not let them control me!
A year from now I want to get my brain to a point where it can withstand meditation for at least one hour a day, with intense focus and very few distractions.

 

Daily check in:

Did 10 minute walking meditation yesterday, like I said I would; the Eckhart Tolle's method, mainly focusing on trees, color, ground, sky, space between trees, sounds of birds, etc. I felt very relaxed during it and very happy and peaceful for a while afterwards. This is not usually the case, at least not to this extent, when doing breath focused meditation; during breathing focused meditation my mind is full with thoughts, but when I did this method my mind was almost completely still.
Been listening to Andrew Huberman again and in his podcast on meditation he talked about the difference between interoceptive and exteroceptive (inwards directed focus Vs outwards directed focus) meditations—I got to clearly observe it for myself yesterday, after trying two different methods.
I still think interoceptive breath focus meditation is useful for getting more in tune with the feelings in the body, which helps to deal with urges, but Tolle's method, which mostly focuses on external objects, such as sound and sight, seems to be way more useful for alleviating anxiety, so I think I will have it as my main one for now.

 

@stoner0072 Hi! Happy to have you in this challenge, I am happy to see experienced mediators coming back again!
Yep, meditation can be boring and laziness can creep in, that's why I quit too long time ago; I hope in this challenge we can motivate each other.
Welcome friend!