21-Day Meditation Challenge

This challenge is designed for those who have not yet found a meditation routine that works.   It is structured as a 21-day challenge to expose each participant to a different technique, or point of focus, every day while setting a daily meditation habit.

The sessions, each day, last up to 30 minutes.  The first few days are divided into three parts. Each part can be done one day at a time, or all at once.  There is a short guided meditation in each part, followed by a short silence period to continue to practice focus. The silence period increases from 1 minute the first day to 20 minutes the last day. The goal is to slowly and gently fall in love with the silent spaces of meditation.

No previous experience is needed, and everyone is welcome. 

You will get the most from this course if you can bring an open mind and a willingness to practice, experiment, and try new techniques.

I value kindness and acceptance of ourselves and everyone who is here.

The energy in this class should be concentrated to hold the space for everyone to enter their own truth and presence in whatever way this shows up for you.  It will show up differently for different people. 

This space is designed to allow everyone to practice in a safe and caring environment.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.  I hope I can continue to serve you as you undertake this journey.

Meditation is a practice of refocusing the mind.  It is akin to re-learning to see the world as you did as a newborn baby. Back when everything was new. We become accustomed to our environment, and we file away experiences as being inconsequential. But, not all experiences are inconsequential. Even though you know how to walk, you should still have the presence of mind and awareness that you are walking. You know how to drink, brush your teeth, get dressed, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware you are doing these things. In fact, there is power in being a witness to your actions and being aware of your thoughts, your actions, your responses or reactions. And of tapping into more than what is visible—learning to appreciate your life, the little and big things every day. Learn to notice the habitual, and set about to make more deliberate and better decisions in the future. Learn to be aware, think about, and appreciate the essential matters.

If you’re familiar with the “The Little Prince”, you might remember this quote which reflects the Little Prince’s view about grown-ups:

“When you tell [grown ups] that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, ‘What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?’

“Instead, they demand: ‘How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?’ Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.”

Do you find you might be distracted by the surface level of life - the “facts and figures” of it – and have forgotten to care about the more profound, more human and significant things that make people worth knowing and life worth living?

Have you reconnected to these essential matters that make you uniquely you and make life a wonder to behold?  It is possible to reconnect, feel alive, experience joy, love, peace, and happiness.

This course is all about reconnecting to yourself – connecting the forgotten parts - and experiencing a new way of being. We explore the vast world of meditation in bite-size increments to build the muscle necessary to sit and contemplate what is, as it is.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

• Embrace the Present Moment
• Be Mindful
• Reduce stress, fear & anxiety in everyday situations
• Start the process of eliminating & uprooting the negative beliefs, patterns & habits of the mind that has been sabotaging your success
• Reduce attachments and pain
• Understand the functioning of human mind
• Learn about various types of meditation practiced around the world
• Learn 4 easy steps to meditate
• Significantly boost Focus & Productivity
• Induce more deep sleep
• Increase the grey matter in your brain
• Normalize blood pressure and reduce inflammation
• Start 'seeing' the true nature of reality
• Significantly boost energy levels and stay active throughout the day
• Become a more kind and a compassionate human being
• Practice formal mindful meditation to improve your health and wellbeing
• Incorporate informal mindfulness throughout the day and make it a part of your daily routine
• Reduce (and eventually eliminate) the effects of stress from your life
• Clear and calm your mind
• Experience freedom from emotional turmoil, anxiety and depression
• Sleep better
• Eliminate the excuses and procrastination for starting a mindful meditation practice
• Find happiness from its true source (from within)

Each session lasts up to 30 minutes.  5-10 minutes is spent explaining what we will be practicing, and up to 20 minutes is spent in practice. The silent meditation portion is slowly increased over the 21 day period to enable us to build the required muscle to sit down and practice every day.

The challenge lasts for 21 days.

I am a mom of two beautiful girls, wife to an amazing husband.  I graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science many moons ago. But my education has never stopped. I continue to educate myself in various areas and am continually renewing my mind by questioning and evaluating life. I have come to value the preciousness of time, which is guaranteed to no one as I set out to create a life I truly want to live in the now.

If you are like me, you might have been exploring the concept of meditation for some time before getting here. Maybe on and off. Perhaps you dabbled into it, but it just didn't fit or stick to your lifestyle.

You know it has value. You have an inner yearning to learn this skill.  Or you know that it will have benefits in your life, perhaps for better health, more patience, or even multiplying time. But sometimes it just doesn't seem natural to practice, and you haven't gotten into a routine that works. Yet.

Well, let me share with you what has helped me.  After years of searching, what dawned on me one day was the peace I felt in pondering the vastness of the Universe.

And one day, I felt the need to explore it.  It wasn't so much about reaching an altered state of consciousness as being aware of what is there—noticing what is happening—giving myself time to explore.

And I observed how this exploration started much earlier for me.

I was taking a scuba diving certification course in Honduras. Now, I am not a natural scuba diver. I can dive. I love the water. I can sit underwater and breathe through a tube. Not a problem. But it doesn't feel natural for me. I have to work on calming my mind so that it doesn't panic at the reality that we are, after all, far underwater.  And it speaks more about logic prevailing than my gut feeling to return to the safety of the surface of the water.

Doesn't that sound familiar? The safety at the surface?  How we dwell on non-essential matters to remain at the surface level in our lives.

I noticed something else about being underwater.  No matter how stormy it is at the surface, it is always calmer deep beneath.  It is beautiful. Peaceful. Calm. But still not natural.

As much as I enjoy exploring life in the ocean's depts, I am also always very thankful to get back at the surface.  Until one day, we dove deeper than we were supposed to dive that day - at that stage of the training.  And there I came face to face with a hazy blue wall.

The life map of this course started that day. It has helped me. And I hope it will help you as well.

Life is a discovery – it is about coming to terms with who we are. It is about finding love, joy and peace in the every day. No one said it would be easy, but it is worthwhile.