26 Jul 30-Day Mindfulness Meditation Challenge
Meditation is something anyone can do, and yet many people don’t take advantage of this incredible mindfulness technique. We wanted to encourage more people to set aside time to breathe, so we created the 30-Day Mindfulness Meditation Challenge! Keep reading to learn more about autism and meditation.
Meditation and Autism
While there isn’t a lot of formal research on autism spectrum disorder and meditation, there are several clear benefits of mindfulness meditation for autism. Many autistic people struggle with the relationship between their body and their mind, and meditation is a great way to practice sensory regulation and motor skills.
Mindfulness is all about awareness—from awareness of your thoughts to awareness of your body. As you practice meditation, you’re also becoming more in control of your thoughts and movements.
Meditation isn’t the only thing that can help. Exercise is also a great way to treat anxiety on the spectrum. In fact, we’ve written a blog about it!
Want a Challenge?
Once you decide to join the challenge yourself, where should you start? We have a few ideas!
Commitment Comes First
The first step to any challenge is to commit. Pick a day to begin your challenge and stick to it until the 30 days are up. If you give up halfway through, you’ll never know how meditation could have helped you. Even if you decide that meditation isn’t for you, at least you gave it a fair shot!
You may also find that meditation is a helpful addition to your life. In that case, you don’t need to stop when the month ends—keep meditating and staying mindful!
Learn Meditation Skills
When you look at the days of the challenge below, you’ll notice that you’re instructed to “meditate” for a certain number of minutes. Some people don’t know where to start, so let’s begin with a few basic meditation skills.
Sit with Your Back Straight and Your Eyes Closed
This step is self-explanatory. To start your meditation session each day, sit up straight and close your eyes.
Notice the Feeling of Your Breath
Some forms of meditation may tell you to breathe a certain way. You don’t need to worry about that for mindfulness meditation. Instead, breathe as you normally would and notice the feeling of your breath—are you breathing through your nose or mouth? How long does it take to fully inhale and exhale?
Note When You Get Lost and Start Over
For mindfulness meditation, the goal is to experience your thoughts naturally as they come up. While other forms of meditation may encourage you to keep a blank mind, mindfulness meditation wants you to be aware of each thought you have.
Combat Distractions
Distractions are a part of the mindfulness meditation process. There may be distracting sounds or sensations that come up while meditating—that’s okay. When something distracts you from your mindfulness, you don’t need to shut it out. Take notice of it, pause, and let go of the distraction. This will help you get back to the activity at hand without distractions derailing your meditation session.
Set Up for Success
Mindfulness can happen outside of meditation, too. In fact, practicing everyday mindfulness can help make your meditation time easier and more rewarding!
We hope you’ll join us as we practice mindfulness meditation for autism, and we’d love to hear how it’s going! Reach out through our Facebook community and share how you’re doing with the meditation challenge. Feel free to tell us any tips or tricks you’ve learned that help you stay mindful!
If you’re ready for more challenges, be sure to check out our Water Drinking Challenge, Sleep Challenge, and Walking Challenge!
| Day 1 Meditate for 2 minutes | Day 2 Meditate for 2 minutes | Day 3 Meditate for 2 minutes | Day 4 Off | Day 5 Meditate for 2 minutes | Day 6 Meditate for 2 minutes | Day 7 Meditate for 2 minutes |
| Day 8 Off | Day 9 Meditate for 5 minutes | Day 10 Meditate for 5 minutes | Day 11 Meditate for 5 minutes | Day 12 Off | Day 13 Meditate for 5 minutes | Day 14 Meditate for 5 minutes |
| Day 15 Meditate for 10 minutes | Day 16 Off | Day 17 Meditate for 10 minutes | Day 18 Meditate for 10 minutes | Day 19 Meditate for 10 minutes | Day 20 Off | Day 21 Meditate for 10 minutes |
| Day 22 Meditate for 12 minutes | Day 23 Meditate for 12 minutes | Day 24 Off | Day 25 Meditate for 12 minutes | Day 26 Meditate for 12 minutes | Day 27 Meditate for 12 minutes | Day 28 Off |
| Day 29 Meditate for 15 minutes | Day 30 Meditate for 15 minutes |