Most of you have probably already tried sitting meditation. Many of you may have a meditation practice. This assignment may be old hat to you. However, if it is, then you know better than most of us that when it comes to meditation that old hats are always new hats. I’m sure you know what I mean: We should approach our new or old meditation practice with beginner’s mind.

This assignment is simple. Just schedule and then practice 10 minutes of sitting meditation each day for one week. Haha. Easy-peasy.

 
As you do this easy-peasy activity, also track your response. Do you feel any resistance? Any disappointment if your 10 minutes seems like a struggle? Maybe you think to yourself, “this is too easy” and you meditate for 20 minutes. Or, maybe you’ve got a tiny bit of annoyance toward me for giving you this easy or not-so-easy task. Whatever you feel (or think), let yourself notice the thoughts and feelings and then mindfully accept them.

I’m hoping you can talk with someone or post on social media about your experiences around your 10 minutes of daily meditation. If you can, share with others about the sorts of thoughts and feelings that come up for you when you meditate and how you’re doing with accepting them. If you don’t have anyone to share this with, consider using a journaling process to reflect on your experiences with yourself!

Thanks for working on these activities with us.

If you’re new to meditating or have a difficult time getting started, perhaps explore a guided meditation. Here are some of our suggestions:

Insight Timer - App: https://insighttimer.com/en-gb

Tara Brach: https://www.tarabrach.com/guided-meditations/  

Montana Happiness Project on Social Media:

https://www.youtube.com/@montanahappinessproject333 

https://www.instagram.com/montanahappinessnow/ 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100073966896370 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/97180580/admin/feed/posts/ 

https://johnsommersflanagan.com/  

https://www.tiktok.com/@montana.happiness

Dr. John Sommers-Flanagan, University of Montana