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28-Day Meditation Challenge 2016

Welcome to the 2016 REAL HAPPINESS Meditation Challenge. In it’s sixth year, this free meditation challenge is a powerful way to explore what meditation has to offer, whether you are brand new or a longtime practitioner. The 28-day challenge follows the the program outlined in Sharon’s New York Times bestseller: Real Happiness for the entire month of February. Since 2011, thousands have participated in this challenge and it continues to foster a beautiful sense of community. For the 2016 Challenge, there are over 13,500 participants from around the globe!

WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?

1. COMMIT 2 SIT It starts with a commitment to sit every day of the month. The weekly and daily format of this challenge is based on the program laid out in Real Happiness.

2. GET THE BOOK We highly recommend you purchase your own copy of the Real Happiness book to follow along and deepen your experience throughout the month.

3. GET THE MEDITATIONS This year we are thrilled to offer 28 free daily guided meditations by Sharon, brought to you by Happify! Once you sign up for the challenge, you will receive the link to the daily guided meditations.

4. READ THE BLOG Each year different individuals and groups participating in the challenge share their experiences by blogging on Sharon’s site. These posts unflinchingly demystify the more romanticized ideas about what really happens with a meditation practice.

Weekly Overview

WEEK 1: Concentration: Breathing and the Art of Starting Over

The first week of the program introduces what meditation is, and the three core skills involved in a meditation practice: concentration, mindfulness and lovingkindness. If you ask any seasoned meditator, they will tell you these three ingredients are what constantly help you navigate the practices.  This week also explores Sharon’s secret weapon of meditation: the art of beginning again. The meditations in this first week are the fundamental practices of breath meditation, hearing meditation, letting go of thoughts and more.

WEEK 2: Mindfulness and the the Body: Letting Go of Burdens

Week two of the program moves more deeply into body based meditation techniques. The variety of techniques this week show the agility of meditation, introducing walking meditation, body scan meditation and also fun meditations that incorporate household tasks like doing dishes!

WEEK 3: Mindfulness and Emotions: Dealing with Thoughts and Feelings

Week three introduces some common obstacles you are probably getting friendly with after fourteen days of practice! Sharon offers some nuanced ways of working with the common issues so they don’t derail you. The meditations this week focus on the rich terrain of emotions and thoughts. This includes working with difficult emotions and also cultivating positive emotions.

WEEK 4: Lovingkindness: Cultivating Compassion and True Happiness

The final week of the course is all about cultivating compassion. Sharon introduces the formal practice of Lovingkindness (aka metta) meditation and explores how to use this meditation is a variety of circumstances: for challenging times, working with your inner critic, or physical pain.

By the end of the 28 days, you will have experienced a wide variety of techniques to see the life-changing potential that meditation offers.

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