This past month at Joy Envisioned we participated in the 21-day online, guided meditation experience “Renew Yourself: Body, Mind, & Spirit” with Deepak Chopra and special guest J. Balvin. It was exciting to share this experience especially with those of you that joined in with us on this journey to self-renewal and inner peace.
In this article I will be sharing some of my thoughts on the 21-day program and whether I think it was worth giving it a try (spoiler: I do!)
I started the 21-day experience at the end of June and finished around mid-July. Long story short, I thought this guided meditation program was an absolutely worthwhile experience and I would (and DID) recommend it to friends.
Honestly, I was reluctant for years to give online guided meditation programs a try. As someone who has experience in self-guided meditations, I was not sure how effective or necessary guided meditations would be in addition to my current practices. However, after just the first week of practicing I was hooked on to the program.
I liked how each meditation took only about 15 minutes making it very accessible and reasonable to include in my very busy school/work schedule.
I thoroughly enjoyed the format of the each meditation and the consistency with each ‘episode’. Each meditation began with a short introduction from J. Balvin followed by an enriching message by Deepak. This took about the first five minutes of the daily episode. Afterwards, we were introduced to a mantra in Sanskrit that went along with the message of the day. Surprisingly, I found the daily messages to be very applicable and relevant to addressing common anxieties which then helped me ease into a deeper and relaxing meditation. The silent meditation then followed for the next 10 minutes. Starting with the sound a bell followed by soothing sounds and finally ending with a bell.
Deepak’s messages of the day is what really makes this meditation experience worthwhile. His messages were short, succinct, and relatable to many of the problems and stresses we constantly face in our everyday lives. There were several quotable moments that continued to resonate in my mind for the rest of the day.
“To establish a real connection to our souls, we need to experience the quiet still awareness beneath our active thinking minds”
Other notable features of this program was a summary page of each daily meditation which included the centering though, Sanskrit mantra, and message of the day. This is summarized under its own “Details” tab. Besides that tab is another section specifically for journaling. As someone who struggles with daily journaling, participating in writing prompts after my meditation was a great way to involve the practice in my every day routine. I felt that each prompt was simple yet intentional and allowed me to really engage and reflect on my meditation experience.
Overall, despite having prior experience in meditation practices, my experience with this guided series felt more enjoyable. My meditations felt deeper when I slowly eased into thought, rather than starting abruptly.
What I liked the most is how I felt after the 15 minutes. I felt more at ease and less stressed.
After the first 10 days, I felt that I was less anxious and more prepared to combat my everyday workload.
If you are a beginner or a fan of other online meditations programs (Headspace, Calm, Breathwrk) I would highly recommend to give this free program a try. Also, I would highly recommend this program to college students struggling with academic anxiety as well as any working professional, especially those in busy or demanding environments.
Since each episode is only 15 minutes, I found it very easy to put aside some time out of my day to practice and even build a habit of meditating daily.
If you have any questions on how to download or sign-up for the program feel free to shoot us a message!
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