Get Mindful in May and Pause for a Great Cause

When your mind is scattered, your head full of worries, and your heart full of fears and doubts, the world is a stressful, sometimes terrifying place.

When you take time to clear your mental space, suddenly everything feels easier. Without the heavy burden of anxiety and rumination, you’re free to simply be—and to see.

It’s like cleaning a dirty window; all of a sudden, the light comes in, light you didn’t even realize was there.

What provides this cleaning, clarifying magic? Meditation, and even just ten minutes a day.

My whole life transformed when I learned that I could free myself from my bully brain, if I made a little time in my daily schedule to be still and silent.

And that’s not the only benefit of meditation. When practiced regularly, meditation can lead to:

Structural changes in the brain associated with enhanced mental performance

Reduced stress and its negative impact on the body and mind

Improved physical and mental well-being

Reduced genetic aging through its protective impact on gene expression and degeneration

Increased happiness

Enhanced immune function

If, like me, you want to continually reap these benefits, I highly recommend joining Mindful in May—a one-month campaign starting on May 1, which teaches you to meditate and at the same time helps bring clean water to those in developing countries.

The Program Includes:

Daily guidance with clear, accessible tips on mindfulness meditation

Weekly audio meditations

Daily motivation and coaching to support your new mindful habit

Exclusive interviews with leaders in mindfulness across the globe

Your own meditation journal to track your month

A one-month curation of inspiring content to nourish your soul and introduce you to world leaders in well-being

Healthy, quick recipes to support your wellness and inspire the practice of mindful eating

If you’d like, you can check out a sample 10-minute meditation here.

The Cause: Charity Water

As part of the challenge, you’ll be able to invite friends and family members to sponsor you. One hundred percent of their donations will help bring clean water to the one out of nine people who don’t have access to it.

As Mindful in May Founder Elise Bialylew wrote:

In the developed world most of us have our survival needs met, but it’s our minds that can cause so much of our suffering. The World Health Organization predicts that depression will be the second-leading cause of global disability burden by 2020.

In the developing world, it’s something as basic as a lack of access to clean, safe water that causes so much suffering. Contaminated water is still one of the leading causes of disease and death in the developing world.

Last year, participants from twelve counties raised nearly $200,000 for Charity Water, enabling the construction of five wells near Ethiopia and Nepal. This year’s fundraising efforts will bring clean water to Rwanda.

You can learn more about where your fundraising money goes here.

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Ready to help yourself—and others? Join Mindful and May, tell your friends and family to sponsor you, and help spread this mindful ripple.