If you struggle to integrate meditation into your life, here are some possible reasons why and strategies for settling into a practice which works for you.
Your meditation sessions are too long
Try not to sit still for too long. Contemporary research in neuroscience has repeatedly demonstrated it doesn’t take much meditative activity to achieve long-term health benefits. When someone suggests you begin with five minutes a day, don’t take it as a challenge to go longer. For many, five minutes is enough.
Quiet sitting-meditation may not be for you
Most people picture meditation as a solitary activity where one sits still in a state of thoughtless bliss. While this is one way to meditate, it’s not the only way. If sitting meditation doesn’t work for you, get up and walk. A noisy city stroll may bring you closer to a meditative state than sitting still ever could. If silence or “meditation music” doesn’t enhance your experience, try something different. Metal and electric dance music are perfectly acceptable additions to your meditation session. Experiment with different ways of moving and various locations and noisescapes. Be patient as you seek the arrangement which suits you best.
Meditation won’t always feel relaxing
Many seek out meditation because they want to relax. This is half true. Meditation can help you relax in the long term, but individual sessions may not always be soothing. Meditation can and does help people feel more at ease, but an individual meditation session itself may not be the time and place where you feel relaxed.
During meditation, it’s not unusual for suppressed thoughts and feelings to spring into the conscious mind. Past mistakes, traumas, and anxieties locked away in the mind and body can spring up when you settle into a meditative state. However, such an occurrence isn’t a sign of failure–it’s a sign of success. If the meditation you practice sometimes unsettles you, this is normal. However, if it is consistently distressing or re-traumatizes you, change the method you use, and consider consulting a mental health professional.
Take time to form a meditation routine
Willpower and determination don’t create new habits. Habit formations takes time, self-understanding, and a little luck. Insert meditation into existing routines until you find a natural fit between new and existing habits. Moments such as when you grab coffee in the morning, after you brush your teeth before bed, when you would normally settle down to browse social media, when you arrive at work-these all represent potential points where meditation could act as a natural addition to your life.
Self-knowledge is key to making meditation a regular part of your life. The act of experimentation when seeking out a routine which works for you is an act of self-discovery, one of the benefits meditation is supposed to bring. The lessons learned in the ongoing journey to find a meditation practice which works for you is part of what makes meditation so beneficial.