How to get your meditation practice off the ground.
And how to keep it going when the going gets tough!
We know that regular meditation practice is a wonderful way of keeping the mind free and body healthy, but we also know that it's not always easy to get it going. The kicker is that the biggest benefits of meditation come from practising with consistency. The science is compelling... Meditation has the power to change the structure and function of your brain (and body) for the better. It can even reverse or slow the hallmark features of ageing. Many of these benefits are trait-like changes brought about by long term practice. However, as a society addicted to quick results, meditation can seem painfully slow, downright abstract, and substantially less gratifying than any number of short term fixes (like a hot bath, the latest episode of Succession, or indeed anything more instant than sitting on a cushion with your eyes closed). Yet time and time again our clients tell us they’ve fallen off the wagon. So how do we keep going when the going gets tough?
So we asked our founder Ryan to give us a few tips on how to start and keep the mediation practice consistent. And here is what he shared:
1) Keep it short.
Meditation is a marathon, not a sprint. One thing is guaranteed to ensure that you are on the road to becoming an ex-meditator... running before you can walk. By making meditation onerous, we guarantee that our best laid intentions don't stick. A routine of just one minute a day of mindful breathing, is far better than a short-lived formal practice of 30 minutes twice a day for the first week, followed by inevitable skipped days, missed weeks, and soon meditation silently joining the long list of things — like gym memberships, juicing, journalling and bread-making machines — that you've paid for, tried and then dropped.
2) Set intentions.
Parents know that often the best way to get a child to eat their food, is to reframe it as something they WANT to do. We need to approach meditation in the same way. Think about what you want from the practice. What will keep you coming back? Peace of mind, reduced anxiety, clearer focus, greater resilience, balance and compassion... these are all things that can come from a regular practice, but you need to decide which are important to you. Reminding yourself of this each time you practice, and looking out for signs of these benefits when you are off the mat and out in the world, will keep you doing it even when you're not in the mood.
3) Be kind to yourself.
The likelihood is that you are too hard on yourself. We all are. This can show up in different ways. Some of us feel like a failure if we had lots of thoughts while we were meditating. And it’s east to conclude from this that “I just don’t have a mind that can meditate”. Even though noticing these thoughts, becoming more conscious of them is the exact point of the practice. Others of us beat ourselves up for falling out of the practice (whether it was a week, month or years). There is nothing more off-putting than feeling like meditation is a pass or fail pursuit, or thinking that having fallen out of the practice is a personal failing or a lack of discipline, and concluding that this somehow speaks volumes about the way you are living your life. If we feel we have to do something, we will want to do it less. This is otherwise known as counterwill… the psychology that explains why the more you want your toddler to do something the more they resist. The trick is to remember why you want to do it. And to keep coming back to that (see point 2). And finally, to remember that you’re doing the best with what you have. This should enable you to reframe the practice as a great kindness that you do yourself, whenever you pick it back up, no matter however long you’ve missed it.
4) Enjoy the journey.
When you are getting started, and the benefits feel far off, it can feel like "present you" is getting a raw deal, no matter how much “future you” might benefit. So do remember to enjoy the process too! Approach your practice lightly. Give yourself the occasional day off and drop the judgement about it. Keep it interesting. Make it fun. Bored of watching your breath? Try a compassion meditation, a chocolate meditation, a mantra meditation, or a walking meditation... The variety will keep it fresh, and satisfy your need for novelty and interest. At the end of the day, a more enjoyable practice will be one that you look forward to and keep coming back to.
So, to summarise…
Keep it short, set intentions, be kind to yourself, and do remember to enjoy the process!
