10 tips for sticking to your meditation practice
Given half the chance, our brains will often give us every excuse under the sun as to why we shouldn’t sit down and meditate. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how sure we are that meditation is doing us good, we’ll find an excuse. These are the tricks I used in the early days of being a meditator to help me keep my practice going. Nowadays I can’t even imagine my life without meditation, but I still remember those early days of trying to stick to the 2 x 20. So without further ado, below are a few tips to help you. I hope they inspire you to stick at your practice. Please feel free to share any other tricks you’ve got in the comments section below.
1 Set reminders
Seems so obvious, but it does work! I used to set them, but rather than just typing “Remember to meditate", I’d write something motivational like “You deserve to meditate” or “Do it for your health”. It provided little triggers that reminded me why I decided to bring this technique into my life in the first place.
2 Block out your calendar
If you meditate at work, or work from home, put your 20 minutes in your calendar. It will stop your co-workers from scheduling meetings in your meditation window.
3 Create a comfortable meditation space
This is one of those simple things we can do to make our meditation more “enticing” on days where we just cannot be f*****. If you have the space at home, make yourself a little meditation corner, or dedicate an entire room to it. Spend time filling it with furniture and things that uplift and inspire you, and make you want to spend time there. You can use incense, essential oils, candles and anything else (aside from music) to help create a calming environment. Now, having a super chill, spiritual space is not at all necessary for an effective meditation practice. You can meditate on the toilet, really (seat down). However, there is value in cultivated a space that you enjoy being in, one filled with things that hold meaning for you, and uphold a high vibrational energy.
4 Stay connected to your teacher
The main intention of the Vedic meditation course is to equip you with a meditation technique that will make you self-sufficient, but that doesn’t mean we’re not there for you once you graduate! Stay connected, email your teacher with questions and share your experiences. I know I love hearing from students, and I love being able to support them.
5 Find a meditation buddy
They don’t even have to practice the same style of meditation as you, but it can help immensely to have someone who “gets” the whole meditation thing, and who can ask you how your practice is going, and vice versa.
6 Expand your knowledge
Listening to expansive podcasts and reading insightful books on self improvement are wonderful ways to stay motivated towards your own self improvement. Check out my reading list, or try some of these podcasts:
7 Remind yourself of the benefits
Here they are, in case you’ve forgotten:
Stress reduction
Better sleep
Improved creativity
More clarity
Better relationships
Stronger immune system
Spiritual connection
8 Remind yourself why you learnt
What was it that finally prompted you to learn to meditate? For most of us, there is an aspect of life that got too invasive to ignore, something that had too much credence over our lives, and it propelled us towards learning a way to manage it, or reprogram it. We all have one, what’s yours?
9 You deserve it, as do those around you
With each meditation sitting, you are working through your limitations, negative thought patterns and limiting behaviours, and therefore upgrading the energy that you radiate. This not only improves your perspective and experience of life, but it also uplifts the people around you. Whether we are conscious of it or not, humans are very perceptive to energy.
10 Have compassion and patience
On days where you can’t get past that voice in your head telling you “f*** it”, or you forget, or something gets in your way, have the utmost compassion, and don’t dwell. Meditator’s guilt is one of the most useless things on the earth! Guilt is an indication that you are committed to creating a practice, so turn those feelings into action, and get proactive on how you can minimise it in future.
Let me know if these tips help, and, in the event that you have “fallen off the wagon”, don’t hesitate to get in touch at hello@brightsidemeditation.com for a little kick-start and some motivation to re-establish your practice.
With love,
Em x