One of the questions I seem to get a lot is how do I make meditation a daily habit?
When I started many moons ago I was very intermittent.
I used to only meditate in a weekly group and never at home.
I gained some benefit from this but not that much.
Only when I started meditating every day did I start to see changes.
I used to sit on my bed every evening and just meditate for 15 minutes.
It wasn't long at all,
Maybe two weeks.
Then I started to increase that because I started feeling so good from it.
I would come out from those early sessions with a new found glow.
I didn't increase the time for quite a while.
What I did do was increase the frequency of the sessions.
So instead of meditating the once I'd meditate two or three times each time for the 15 minutes.
A few weeks later I started increasing the time until 30 minutes felt quite easy.
We're all different and a meditation practice requires a lot of self-experimentation to find what works for you.
Some swear that morning practice is the best,
Some night time,
Some both.
Some say the time is irrelevant and just doing it is the important thing.
So try different times and find out what works for you.
Here are some tips.
Number one,
Make it into a habit.
Find a free app that's used to develop habits.
I use one called Habits and the percentage increases every day I hit my meditation goal.
If I miss a day my percentage drops.
My current goal isn't to just sit each day but to sit for an hour minimum.
You can make your goal 10 minutes minimum and build it up five minutes a week until you find your optimum sit time.
I would encourage you to aim for 30 minutes.
Number two,
Make a definite time or point in the day.
I started meditating as soon as I got home from work because the morning just didn't work for me.
With you it might be 7am or after you've done something that acts as a trigger to prompt you.
It could be after you shower,
After you exercise or any activity that is something you do daily.
The caveat here is eating.
It's best not to meditate after eating for a number of reasons.
Number three,
Create your special space.
This could be a spot in a quiet room.
The fewer other activities you do in that room the better.
You can have a focal point that helps prepare the mind.
A candle in the room,
Flowers,
A statue of a religious figure who is sacred to you.
Anything that prompts a peaceful state of mind is good.
Number four,
Get comfortable.
It doesn't matter whether you sit on a chair or the floor.
If you are forcing yourself to sit in full lotus in excruciating pain you will never want to meditate.
So make it as pleasant as you can.
Try to be relatively upright because this brightens the mind.
But don't obsess.
Over time you will naturally find the right posture for your body and that might mature into something different to what it is now.
The main message here is no self-torture.
Relax and enjoy this time getting to know yourself.
Number five,
Stick with one style of practice.
It's hard to beat mindfulness of breathing so I advise that.
The simpler the better.
The Buddha used this technique all the way to his enlightenment and it's said that he even practised it after awakening just for the sense of wellbeing that it brought to him.
You can flirt with other meditation styles occasionally but for now make the vast majority of your practice just one style and stick to it.
Maybe give yourself a period of six weeks and keep a journal on how it's making you feel.
If it's not working for you after six weeks maybe try something else until you find a practice that sticks.
Number six,
Use guided meditation.
Pick an audio meditation and practice that same one over and over.
It will help you greatly and help to alleviate the doubts of am I doing this right?
Like a kid on a bike with stabilisers there will come a point when you feel ready to drop the support and go into the vastness of silence all by yourself.
It might be that you mix it up.
Some days guided,
Some days silent.
Find what works for you.
There are many guided meditations on this podcast so pick one,
Download it and just repeat it over and over.
After twenty years of practice I still use guided meditations to this day.
Not always but from time to time and I find them very helpful.
Number seven,
Tune into your meditation object throughout the day.
If you're using the breath try to notice the sensations of breathing when you are on a train,
At your computer,
Sitting on the sofa or anything anywhere that can act as a prompt.
Make a habit of feeling the breath,
Even if it's only four or five breaths.
You'll be doing two very important things here.
Number one,
You'll be familiarising yourself with the breath,
Making it easier in your meditation practice.
And number two,
You'll be bringing mindfulness and the peace that it creates out into your everyday life.
So I hope that was helpful.
That's all for this week.
