You’ve read about mindfulness meditation and its many benefits and have told yourself you want to jump onboard. Maybe you’ve even sat in meditation a few times, or have attended a class or workshop to learn the practice. However, if you’re like many people out there, despite your best intentions you’ve not yet managed to get into the habit of regularly sitting in mindfulness meditation. Below are some practical tips to help you follow through on your desire to setup a daily meditation practice.
Write it down in your planner. Just like a work meeting or doctor’s appointment, meditation will be taken much more seriously if you write it down in your agenda or calendar. If you really want to commit to meditating daily, physically writing it down reinforces this intention and helps to prioritize this activity just like you would any other key appointment.
Make a list of all the reasons you want to meditate. Understandably, it can be difficult to justify taking time for yourself to sit and follow your breath, particularly when you have a to-do list that’s over a mile long. However, the benefits have been scientifically proven time and time again. To motivate yourself, make a list of the reasons that are most important to you. Maybe you want to be more productive at work or cultivate more patience with your children. Knowing the reasons you are setting aside time for mindfulness meditation will make it easier to do.
Schedule meditation, but be flexible. Figure out the best time for you to meditate and be flexible if this needs to change due to life circumstances. Many people find the morning time to be most workable, as the chaos of the day has not yet started and it is easier to sit in silence before the world gets moving. Rather than having to pull yourself away from other activities to meditate in the afternoon, for example, sitting in the morning simply requires setting the alarm to go off a few minutes earlier. It is important to have an alternative plan, however, if your regular scheduled time ends up not working for you. Let’s say your children wake you up before your alarm and want breakfast for three days in a row. Rather than skipping meditation altogether because it can’t be done at the scheduled time, try to find a small pocket of time later in the day, perhaps just before turning in for the night or right before picking up the kids from school. It is important to schedule meditation, but also to know that this is not set in stone and you can adjust as and when needed.
Meditation instructor Alice Lash offers mindfulness meditation in Miami. Check out Mindfultime’s schedule and sign up for a class today.
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