If you would have talked to me 4 years ago about meditating I probably would have rolled my eyes and laughed it off. Growing up I didn't know anyone who meditated. Well, maybe I did and they never talked about it. So we'll just say that I didn't know anyone.
I saw it as weird. I don't know why. It wasn't talked about hardly ever. But, I think it's because no one in my life did it and had a biased view on the practice since it was a foreign concept. I've learned that people get super uncomfortable and judgmental about things that they don't know and are afraid to try. That's a topic for a whole other post though!
Anyways, years passed and I remained out of touch with my mind, body, and the present moment. I didn't know any better at the time so that's just how things were.
Something happened though to make it all drastically change.
Yoga.
The answer to almost all of my struggles in life is yoga, meditation, or veganism at this point. I know it all sounds too good to be true. Seriously though! Trust me.
I started practicing yoga. I did it for the physical benefits, pretty much. Slowly over time I started to get more into the spiritual side of things too.
I had an on and off relationship with meditation for the longest time. Really, a very long time.
I'd download various apps and do the 30 day challenges without an issue. But once those challenges were over I would miss a day and that would be the end of it for a few weeks. This was my life and I didn't understand why I couldn't take 15 minutes out of my day to just do the meditation.
A few months ago I figured something out. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I just needed to mold the meditation to fit my lifestyle.
That's what I did.
First, you need to decide what type of meditation you want to do. There are tons of different methods out there to experiment with. Personally, I just set my phone timer, close my eyes, and observe my thoughts/state of mind for a period of time. That works for me, but something completely different might work for you. Try things!
I learned that I like to do my meditations first thing in the morning. I'm the same way with my yoga, workouts, etc. Get up, do it, and get on with my day. I understand that's not how it is for everyone so I suggest finding the time of day that works best for you. That's always a good place to start.
Once you have that figured out then you get to determine the rest. I realized that the reason I was failing at consistency was because I didn't have 15 minutes every single morning to dedicate to meditating and if I had to carve out those 15 minutes then I would most likely skip days here and there. So I started meditating for timeframes that fit my days. Five minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes. I just do whatever I can do and I know that is good enough.
I truly think that consistency is key. If you're sitting down and checking in for two minutes every single day I think that's a lot better than sitting down once a week for 15 minutes. Building that consistent daily practice will give you daily benefits.
Most importantly, have fun! Make your meditation a fun thing that you look forward to. Try a 30 day challenge or complete a journaling exercise each day after your meditation. Do something that keeps you interested in the beginning so that you keep coming back to it.
Wake up each day and do the best you can with it. If you miss a day or two, no big deal. Be kind and gentle towards yourself and realize that you can pick up where you left off and take away a learning experience from the time spent away from meditating.
“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”