How to Keep Up a Daily Meditation Practice
Know your motivation and keep it top of mind., Schedule a time for your meditation., Set a timer., Use Guided Instruction.If you are just beginning a meditation practice, it is strongly recommend that you listen to guided instruction for the first...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Know your motivation and keep it top of mind.
In order to stick with daily meditation you need to know why you are meditating.
Otherwise, there will always be something that will feel more important and productive than sitting and following your breath for 30 minutes.
Some of the most common reasons people meditate include: to manage stress, to feel happier, to improve concentration and focus, to feel more relaxed, to deal with pain, to decrease depression and to sleep better.
There is scientific research evidence that daily meditation helps with all of these things.
If you meditate for a period of time and notice some positive effects, write those down and read them when you’re feeling unmotivated. -
Step 2: Schedule a time for your meditation.
Research has shown that people who schedule a specific time to do something are 8 times as likely to follow through compared to those who don’t set a time.
By scheduling a time to do something, you won’t spend the day thinking, when am I going to do it? If you can’t do the same time every day, that’s okay.
You may want to sit down and plan what time you can meditate each day of the week and for how long.
Write it in a calendar.
Set a reminder in your phone. , When you sit for meditation set a timer for the length of practice you want to do.
Commit to yourself that you will not get up until the timer goes off.
You will probably want to stop at some point during a sitting period.
But let the timer tell you when to stop.
This gives you the opportunity to sit through the urge to stop and to observe the sensations, thoughts and feelings that may have been causing you to want to stop. , Gradually you will internalize the instruction, but to start you will benefit from good guidance from a trained instructor.
Over time you can alternate days with guidance and days without.
There are many good CDs and MP3s out there with meditation instructions.
Here are some recommended teachers who have meditation CDs and MP3s:
Jon Kabat Zinn, Jack cornfield, Sharon Salsberg, Joseph Goldstein or Stephen Levine. , Community is probably the most essential aspect of keeping up a meditation practice.
Connecting with a group of people who meditate together (a sangha) and a teacher to guide you will help motivate you and will ensure you continue to grow in your practice.
Through a sangha you will continue to learn from a teacher and fellow meditators, and get support if you are facing barriers or obstacles.
Meditation sitting groups are pretty common in big cities, where you can drop in and pay by donation.
For a list of sitting groups in your city, do an online search for "meditation sitting group" or "sangha" in your area. -
Step 3: Set a timer.
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Step 4: Use Guided Instruction.If you are just beginning a meditation practice
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Step 5: it is strongly recommend that you listen to guided instruction for the first several weeks or months of practice.
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Step 6: Community.
Detailed Guide
In order to stick with daily meditation you need to know why you are meditating.
Otherwise, there will always be something that will feel more important and productive than sitting and following your breath for 30 minutes.
Some of the most common reasons people meditate include: to manage stress, to feel happier, to improve concentration and focus, to feel more relaxed, to deal with pain, to decrease depression and to sleep better.
There is scientific research evidence that daily meditation helps with all of these things.
If you meditate for a period of time and notice some positive effects, write those down and read them when you’re feeling unmotivated.
Research has shown that people who schedule a specific time to do something are 8 times as likely to follow through compared to those who don’t set a time.
By scheduling a time to do something, you won’t spend the day thinking, when am I going to do it? If you can’t do the same time every day, that’s okay.
You may want to sit down and plan what time you can meditate each day of the week and for how long.
Write it in a calendar.
Set a reminder in your phone. , When you sit for meditation set a timer for the length of practice you want to do.
Commit to yourself that you will not get up until the timer goes off.
You will probably want to stop at some point during a sitting period.
But let the timer tell you when to stop.
This gives you the opportunity to sit through the urge to stop and to observe the sensations, thoughts and feelings that may have been causing you to want to stop. , Gradually you will internalize the instruction, but to start you will benefit from good guidance from a trained instructor.
Over time you can alternate days with guidance and days without.
There are many good CDs and MP3s out there with meditation instructions.
Here are some recommended teachers who have meditation CDs and MP3s:
Jon Kabat Zinn, Jack cornfield, Sharon Salsberg, Joseph Goldstein or Stephen Levine. , Community is probably the most essential aspect of keeping up a meditation practice.
Connecting with a group of people who meditate together (a sangha) and a teacher to guide you will help motivate you and will ensure you continue to grow in your practice.
Through a sangha you will continue to learn from a teacher and fellow meditators, and get support if you are facing barriers or obstacles.
Meditation sitting groups are pretty common in big cities, where you can drop in and pay by donation.
For a list of sitting groups in your city, do an online search for "meditation sitting group" or "sangha" in your area.
About the Author
Robert Williams
With a background in education and learning, Robert Williams brings 4 years of hands-on experience to every article. Robert believes in making complex topics accessible to everyone.
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