3 Reasons Your Meditation Practice is a STRUGGLE... and How to Fix It!

Before we begin, a quick warning:

Do NOT simply read this post and think “Oh, this is interesting,” and store the information in your brain without taking action.

If you want to have a meditation practice that is consistent, enjoyable, and energizing, then read this post carefully, and be thoughtful about how it applies to your own life and practice.

Here we go… the 3 reasons why your meditation practice is failing:

1) PRESSURING yourself to sit for too long

People tend to think that in order to “really" meditate, you need to sit for at least 20 or 30 mins, or maybe an hour.

Fortunately, it’s just not true. You DON'T have to sit for 20 minutes every morning to be a "good" meditator.

Even 1 minute counts as meditation (actually, just a single moment of awareness is all it takes). That means your daily meditation sits can be as long or as short as you like.

It’s much better to choose an amount of time that you can be consistent with, rather than picking a time that’s too long and that you’re not able to commit to.

Solution: Start with 5 minutes every day. If that’s too hard, move it down to 3 minutes. Too easy? Move it up to 10 minutes. And if you ever miss 2 days in a row, drop your goal down to 1 minute per day, until you can be consistent. 

2) Thinking you need to “CLEAR YOUR MIND”

When most people try meditation, they sit down, focus on the breath, and INEVITABLY, a thought pops into the mind, and they start thinking.

If it’s your first time meditating, you might think you’ve failed. That you were supposed to stop yourself from thinking and just be in a state of absorptive bliss where you are completely focused in the present, and one with the universe.

Fortunately, that’s not true either. Meditation is not about stopping your thoughts, or clearing your mind, it’s just about seeing what your mind is doing.

Let me repeat that: there is NOTHING wrong with thinking during meditation. The key is to be aware of thoughts when they happen.

Solution: When a thought comes into the mind, just let it come. No need to push it away or cling to it. Just watch it come, say hello to it, and then let it be there. It’s only a problem if you make it one. 

If this was news to you, you may need to take my course, Mindfulness Made Easy!, which will teach you everything you need to know about practicing mindfulness meditation.

3) Trying to do it all ON YOUR OWN

Most people fail to keep up a consistent meditation practice. It’s difficult to meditate every day. 

It’s very easy to skip your practice. "I’ll do it later," you say, and then later never comes.

No one is there to call you out on it. One skipped day turns into two, which turns into three.

Time flies, and then it’s been month since you’ve actually sat down to meditate.

Solution: Seek out support from a meditation group, a friend, or a teacher. Find accountability from someone who’s done it before, and knows what you’re going through. Successful people know how to get help from others. 

By the way, if you’re looking for help in meditation, or just with your mind in general, have a chat with me about where you’re getting stuck, and I’ll point you in the right direction.

And if you're getting stuck with something else in meditation, let me know in the comments below, and I'll see if I can help!