
How To Meditate Regularly
10 Tips That Will Help You Meditate Regularly and Consistently
Prioritize Meditation
10 Tips That Will Help You Meditate Regularly and Consistently
1) Start Early: Try and meditate first thing in the morning if it’s possible.
This will ensure that it gets done and can give you energy and set you on track for a mindful day.
Or choose a time that you are most alert and less rushed.
2) Prioritize: If meditating in the morning isn’t your thing, make sure that you prioritize it.
Remind yourself that nothing is more important than the health of your mind.
3) Keep it Familiar: Thinking ‘same time, same place’ will help you turn this new practice into a fully established habit.
4) Relate it to Something Else: It might help to attach your meditation to another fully established daily activity such as brushing your teeth. Think ‘brush teeth and then meditate’ or ‘meditate and then coffee’. By doing this you will be integrating your meditation practice into a well established routine.
5) Flexibility: Be prepared to be flexible with your routine – not every day is going to look the same, which might mean you have to move your meditation to a different place, time etc. Don’t let this work as an excuse to skip it altogether.
6) Be Less Judgmental: Try not to judge your meditation too much. There can often be a tendency to think you are "bad" or "good" at meditation. In reality, there is no such thing. If you understand the long term purpose of your practice this will never be a problem.
7) Remind Yourself Of The Benefits: After each session, make sure you take a moment to notice how you feel – physically, emotionally and mentally. As soon as you start establishing a connection between your meditation practice and feeling better, the easier you will find it to sit down each day and maintain consistent practice.
8) Buddy Up: Try and get a friend involved too if you can. You don’t have to meditate at the same time but simply having something who’s also looking to establish a meditation routine can help spur you on and strengthen your commitment.
9) Manage Your Expectations: Daily meditation is a life-long skill, not a quick fix solution. While you might see some immediate benefits, others might take longer to appear. Make sure you focus on just taking each day as it comes.
10) Record Any Excuses. If you decide not to meditate one day, make a note of your reasoning. Seeing the excuse written down can help to minimize it. Tomorrow it won’t have the same power over you, especially when compared to how important the health of your mind really is.
(* With permission Andy Puddicombe meditation teacher, author and co-founder of Headspace)
https://www.mindfulnesswithsusie.com/he/courses/about-the-course