Tips for beginning your meditation journey
More and more people are turning to mindfulness and meditation for steadiness and inner calm. Once they manage to integrate the practice in their daily life, there’s no turning back. I speak from my own experience.
Yet, sadly, some give up on the practice way too soon.
This is because just like any new skill we learn, meditation requires a combination of commitment, effort, and patience. Imagine what it takes to learn a new language or play a new instrument?
Added to that, dedicating time every day to pause and ‘do nothing’ is a challenge in its own right. So, you’ve got your own mind to battle with, as it attempts to lure you into doing something more ‘productive’. Not surprising .. given.the performance-driven cultures we live in, where rest and selfceare are not particularly valued.
For those beginning their journey, or those wishing to give meditation another chance, here are three tips that can be helpful:
1. Join a community or group to practise and learn together. It is definitely more motivating and easier than learning solo
2. If you are starting off on your own, dedicate 5 - 10 minutes per day for a week or two and slowly build this up. It’s helpful to also place the ‘event’ as a fixed entry in your calendar
3. When you practise, try your best to let go of expectations and outcomes you are hoping for, and see if you can simply let the experience be the experience
