7 Easy Tips To Make Meditation An Everyday Habit

As we explore the topic of resolutions & habits, I want to discuss one of my favorite habits. It’s the habit of meditating every day. 

It took a while for me to turn meditation into a regular habit. However, there were some things I relied on earlier in my practice. They helped me go from sporadic to daily meditation. In this article, I will share some of these ideas that worked for me, along with advice from meditation masters. 

Everyone has reasons to meditate. I do it to strengthen my mind. I have been in enough situations where I would have made better choices if I had more self-awareness. Meditation is the key to unlocking that. It gives us a window to ourselves. 

Why Meditate Every Day?

Meditation, like exercise, is a gradual way of training our minds. For example, we know that working out once a week vs. daily has different results. Similarly, practicing daily vs. sporadically is much more beneficial to us.

Meditation is a skill and, like any skill, needs to be repeated on a regular basis if it’s to be learned and refined.

Andy Puddicombe, Monk/Founder – Headspace

7 Tips To Turn Meditation Into An Everyday Habit

1. Decide On When & Where? 

Like any new habit, a detailed plan helps us stick with it. First, pick an uninterrupted time that works for you. For me, it’s first thing in the morning. The time we deice on should be when you feel most fresh. Next, decide on an area where you want to meditate. It can be your designated meditation spot.

2. Meditate For Less Time Than You Can Handle

The Tergar meditation program suggests that we meditate for short periods but many times. This analogy was helpful in my practice. I started with as little as 5 minutes and scaled up when I felt ready.

Don’t go beyond your personal limits. The Best rule is to spend less time meditating than you think you can. Rather than thinking you have accomplished your goal, leave yourself wanting more.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

3. Track Your Meditation Progress Visually

The Headspace App helped me in making meditation a daily habit. I loved that it showed how long my streak is. I relied on their courses, like basic level 1, 2, etc., to stay consistent with my practice. Days 2 and 3 of the course continued the previous day.

Hearing small things from the teacher like ‘Hi, Welcome Back’ made me want to come back. In addition, the teachers offered a sense of progress and encouragement. Knowing that I am making progress served as a good motivator.

I started with basic and pro levels, followed by theme-based. I no longer feel the need for an App while meditating. But in those beginning days, it gave me an excellent foundation.

4. Rely On Guided meditation

If you are new to meditation, sitting by yourself can be overwhelming. So I often relied on guided meditations within Headspace & Tergar’s courses. The teachers guide you through the practice. The instructions on how and what to expect are helpful. They help you realize it’s ok to get distracted and that you’re not doing it wrong. 

There can be a lot of self-inflicted pressure to meditate the right way. One of the top reasons people give up is because they feel discouraged. Knowing there isn’t a right or wrong way helps you stick with it. 

5. Keep Coming Back To It

When you lose your streak, keep coming back to your practice. There is no reason to punish ourselves by giving up meditation. Even if we miss it for a week or two! In the beginning days, I used to have 12-day streaks that got reset to 1. If we can get past the guilt, we can turn meditation into a regular practice. 

6. Pick A Style That Works For You

According to Rinpoche, Different circumstances require different measures. It’s always helpful to have several options at your disposal. For example, form meditation might work better for you if you are a visual person. If you are a verbal person, a mantra might work better.

After a year of meditation, I found that using the breath as support no longer suited me. I now use a variety of methods as a support for meditation, like sounds, awareness, body scans, etc.

7. Notice How You Feel

When you are a beginner, it helps to keep track of how you feel before and after meditation. The Tergar app that I use helps me track my feelings. I can choose between happy, distracted, etc. I love that they have a smiling emoji next to distracted. It makes you feel like it’s normal.

You can also track by writing down your progress in journals. The meditation & Mindfulness book has journals you can use for recording.

Notice whatever is happening in your body each time you meditate. Simply witnessing this transition, day after day, can in itself lead to a more relaxed way of seeing things, a greater willingness to accept and be part of change.

Andy Puddicombe

Most people give up meditation because it is hard. However, there are a variety of tactics you can use to make meditation easy. I hope you try different methods before deciding what works for you. 

Five minutes a day is a commitment we can all make to train our minds. I stuck with it because I noticed that the days I meditate, I am happier vs. not. In these uncertain times, we all need a way to cope with the world. A trained mind helps deal with life and be a better version for others.

References:

• Meditation & Mindfulness By Andy Puddicombe – It is easy to follow and a great beginner’s book. It includes an offline diary at the end to track your practice. 
• Joy Of Living By Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche- An excellent resource that I refer to from time to time. If you want to deepen your meditation practice, this can be a great resource. 
• How To Develop A Meditation Habit by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche – A 2 minute insightful video.
• Check out my other article on the benefits I see from meditating on a regular basis.