The benefits of meditation are quite immense. I often suggest meditation for almost any trouble that occurs within your life because it is such a powerful, under-utilized tool in today’s world.
Too often people give up far too quickly because they don’t fully understand how to meditate and what to do when it isn’t working for them.
The major reason why meditation isn’t working many people face is that they just don’t meditate often enough. Meditation is similar to working out at the gym. The first gym session you might be fairly sore and it feels like you did more damage than good. After your first few sessions you start getting less and less sore and able to lift more weight. Meditation is roughly the same idea, the more you meditate the more of the benefits that you will experience from it.
Scared of Silence
The main goal of meditating is to quiet the mind. If you’ve never experienced a quiet mind before it can almost seem unsettling at first.
Do I really need to think all the time? Hey.. maybe I should just start thinking again so that I don’t need to feel the present moment..
When we first encounter the silence of the mind it is the complete opposite of how many people live their daily lives. In the current world of super fast, gotta go, instant gratification reward systems we don’t often get to experience life as it is in the present moment.
Becoming accustomed to the scattering thoughts around our mind about where we need to be for the next few days or if our boss is going to give us that raise is a big hurdle that many will need to face when first meditating.
Unfortunately in today’s world this is normal. Having a racing mind is not unusual and many would say that anything different is actually abnormal. I would like to go ahead and suggest that due to how we have become accustomed to technology this is just a byproduct of the world we have grown into.
How often do you pick up your phone a day just to mindlessly scroll through it only to do the same a few minutes later? Are you patient enough that you will wait a few minutes for a friend in peace or get flustered and upset that they are late to arrive?
Meditation will eventually work for you if you practice and give it a chance. It’s ok to be scared at first when we have no way of knowing there was a different way to live and perceive reality.
Meditation will not be something that you “get” right away, it will take time. I would suggest to keep practicing even if it just means 5 minutes a day of your time.
Not Enough Practice
If I told you to right now go to an NBA game and try to score a goal?
Of course you wouldn’t be able to do it unless you were fairly practiced. The same goes for meditation.
Meditation will only work for you with practice over time, just like anything else in life.
It’s important to remember why we started to meditate, we want a cleaner mind, to feel more peaceful, to live in the present moment.
While at first sitting there without doing “anything” and just focusing on breathing may end up feeling like an eternity even though it’s only been 5 minutes. You may also feel as if you’ve gotten no where.
The fact that you actually sat down and decided to practice meditation is tremendous in itself. It says that you are willing to look deep within yourself and take a stand for once in your life. Living a better life is an option and you took the high road.
It won’t be easy at first but just continue, adding a minute every few days to your session.
Just focus on your breath, breathe in and breathe out. Follow the air inside your nose down to your stomach and out again through your mouth. Repeat.
Eventually you will have gotten to a point where it almost feels as if time has stood still. It’ll feel like all your problems and sufferings are melting away, this is a good thing!
Once we first experience the positive joys of meditation it will be difficult to put a lid on it. It’s just like any other practice, to begin is difficult but the learning curve will eventually flatten and you will have had many sessions under your belt.
Don’t worry about how this session is, today, worry about if you decided to meditate that day.
Did you meditate today? If so, congratulations! If not, take 5 minutes and do it right now! The rest of the article can wait. I’m sure you have 5 spare minutes of your life to feel better inside, to have a less active mind.
Not Utilizing Guided Meditations
If meditation isn’t working for you, the easiest option would be to use a guided meditation.
While these are usually longer than 5 minutes, they are incredible in the sense that they are easy to follow along to and have a decisive beginning, middle and end.
I’ve been practicing for over 10 years and still utilize them from time to time depending on how I’m feeling.
To make the most out of a guided meditation session make sure you have the allotted time available to you without distractions.
Wear headphones or earbuds to avoid other noises to cause you to “exit’ your meditative state.
Listen.
Listen deeply.
Try to understand what Adyashanti is saying in that video.
Keep your eyes closed if possible, opening them every now and then is perfectly fine but I would suggest that keeping them closed for 90 percent of the time is ideal.
Having someone help you fairly early on with meditation is going to be immense.
Eventually you will be comfortable enough to do meditation on your own without any guidance and these are what these videos are for. They’re there to get you started, to get you on your feet so that you can help yourself meditate to your full potential.
There are multitudes of applications out there as well such as Headspace if you’d prefer to use your phone on the go as well.
Imagine a guided meditation as training wheels for a bicycle. Eventually you’ll learn how to ride the bike and be brave enough to try to ride it without the training wheels.
The same goes for meditation. It takes bravery to meditate all alone. Sometimes we are so scared of what’s inside we hide behind anything so that we don’t need to face it. Meditation is the complete opposite of that, it reveals your true nature.
Just allow things to be as they are and go with the flow, take as long as you need until you are comfortable to do it on your own.
Afraid of Yourself
Too often we are afraid of what is inside and having to deal with it.
It’s too normal to come home from work, turn off the tv, sleep and repeat. Meditation will not work for you if this is what you plan to do with your life. Meditation is there to show you what is going on inside the mind and how to come face to face with your inner being.
A person who has never meditated before might be scared to deal with their past traumas in their lives and I totally understand. It can be entirely too difficult to even imagine the pain you went through in your prior life.
But we must. If want meditation to work for us and to encounter all of it’s benefits then we must look inward and face our true selves. Far too often in life we forget about who we are and what we are doing just so that we don’t need to face ourselves.
Life is filled with distractions, meditation is the opposite of a distraction. It takes focus and energy to meditate. Watching Netflix is the opposite of that.
Try to give it a chance. In the beginning the pain will hurt from the past traumas. The point of meditation is to heal our past pain and focus on the present moment.
Remember, these things only existed in our past lives and not in the present.
If there is something going on in your present moment that is bothering you then meditating will help you to let go of it. If it’s a heartbreak or a job loss, the presence of mind meditation can offer you will get you through those difficult times.
Bringing it all together
Don’t be afraid of what meditation brings up within you. Don’t ask yourself “why isn’t meditating working for me” but rather ask “how can I make meditating work”.
I cannot stress how important the benefits of meditation are for everyday life. Living a richer, deeper life while living in the present moment is a gift that I wish I could give everyone on Earth.
In these current times of trouble in the world, everyone could use a breather from it all.
Meditating is the best way to relax the mind that humanity knows of.
Doing these things will help you along the way:
- Meditate daily
- Have longer meditation sessions overtime
- Don’t be afraid to interact with yourself on a deep level
- Love and forgive yourself if it doesn’t work right away
- Have patience
As long as we can follow these simple steps, meditating can and will eventually work for you.
I’m sure of it as I’ve had the same experience in the past as well.
Just remember the gym analogy, it will eventually get easier over time just like every other practice.
As long as we are patient with ourselves the benefits of meditation will reveal themselves.
Remember that even though some of your meditation sessions may seem difficult that they are still meditation sessions.
Not every session is going to be a breeze, some will be more difficult than others when things arise in the mind that we were not prepared for.
Dealing with our mind while we have a set time every day will further help you develop your inner self.
Don’t give up! I believe in you, you will eventually be meditating everyday with ease and laugh at the times in the beginning when it all seemed so difficult!
If you’re still in need of a nudge, I compiled a list of reasons why you should start meditating.
Don’t worry, you will get there in time!
Namaste
