Meditating is Effing Tough
No really. It is. I promise.
But all you have to do is sit there cross-legged, breathe and hum. Anybody can do that.
OK. Go try it. Just do it for 2 minutes and let me know how it goes….
So how long before…shit, I forgot to call Mom, I need to do that, maybe she’ll send me brownies. Wait. Breathe. Focus. Breathe. Focus…I wonder if the Knicks can beat the Lakers tonight, I mean the Lakers are asking teams to lose to them and Porzingis is the best thing to come out of Lithuania since….what the hell else has come out of Lithuania? Is he even from Lithuania, or is it Latvia? Crap, focus!
Point is, meditating is significantly harder than the average person thinks it is.
Yet everyone keeps talking about how meditation is a workout for your brain, the key to being productive, and will make you a superhero!
So how do we actually reap the benefits of this seemingly simple activity?
1. Find a good teacher (app)
For those who have not started and would like to OR for those who have started and feel like they aren’t really doing much: Start with a program that will genuinely help you succeed in your endeavor. I strongly recommend Headspace, a really easy-to-use app that offers you your first 10 days free of charge. You get the process of meditating broken down to you by founder Andy Puddicombe, whose soothing Australian accent calms you down as much as the whole meditating thing, and explained to you step by step. If you feel inclined after the 10 day trial, you can subscribe for extra sessions for about $8 a month. Or if you are cheap like me, you can try and take some of the things you learned and put them into practice yourself. While there are other meditation apps out there that I’m sure are useful, your search on the App Store will be more useful than my partial explanation of them. But I will say that Headspace was a great introduction for me and my friends who tried it.
2. Work at it
Don’t get over-frustrated when you have difficulties with the process. Like I said, Meditating is effing tough. It is something that you have to practice to become better at. But this is tough. Why? Because meditating is unlike everything else that we practice in life. When you practice basketball, you work hard in drills to get better. When you practice writing, you write a lot and get feedback on how to improve.
In most pursuits in life, you are practicing by doing something. In meditation, it’s different.
In meditation, you are actively practicing not doing something.
It’s not easy to sit there and do nothing but breathe. There’s a reason parents get so stressed when their children won’t sit still in public. With meditation, we are the parent and our brain is the annoying little brat that won’t stop putting objects in his mouth.
But, you have to practice it repeatedly to get better at it. There is a reason monks mediate for years trying to reach a higher level of understanding. Don’t expect that you’re going to do it in 2 weeks because you’re listening to rain videos on youtube. You have to be deliberate and determined to actually improve and see some benefits.
3. Stay Committed
It sounds simple, but just like meditating, it’s effing tough. Are you on an app that helps you track whether or not you’ve meditated that day? Do you have a friend that will hold you accountable to meditate every day? Do you set a reminder on your phone? Try 3. You know you’re going to pass over the first reminder like it didn’t happen. The 2nd reminder will make you feel slightly guilty. By the 3rd reminder, you’ll have no other choice but to just do the damn thing.
Meditating is Effing Tough
Yes, it’s worth repeating that meditating is not easy. It is a skill that requires effort and practice. But the benefits have been scientifically proven to help you in life. So maybe it’s worth the trouble to meditate each day. Maybe you miss a couple of days here and there. Maybe you can only do 5 minutes one day. Yet, it’s a useful habit to start and once you get the hang of it, you won’t look back. So keep breathing and stop listening to all the outside noise, you’ll get there sooner rather than later.
One step at a time. Easier said than done.
