The time is…now!

In a recent survey, when I asked our community what your biggest challenge is in practicing meditation, one of the most common responses was finding the time to meditate. Many of you are simply too busy to take the time to practice meditation, you’re just too involved in (and swept up by) life to find the time.

And to that I say…..

Impossible!!!  Why?

 

Meditation = Non-Distraction

At its heart, meditation is simply a state of non-distraction, where we allow whatever arises within our mind to simply be. Easier said than done, I get it. However, considering this definition, the practice of meditation is simply learning to watch your mind, and practicing (not worrying about achieving!) letting go of thoughts as they arise. And you can do that anywhere, at anytime. 

The average person sleeps about 8 hours a day; that leaves another ~ 16 hours of wakefulness. 

16 hours = 960 minutes

So tell me, out of that 960 minutes, do you have 10 minutes when you could practice meditating? Maybe even 20?

And here’s the thing, there are TONS of opportunities to practice. In fact, I’ve even written about this in my post “17 Ways to Practice Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.”

Start taking advantage of little “slices” of time…

….find short periods of time, even for just 1 minute, when you can just drop your thinking mind, focus on your breath and relax into the moment. And don’t “try” to do anything; just be. Just be. Simply remain in the moment, watching your thoughts and sensations, as they arise and fall, like waves rising and falling back into the ocean.

Try many-mini-meditation-moments throughout the day.

There is NO “Right Time” to Meditate!

So many of us wait until we have the right time, the perfect circumstances, the time when we aren’t busy, when we aren’t busy thinking about what we have to do, or what we’ve done in the past. 

Let’s face it, there is no “right time” to practice meditation…except for right now, here, this moment…and the next. 

Paying attention to the moment-by-moment passage of time, allowing the fleeting thoughts to come and go as they please, not following after thoughts, not thinking about the past, not anticipating the future. THAT is how we meditate. And we can do that anywhere, at any time, in any circumstances.

TRY IT! And then let me know what happens. What’s your experience when you don’t try to do anything special? What happens when meditation becomes simply a part of your day, and not a special occasion when all of the stars are aligned?

 

How To Meditate

 

Maybe you’ve already got a meditation practice. If that’s the case, great! Keep it up. And feel free to use all of the content from this site to support you in your efforts. If you haven’t started to meditate, begin now.

Many people don’t meditate because they believe that they need to do “something special” in order to meditate, maybe you’re one of them. “Doing something” special isn’t the case. All you need is your breath, and a few minutes of time set aside to begin your practice. Here are some tools to get you started:

This site has tons of tools for learning how to meditate.

I encourage you to look through the HUNDREDS of articles that I’ve written and especially check out my weekly meditation tips and other useful meditation materials provided for your health and well being. And please let me know if you’d like to discuss anything with me, have any questions or need clarification regarding anything that I’ve written about.

Thanks for visiting and have a mindful day.