My Daily Meditation Practice

It’s time to let you in on the secret that is my daily meditation practice. For the longest time, I struggled with making meditation a daily habit. I would stick with it for a few days, weeks or even a month and then it would just sort of fall to the wayside. 

It was frustrating because I wanted to make meditation a regular part of my day, but I kept starting and stopping and I couldn’t figure out why. Toward the end of last year, my functional doctor gave me an Rx for meditation. Yes, that’s right. She told me it was imperative that I meditate daily for 10 minutes. 

After that, my daily meditation practice was born.

For the past five months, I haven’t missed a single day of meditation and the result has been life-changing. 

I wish I could say there has been one big secret to finally committing to a daily meditation practice, but the truth is, it happens for everyone differently. However, this is what I’ve found works for me: 

One // Make it non-negotiable. I’ve talked about a no-excuses approach to exercise and the truth is the same holds for meditation. I give myself an extra 10 minutes every morning and on the days when things just don’t go as planned in the a.m. – which is rare – I sneak it in at another point during the day, even if that means before right before bed. 

Two // Use an app. Two apps, Headspace and Inscape, have been instrumental in keeping me on track because they guide me through my meditation and keep track of how many days in a row I’ve meditated, which makes me not want to miss a day!

For 10 FREE days of Headspace, CLICK HERE.

For 5 FREE days of Inscape, CLICK HERE. 

Three // Know why. Like anything else, it’s important to understand why you’re meditating – both selfishly and unselfishly. I love that Headspace builds this into the actual meditation practice. It’s a gentle reminder that I’m cultivating this habit for a very good reason, much bigger than myself. 

Four // Persevere. When you start meditating, it’s common to feel like you don’t notice much of a difference at first or even to doubt that you’re doing it right. Stick with it. With a long-term practice, the benefits will come. You may start to notice them slowly and subtly as I have. 

These are some of the more surprising results I’ve seen: 

• An overall feeling of more joy, happiness and kindness
• A positive outlook even on less than positive days 
• More patience with difficult situations and people 
• Less reactive and clear-headed in trying moments 

Do you have a daily meditation practice? What has been your secret to making it stick? If not, what is a challenge in the way of making it a daily habit?