Maintaining a Daily Meditation Practice

You’ve just completed a meditation class or come home from your first retreat and naturally there is a concern that you will lose the momentum of your practice.  Maintaining a daily practice is often the biggest concern for new meditators.

One of the important qualities of mindfulness is to “re-collect” so if you re-collect what you’ve gained from meditation so far this can lay the bedrock of right intention and motivate you to keep up a daily practice.   Even with this intention though there are some important keys to keeping up and cultivating your practice.  Here are a few suggestions:

1)    Don’t set too high a standard be realistic given your own schedule and start easy on yourself.  If you make a commitment to practice 45 minutes every morning, but find that you’re only able to do 20 (or less) then the judging mind will call you a failure. Consistency is more important than duration so decide a length which you are comfortable you can regularly achieve.

2)    Set a regular time when you will meditate as this helps create discipline.

3)    Have a space in your home (even if it’s just a corner of your room) that is your meditation space.  Have a cushion or a special chair for your practice.

4)    Try to practice with a group once a week.  If there isn’t a meditation group  one in your area, start one.

5)    Find a meditation buddy—you can check in once a day to hold each other accountable.

6)    Use an APP which has intervals and perhaps helpful guidance. (Insight Timer is a good place to start)

That’s it!  Good luck as you develop your meditation practice.