Daily Meditation

Many people want to meditate daily, but they generally don't. Why is that? Perhaps it is because they have a narrow definition about what meditation is and how to do it. So they think that it will take up too much time from their already busy lives. However, I believe that everyone can find a way to meditate that fits easily into your life as it is right now.

Indeed, one of the best things that I've done for myself is learning how to incorporate meditation into my daily life. There was a time when I thought that it would be too hard or too challenging, because I had in my head that it had to be for at least twenty minutes and I had to sit still.

However, there are many times in my life where that isn't feasible because of various commitments I have or because of interfering internal or external distractions. If this is also the case for you, then don't despair, because there are other ways to create a daily practice.

If you are just starting out, then be kind to yourself and create an environment where you can succeed rather than struggle. One of the key things to keep in mind is to know yourself and then work with your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.

Use the following 3 steps to create your own daily meditation practice:

1) Choose a meditation that you feel you can do

• If you struggle with sitting still, pick one of the moving meditations
• If you struggle with keeping your mind focused, pick one that uses a visual object
• If you struggle with many distracting thoughts, then pick a guided meditation
• If you struggle with relaxing, pick one a sensory one that focuses on your body

2) Choose a length of meditation that fits into your life

For simplicity, I've classified meditation lengths into three broad categories of short, medium and long. And have listed some of the common lengths that people chose to use for their meditations.

Short is 10 minutes or less:

• 1 minute
• 3 minutes
• 5 minutes
• 6 minutes
• 10 minutes
• 11 minutes

Medium is 20-40 minutes:

• 20 minutes
• 22 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 33 minutes
• 45 minutes

Long is an hour or more:

• 55 minutes
• 60 minutes
• 75 minutes
• 90 minutes
• 2 hours
• 3 hours

3) Choose a time in the day that works best for you

Common times for meditating are early morning, such as shortly after you wake up. Mid-day. Late afternoon, or evening. Or late evening just before you go to bed.

Which one you chose is really dependent upon you and your schedule. Are you a morning person? If so, then early mornings may be the perfect way to start your day. Are you a night person? If so, then late evening may become a key part of your bedtime routine to help you coax your body into getting ready for sleep.

Do you have a long lunch break? If so, then getting out of the office for a brisk walk, or doing a short yoga sequence may be the ideal time for you to re-energize your day.

Anytime is a good time if it works into your life.

How to meditate daily

I've found that the following two strategies work best for me. by either linking it with a scheduled activity or to a randomly occurring event. In either case, you create a series or sequence of behaviors that you do, either at the same time every day or spontaneously.

Create a series of behaviours

One of the patterns that has worked for me is that in the mornings I'd get up, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, go down stairs, do yoga for 20 min, meditate in a kneeling position for 20 min, and then write continuously for 20 min. This would be an example of a set sequence of actions that I take and once I start it, then it is easy to carry out.

This is especially helpful when you already have a couple of behaviors that you do every day at the same time and then you just slot meditation into the series. This technique works well because it is chunking up - creating a larger block of behavior that contains the habit you want to incorporate and you'll find that it soon becomes effortless and automatic.

Create an association to a particular stimulus

My daughter used to play a rather annoying game, of which the rules were that if you remembered that you were playing it, then you lost and had to start again. So it is a never-ending, and rather frustrating game.

However, the idea is a great one and my version is the STOP meditation, which is whenever I remember it I STOP what I'm doing for 1 minute and just take in my surroundings. I listen to the sounds, I look at the world around me. I smell the scents. I notice other people's words and behaviors.

Alternatively you could pair a three minute meditation with a particular stimulus. For example, every time you walked by an empty park bench, you could sit down for three minutes and focus on a particular object in your field of vision - just observe it, as a whole, it's details. And then get up and continue about your day.

This strategy works very well with short meditations and you'll soon find that your general level of awareness and mindfulness increases with only a few of these a day.

Go back to How to Meditate

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