My Motivation–and Tips–for Meditation

If you know me, it’s no secret that I am a big believer in the endless benefits of meditation. When reflecting on my most compelling reasons why I try my best to incorporate the practice of meditation into my daily life, this is what I came up with.

1. Inner peace. 

As cliche as this might seem, the first thing I notice when I start back into my meditation habit is less reactivity. When things happen, there is spaciousness inside of me. I feel calmer in the midst of stress. This is a well documented benefit of meditation.

2. Longevity.

Daily meditation is correlated with so many physical health benefits: lowering blood pressure, reducing dementia risk, preventing heart disease, improving sleep, reducing sensitivity to pain, among others! What’s not to like?

3. To be a better parent, wife, friend, and counselor.

I am more present for others when my nervous system can rely on me to give myself the gift of presence, too. 

4. To model it to my daughter.

It’s hard sometimes. She is 3 as of this writing and my meditation does not look like it did before I became a mom. Sometimes I only get 30 seconds in before I have a sweet little voice asking me something or crawling into my lap. But I do it anyway (most days) because of her. I hope she thinks meditation is normal and does it when she’s older. (For now, she does a 5 minute “color meditation” on the Insight Timer app. We keep it fun and stay curious!)

5. To learn about myself. 

This is endless. I learn every time. Maybe I learn that I’m more stressed than I thought, because my mind keeps wandering back to that same old thing. Or maybe, I realize how grateful I am for a particular event or person. Maybe I notice my breathing is different on that day. And often, I use an amazing biofeedback tool- the Muse Headband– that gives me real time feedback about my brain waves. Truly fascinating stuff and not that expensive if you think about the technology you’re getting. 

So… if you’re interested in giving it a try, how do you meditate? There are many approaches but we know from research that the most important thing is to do it daily (or close). Meditating for 3 minutes every morning will be much more beneficial (emotionally and physically) than an hour every Sunday. 

The sweet spot to obtain many of the benefits mentioned above seems to be somewhere around 15-20 minutes per day, but truly, any amount will help quite literally restructure your brain and help in countless ways. 

Here are some of my favorite tips for getting started with a meditation practice: 

–Pick a regular time and stick to it. After you make coffee? After putting the kids to bed? After dinner? 

-Try “habit bundling“- pair your meditation practice with something you always do, like making tea, brushing your teeth, or feeding the pets. Your brain will start to associate the two habits, and make it easier for you to stick to your newer meditation habit.

–Use an app like Insight Timer or invest in a Muse headband to guide you, especially at first. 

-Join a meditation challenge, which could include a goal of meditating for a certain amount of days in a row, if you’re someone who is motivated by streaks. 

-Going back to the basics of noticing your breath is literally always a good place to go if you’re feeling stuck. 

-Remain curious. Don’t judge. Just notice. The goal is not to obtain a state of total mental calm (that’s impossible, except maybe for full time monks?). The goal is to practice. 

-If you miss a day, that’s ok. Just start again. 

–Try different types of meditation when needed. I have been in seasons of life when I didn’t sit for meditation but tried to incorporate it into my routine somehow (like when lying with my then newborn waiting for her to fall asleep or when locking my car, which became a signal to my brain to notice my breathing and surroundings, greatly improving my ability to remember where in the parking garage I parked). You can try walking meditation, meditating with a mantra, or many guided meditations (again, I love Muse and Insight Timer for this, as well as for the non-guided timer or background sound options).

To conclude this post, here are some of my favorite quotes sayings about meditation: 

“You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day.
Unless you’re too busy, then you should sit for an hour.” 

Zen saying

Of course, an hour a day just isn’t practical for many of us… but the quote drives home the importance of meditation. The more normal it becomes for you, the more true this last quote will feel! 

“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.”

Pema Chodron

Ready to start your mental health journey?