If you have ever tried to meditate, you know how hard it can be! In today’s post, I am speaking about the challenges that I faced during my 42-day meditation program early this year. Since giving up wasn’t an option, I really wanted to push through and complete the program no matter what. Maybe not the best attitude, but I do believe that we grow most in uncomfortable and challenging situations, and believe me, this program offered a plenty of moments for self-development :).
Challenges
Challenge #1: find a good timeslot when to meditate. Finding 20-40 minutes of free time a day for a longer period of time is tougher than I expected. Considering that I work full-time (at this moment in home office) and all other stuff on my plate, I could pick either morning before work, lunchbreak (which I never take) or in the evening after work. After some trials and errors, I found that early mornings before work are most suitable for me. Ideally after short yoga or stretching practice.
I have also tried to meditate in the afternoon and in the evening, but by then I am usually so tired that I tend to fall asleep or simply cannot focus. This of course varies from person to person, because all of us have different lifestyles and responsibilities. E.g. my friend who has meditating for years, says her best time to meditate is at 4pm. I also know that it would be optimal for me to meditate either in the morning and/or in evening, but I guess I am simply not “there” yet and don’t know if I ever will be. On the weekends when I am not in such a rush, I like to mediate late morning or sometime before noon.
Challenge #2: find a quiet spot and get rid of external distractions. If you are meditating during your vacation on an exotic beach or attend a retreat in a tranquil monastery, 50-minute practice may be truly calming and maybe even enlightening. If you try the same at home where your work computer is two steps away, somebody is walking behind you and the doorbell is ringing, the effect might be complete opposite :). A lot of external distractions make it hard to focus. I know those who are more advanced on their meditation journey are able to block out all these external distractions, but to me it is super hard at this point. This is also why I like to meditate in the morning before the rest of the world wakes up.
Challenge #3: find a comfortable position. When I picture somebody meditating, I always think of a cross-legged person sitting on a floor or on a mat and this is how I start every single one of my meditations even though I know it doesn’t work for me for more than 5 minutes. Due to my injured knee, I know it is impossible for me to sit in this position. So, don’t ask me why I still do it. After 5 minutes, I usually stretch my legs out and lean against the wall with my back. That is the only way how I can get through a 30-minute meditation I know it is very common people to have aching backs and limbs falling asleep during longer practices, so in my opinion, one just needs to move themselves sometimes. I honestly don’t know if it is “allowed”, but I simply move myself if I feel uncomfortable, because that’s what works best for me.
Challenge #4: Thoughts. Thoughts. Thoughts. If you have ever tried to meditate, I am 100% sure you know what I mean here. You sit down, make yourself comfortable and trying to focus on your breath, and there they are. Hello, THOUGHTS. Playing memory game by listing down all today’s errands, drafting mentally a couple of work emails, thinking of what a random person told me 10 years ago, thinking if I shouldn’t do something “better” with my time right now, etc. etc. It is amazing on what speed my brain sometimes work.
Challenge #5: Doubts and anxiety. I am not going to lie, on several extremely busy days when I had lots of stress at work and pulled 12-hour workdays, I asked myself if meditation is really a good place where to invest my time to. I would much rather open my inbox right after I get out of bed and start replying to my emails than meditate for 20 minutes. Even though my brain understands that these 20 minutes won’t make any difference in the big picture, there was often that inexplicable nervous energy around me before I started to meditate. And believe it or not, sometimes, meditation made it even worse. I did talk about it with my coach, and you can read about it in the upcoming Part 3 – “Learnings” post.
To be continued… Stay tuned for Part 3 that is all about the learnings and benefits of my meditation challenge!
Light and love,
Liis