Top 5 Mistakes in Establishing a Daily Meditation Practice
Meditation Practice Obstacles
I have been practicing meditation now for over 23 years — damn I must be getting old :-). In these 2 decades plus I have explored much of the spiritual landscape and discovered many of the profound treasures hidden there. Also, during this time I have made my share of mistakes and seen others make theirs. In this article I want to help you to avoid repeating some of these mistakes, especially those that are related to establishing a deep and strong Daily Personal Meditation Practice. Here are the top 5 mistakes people make when trying to setup their home meditation practice…
1. Procrastinate Starting Your Daily Meditation Practice:
As Lord Buddha said, “There are only 2 mistakes you can make in life. First mistake is not to take the first step and the second is that having taken the first step to not go all the way.” I am amazed how few take the first step. Many people who talk and read about religion, spirituality, yoga, meditation, etc. never actually start a personal meditation program. They even come to me and discuss these matters in great detail, but, never get down to doing it. Meditation in this regard is just like exercise, you can read every book on fitness, but, until you break a sweat you will have zero benefits. You have to get started, you have to do it, there is no other way. No one can do your meditation for you. The biggest mistake is to procrastinate starting your practice. There are endless excuses to delay, there is just one solution: START NOW.
2. Don’t Prepare Your Meditation Environment:
Once you have decided to start your daily meditation practice the first thing you should do is create the necessary environment to make doing your daily practice easier. What does this mean? It means, at the minimum, the following…
- Create a space in your home where you will practice your meditation. The space should be quiet and exclusively used for only meditation and spiritual matters if possible.
- Get a meditation cushion and/or mat to help you sit. If you need to start with using a chair that is fine too.
- Place some items that inspire you in this location (picture, idol, saying, symbol, etc.)
- Get a stop watch or setup another convenient time device.
- Put aside some clothes or get some which will help you sit comfortably.
- Make a silent, firm commitment to do your meditation practice regularly.
It is very important to do this. This is because it is very possible that at the time you decide to start you daily meditation program you are in a highly inspired state, which might not be sustainable over time. Having the meditation environment set-up will make it easier to maintain your consistency even during these “uninspired” periods. Having everything in place, believe me, dramatically increases the chance that you just plop down on your cushion and do your daily meditation.
3. Don’t Set a Definite Time for Your Daily Meditation:
This is similar to mistake #2 in that setting a definite time for your daily meditation is a significant psychological factor in getting you to be consistent with your practice. Just trying to find random times in the day to do your meditation will generally work once in a while and usually only for a short period of time. You must set a time and if possible set this time to early in the morning, before all the distractions of life begin.
4. Think Meditation is Too Hard & Give-up:
Forget about all you have read with regard to how meditation is supposed to work and instead just do your best. Given that just sitting still and focusing on your breath can be hard, it is fully understandable that one is going to have trouble watching the swift and subtle mind. We all fail and fail repeatedly and there is no shame in that. The only mistake is to not get back up the next day and try again. So don’t give up, just keep going and your mental muscles will develop. They have no choice. If you exercise them they develop. So don’t judge yourself harshly and keep the golden rule of Meditation all the time in the back of your mind, it is — Keep Going!
5. Look for Immediate Results:
In our age of instant gratification, trying to get the fastest results possible with minimum effort seems to be the mantra. Diet pills, cosmetic surgery, mega millions lottery, medications for everything under the sun, recreational drugs, constant electronic stimulation, etc, etc. have made trying to get “the kick” the prime objective. Well sorry, meditation is like getting wet while walking in a misty fog. You don’t even realize you are getting wet, but, if you stay out there long enough you will be completely soaked. Meditation is the blossoming of goodness. It will happen on its own, in its own sweet time. Don’t worry about the results just put your best foot forward and keep marching ahead. Soon you will find yourself standing on Heaven’s Doorsteps.
Conclusion:
So today, setup your environment, decide on a time, don’t worry about success or failure and JUST BEGIN YOUR DAILY MEDITATION PRACTICE. There is nothing in life more important that this.
I welcome your comments on what you feel are common mistakes in establishing a daily meditation practice. This information can be very helpful in helping others succeed.
can meditation be just learn online?is a guru necessary for enlightment?just by reading books or browsing through internet can we attain peace of mind through mediation and acheiv higher consciousness?
Great article! very informative and helpful. People who are having a hard time meditating should really read this.
thnx for ur guidance sir..!!
Praveen,
Do meditation after pooja and do pranayama after mediation. That is fine as well…
All the best,
Trupti
respected sir,
i need your view on this urgently,,
i have just started my daily meditation practice,, 15days,, i usually do 5-10mins. pranayama and then 20-30 mins. meditation after my daily pooja…i quite enjoy doing my meditation….i faced a lot of problems discussed by you but still i try to keep myself motivated for this divine task n i try give my faithful n best shot everytime….
i just wanted to know that before i start my pranayama session almost at d end of pooja if any by chance i close my eyes i tend to be pulled in deep meditative state which seems deeper n good from previous ones n i feel like going with the flow which i don’t feel like breaking… would it be alright if i skip my pranayama session sometimes… or is it a mandatory prerequisite… please sir guide me on this…!!!
Thanks..!!
regards
Praveen
Respected Mr. Anmol
i m practicing maditation since last month. its really Awesome. it looks that it is some thing i was searching for. at present i just feels my breath and counts it. i have some issues and your kind assistance is required in this regard
1) can we do it any time even in night time ???
2) is it necessary to avoid all thoughts while doing this or we can go deeper and deeper in thinking single thought. e.g thinking of God.????\
3) i maditates usually after my kundalini yoga poses is it fair or i should do it before taking poses???
4) i cant still my body parts perfectly, specially neck. how can i make them still and how important it is???
i shall really be thankful to you for your kind suggestions.
May God Bless you
Regards
Nadir Pervez
Sir,
Can i practice mindfullness meditation while doing my works
regards
Respected Sir,
My sister-in-law is practicing meditation for more than six month. She observe her normal breath in her meditation. Now she has started haing very different experience. In her meditation, her past memories have started disturbing her and she is not feeling comfortable. She is also having depression. what should she do. Should she carry out meditation or not . please suggest.
regards
Dear Amit,
Yes this is perfect. From here if you wish to take your meditation to the final level, you can try the Silent Mind Meditation Technique, which uses your technique to set-up the moment to moment comprehension of the thinking process via direct perception.
Best,
Anmol
Sir,
My meditation technique is : I observe my normal breath. Whenever any thoughts take me away, i gentally come to breath.i do not put effort in observing the breadth, i simply like to observe it with ease.While observing breath, thought process may remain in background but i let them be there and keep observing my breath. Slowly i find that my thought intensity reduces and i feel okay.
Sir, is it a correct practice of meditation
Hi Ed,
Your input is always most welcome here. Thanks for giving such great tips to Sweta.
Best,
Anmol
Hi Sweta,
Please see the great advise from Ed as well. To reduce heat in addition, practice sheetali pranayama, practice is a well ventilated area (even fan is ok) and adjust diet to reduce spices and hot foods.
Also, please let me know exactly what kind of meditation you are doing.
Best,
Anmol
sweta,
I don’t want to surplant anmol, but in my experience, feeling hot is a normal reaction to meditation since you are increasing your energy/vibration. Kundalini rising will also generate a lot of heat. anuloma viloma pranayama can help with that (anmol has an article on how to do that pranayama). or simply breathe through your left nostril for a few minutes.
hello sir
i am doing meditation from last 5 mounths regularly .
now a days i am feeling very hot in my whole body
please tell me my meditation is going to be right or wrong.
regards
sweta
Dear Sanjay,
Well put. See the thought and let it go, return to your breath. Exactly right. Thanks for sharing your first hand experience with meditation. I am sure it will prove to be very helpful to others as well.
Best,
Anmol
Dear Sir,
i am doing meditation for the last one year. I would like to share one experience. In the beginning, in meditation i used to try to avoid the thought.Later, i realize that right way is not avoid the thought but to let it represent fully and then just to ignore them. Now i just observe my normal breadth and I let the thoughts come up fully without doing any attempt to supress it. Then, I just ignore them and come to breath. This process of letting the thought go and coming to breadth gives me lot of joy.
regards
sanjay
Dear Swati,
Yes absolutely, spontaneous joy is a benefit of meditation, as are your other experiences. Also, true is the mixed feelings after meditation. Sometimes as the body and mind cleanse themselves you may feel not so good.
You have a terrific practice going. Keep it up!
Best,
Anmol
Dear Sir,
I observe my normal breath in my meditation half an hour every morning and eveing for the last ten month. I now feel lot of changes in my behaviour. I am now more aware of my thoughts during working time also thus it becomes easy to let go negative thought, more content about what i have. Some time, getting much happy without any reason etc. Is it all because of meditation? Moreover, my daily experineces about meditation is not same. Sometime, i feel mediation much enjoying and sometime do’t feel good after meditation. Is it part of learning meditation. I have also started doing anulom vilom and sudarshan kriya before meditation under the guidance of my teacher.
with regards
swati
IIT Kharagpur
Hi Navid,
Not essential at all to have a separate room, just handy if it is possible.
The bed is fine, except that because it is soft, it could make it harder to sit up straight, comfortably for long periods, so you may wish to try the floor (with a firm cushion) for sitting meditation.
Best,
Anmol
Dear S. Kumar,
If you need to take fish for health or nutritional needs it is ok. Since you only occasionally take fish anyway, I would not worry about it too much.
Going forward, listen to your body and inner voice, for in matters like this the right decision usually comes from within.
Best,
Anmol