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.
Hi Anmol,
I do enjoy your site and writings. Is it compulsory to have a separate room for meditation? I’m living in a dorm so I just have one room for every kind of activity. On the other is it essential to sit in the floor or chair? Can I sit on the bed instead of floor?
Sir,
I truely love meditation and i do it regularly morning and evening. I have a small question regarding food and meditattion. I heard that to get best benefit from meditation, we should be pure vegetarian. i occasionaly take fish. Should i leave this and focus more on fruits and fresh vegetables.
regards
S. kumar
Hi. Just letting you know I am taking the introduction to meditation. Thanks for making this available! kp
Dear Sanjay,
Yes this is perfectly fine for her. There are many ways to meditate and some different techniques suit different people. Your wife’s technique is fine for her.
I also suggest that she may wish to try the Sound Awareness Meditation Technique as that is along the lines of what she seems to enjoy.
All Good Wishes,
Anmol
Sir,
i am a regular practicener of meditation. I observe my breath in meditation. My wife has also started doing meditation. I suggested her to observe the breath. But she says that she is not able to enjoy observing breath and feels strain doing it but on the contrary she enjoy sitting in a relaxed posture with closed eye and observing only the darknes inside. she says that she is out of thought soon this way and feels good.
Is it okay with her. Is this a correct way for her?
with regards
sanjay kumar soni
Hi Sanjay,
Yes, the key is to just do the practice, without judgments and expectations. All results will blossom on their own. You have provided very valuable insight regarding another mistake commonly make with meditation. This is along the lines of number 5 above.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.
Best,
Anmol
I have been practicing meditation for aprrox six month.i heard that the best attitude to meditation is not to have any expectation from it when we sit for meditation as it will conflict with doing meditation freely. i feel that i have much expectation from meditation. that is why when i get peace in meditation i become happy whole day but when meditation is not working well, i feel bad whole day and i am not able to forget it during day and I am constantly involved in its thinking. Meditation is supposed to make us think less but when meditation does not work, I am compelled to think more about it. I think this is because of much expectation i have from meditation.
Hi Anand,
The great person has taught you well. You are absolutely on the right track, just keep going without concern for results. This is the secret to all of life.
I do want to add however, that if you are exclusively doing chakra meditation, make sure you are in prime physical shape. Practice some yoga and fitness along with your meditation to make sure that your body and internal systems can handle the energy that is starting to awaken within you now.
Best,
Anmol
Hi I have been doing chakra meditation for 3 months now. I was fortunate to learn it under a great person.I do it without the anticipation of any result purely as a mental excercise.I now feel some vibrations all over my body. I donot know whats next nor am I anticipating it.Guess putting all effort into “Just doing it” is all that counts. Am i right or should I be more objective in looking for results?
Namaste Lynnette,
Great list. I love the fact you call it an extreme sport — it is certainly the ultimate adventure! Thanks for your insightful contributions. I know number 3 was an issue for me initially as I was anything but flexible.
Anmol, thanks for the practical outline on meditation pitfalls. I fully agree with your tips. It’s hard in our fast-results culture to remember to just enjoy the process. I, too, have had a practice for many years. The fruits of my meditation have been enough to keep me going. Getting a taste of the sweetness and pleasure to be found within can give you strength to keep sitting. These are the reasons I think of meditation as an extreme sport:
– You set out to kill yourself by extinguishing the ego
– Most people think it’s weird
– It’s physically painful to sit for a long time
– You have to keep starting at the beginning for years
I appreciate your site. Namaste.
Hi D,
Not at all. Let me offer some clarifications, which I hope will be helpful:
1. Meditation in its most broad definition is simple awareness of life just as it is. Given that, one can (and should) apply oneself throughout the day in remaining mindful and aware of all that is taking place within and without. So technically one ought to try to remain in a “meditative state of mind” as much as possible always.
2. There are of course many variations to “formal” meditation (which is the topic of this article) and you seem to be referring to types that require concentration. Using your free time, while in commute, is a perfect time to practice some of these meditations. An example of such a meditation can be found in the following article as well, in the hints and tips section…
https://anmolmehta.com/2007/05/03/ajna-chakra-meditation-technique-3rd-eye-free-guided-meditation-book-for-daily-practice/
Another example is the sound awareness meditation technique, which can also be practiced in such circumstances…
https://anmolmehta.com/2007/04/18/free-online-guided-meditation-book-sound-awareness-meditation-technique-ch-2/
3. In summary, the general rule is that one should recognize and take advantage of any opportunity that life is offering up to enhance our spiritual growth. The guidelines in this article point out the most common reasons why meditation practices are short lived, but, that does not mean that a passionate meditation practice cannot thrive outside the structure indicated.
BTW: If you think about it, your practice is meeting all the requirements in this article (except maybe #2 :-)
Hello Anmol,
What is your advice to crazy commuters who might have way too much time on bus/train?
I have started trying my meditation on train. I havent been able to block out sounds around or a million things on my mind. But I seem to be sticking on the meditation regimen for about 10-15 mins.
Am I starting on a wrong foot?
Hey Crazy King of Clowns,
Thanks for awarding me the Badge of Honor… specially since it was in your favorite category. Glad I could spread some cheer.
(these comments are referring to the following carnival and following article of mine)
https://anmolmehta.com/2007/05/18/today-i-finally-passed-the-test-and-have-officially-become-a-man/
:-)
Rod,
Great to have you here on the Mastery of Meditation Blog. Guerrilla Meditation — I love it! I would be keen to know if you are able to keep this tactic up over the longer term. Please keep us posted and welcome to the ultimate adventure.
I’ve just started meditating recently (prompted by the book “The Fall” by Steve Taylor). I don’t have the luxury of a shrine, so I do my meditations in odd places at odd times. I think of it as guerrilla meditation. So far I’ve been successful in keeping it up, and I think it has its advantages.
I’m very glad to have found this delightful array of teachings. Thank you!
Hi! Thanks a ton for submitting a post for the Carnival of Craziness!
You’ve won a Badge of Honour!!!!!
Congrats :)
Hi KL,
Amazing you mentioned that as just today I had some people visiting and one of the guests interested in meditation said he has not given meditation a serious attempt as he feels his mind would certainly jump around everywhere. This is along the lines of point #4 above where I suggest that one forgets all about how it is “supposed to be” and just begins the journey.
Thanks for your contribution.
Cheers,
Anmol
One great mistake in starting a daily meditation practice? Believing that you have to ’empty’ your mind to be doing it ‘properly’. And then getting frustrated when your thoughts leap about like a monkey on speed.