Practice meditation every day
But don't force it.
But don't force it.
A daily practice of a short amount of time is so much more effective than an occasional long period of meditation. For one thing, occasional practice means you are starting over again each time, rather than building upon your meditation from the previous day. Think in terms of physical exercise. An occasional long and intense workout is not effective in physical training and it also serves to punish you with frustration. You are going to be sore and with little gain to show for it, and you will be less ready to try it again. An occasional long period of meditation is likely to bring frustration and reinforce the idea, "I cannot meditate."
When you miss a day, even for a very good reason, picking back up with meditation the next day is a little harder. It is a little easier to decide again, on the next day, that "I will tomorrow." Better to shorten a meditation period, if absolutely necessary, than to forego it. Better to shorten it and keep your meditation practice at your routine time (you have established a routine, haven't you?) than to put it off until later in the day. But it is better to alter your routine for the day and meditate later, than to put it off until the next day.
As important as it is to be very determined to meditate every day, it is just as important to recognize that you CANNOT make anything in particular happen during your meditation on any particular day. When you try to force a particular kind of meditation experience, your mind will resist and rebel. Then you will have "failed" and your guilt will rise and you motivation will plummet.
Neither can you make your meditation an intense experience, regardless of length of session. Do not get caught up in chasing an experience you had while in meditation, or chasing an experience that others have had, and promised you.
Commit to a daily practice, rather than an intense practice. Over time, what may seem like a series of boring periods of meditation will combine their work and begin to show up as changes in the way your mind is working, both during meditation and outside of your meditation, in your living more mindfully.
Additionally, when you practice meditation, even for a short period, each day, you will soon find that it is easier to remember to do it, and it is easier to find the time to extend that meditation period a little bit longer. Eventually those long periods of meditation you longed for will belong to you, not just be longed for.
When you miss a day, even for a very good reason, picking back up with meditation the next day is a little harder. It is a little easier to decide again, on the next day, that "I will tomorrow." Better to shorten a meditation period, if absolutely necessary, than to forego it. Better to shorten it and keep your meditation practice at your routine time (you have established a routine, haven't you?) than to put it off until later in the day. But it is better to alter your routine for the day and meditate later, than to put it off until the next day.
As important as it is to be very determined to meditate every day, it is just as important to recognize that you CANNOT make anything in particular happen during your meditation on any particular day. When you try to force a particular kind of meditation experience, your mind will resist and rebel. Then you will have "failed" and your guilt will rise and you motivation will plummet.
Neither can you make your meditation an intense experience, regardless of length of session. Do not get caught up in chasing an experience you had while in meditation, or chasing an experience that others have had, and promised you.
Commit to a daily practice, rather than an intense practice. Over time, what may seem like a series of boring periods of meditation will combine their work and begin to show up as changes in the way your mind is working, both during meditation and outside of your meditation, in your living more mindfully.
Additionally, when you practice meditation, even for a short period, each day, you will soon find that it is easier to remember to do it, and it is easier to find the time to extend that meditation period a little bit longer. Eventually those long periods of meditation you longed for will belong to you, not just be longed for.