Patience and Consistency are the Key to Success

If you are new to meditation, the key thing is to be patient and consistent with your practice. It can be challenging for new meditators to remain aware and focused on the present moment because it’s easy to get distracted by your thoughts. It’s important not to get discouraged by this – it’s totally normal. This happened to me initially; I tried to focus on my breath but would get sidetracked by random thoughts or daydreams. This was frustrating and I felt like I was failing. I eventually learned that it is totally fine and even expected to get caught up in thoughts; the goal is to return back to awareness and to the present moment without judging or criticizing yourself.

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Consistency is critical to an effective practice. It’s tempting to stop meditating when you are in a good state of mind; I’ve done this and later realized that discontinuing my practice affected me in a negative way. It isn’t necessary to maintain a strict schedule when you meditate but it is vital to try and do it everyday. It’s fine if you can’t close your eyes and focus on your breath some days because meditation is about staying in the moment and being aware; you don’t need to close your eyes to achieve that. Anytime you can come to awareness is beneficial. Even now, more than a year into my practice, I feel differently if I don’t meditate or stay in the moment for most of the day. When I am being consistent with my practice I feel sharp, happy, balanced, and relaxed.

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The last point is just to stay patient. To quote Mahatma Gandhi, “To lose patience is to lose the battle.” Like everything worthwhile in life, you won’t master meditation in a matter of weeks. Likewise, you may not notice its benefits right away. You might feel small changes pretty quickly but you shouldn’t expect dramatic results right away. As with any skill, you get better with repetition, bit by bit. At the start of your practice, you might find that you can’t meditate for longer than a minute. This is totally normal and you will improve over time. When I started, I would only meditate for a few minutes and now, over a year later, I am able to meditate for as long as I please.

Meditation can be a time where you gain perspective and clarity. There’s no need to feel stressed because you feel like you should meditate; ideally, you’ll be motivated to take up the practice because you realize how beneficial it is.

Good luck!

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Other blog posts:

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• Sleep Hygiene - What It Is and Why It's Important

• Meditation Changes Brain Structure

• Exercise and Mindfulness

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