Why Beginning To Meditate Is Tricky

Few master meditation because they find it difficult to enter into a meditative state in the first place but if you can momentarily eradicate outside noise you`ll give yourself a better chance to free your mind

“I can’t switch off!”

Or

“I`m not able!”

Or

“It’s just not for me!”

These are the things I`ve heard many times when people try to meditate.

At this stage, I find it funny.

When I first started hearing people saying things like this I thought they were right. They were the one of the few who simply weren’t able to immediately focus on nothing.

But then I thought about it and realized they were wrong.

As it’s not because they couldn’t do it rather it’s because they were unskilled at doing it.

Because starting to mediate is a lot like starting to do a lot of things. And with many things you begin doing for the first time you have to learn small habits that will allow you to enter into it easily when you do it every day. And without these habits, you will get frustrated and trigger another part of your brain that will shut off your ability to meditate.

If you are new to mediation know that many, many people have difficulty starting off.

But that doesn’t mean you won’t become great at it soon after you start.

I remember partaking in a workshop many years back where I along with many co-workers were being instructed into simple basic meditative practices. At the time I had been meditating for many years and I`d meditated that particular morning before I left for work.

In my mind, I had predicted the people who’d find it difficult to start into meditation.

And I got it right.

Because in big groups like that where people have to do things for their work they often follow the group because they don’t want to be the odd one out. Effectively they act as if they`re open to the process when in reality they`re a little freaked out by having to do it at all.

And because they have to do it in front of others this causes further anxiety to them as well.

As we started the workshop everyone took a seat while the instructor explained what was the theory behind meditation. Like a lecturer, they pulled out a whiteboard and placed it at the front of the makeshift classroom. From there they began to teach about how mediation worked and the benefits of it all.

There was no rocket science to their methodology so everyone there sat and listened.

But when it came to the practical application of the steps that’s when it became troublesome for a few. As I re-visited my earlier zen from that morning my eyes became soft and my eyelids were heavy. I knew within moments I was entering into a great state of deep relaxation and for me, the 5 minutes or so whizzed by with ease.

By the time I opened my eyes and looked across at others in the room I noticed most of them looking up at the instructor for answers as to how they should be feeling.

It seemed they had been diligent enough to partake in the exercise but weren’t sure as to what they were supposed to feel. Resembling a group of children who were told to keep quiet on a car journey while their parents got some peaceful thinking time to understand the map in the front seat they were now looking for entertainment as a reward for their time spent being good for others in the room.

Then there were a few who were startled by the process.

They looked around at others to see their reactions. By looking about the room they had smirks and playful eyes communicating how they couldn’t believe what they`d been asked to do over the previous few minutes.

After a while, a feedback session commenced and questions and answers were thrown out to the instructor.

A couple of those who had been looking around the room immediately after their botched attempts to mediate explained how they weren’t able to meditate and they simply got nothing from the experience. The instructor listened as they grouped together to explain they were different types of people than what the instructor had explained they were and how the process was not made for them.

I sat there super relaxed and watching as their stressful states increased.

Although I was spot on in predicting those that would find it difficult to understand and even more challenging to enter into I was fascinated once again to see how they defended how they were wired differently from others and how it was impossible for them to become a mediator.

And in fairness, they`d a compelling argument because the instructor was dumbfounded and had no real answer for them.

Because the instructor had followed their ‘how to mediate’ notes and thought at the very least everyone would have a good time in feeling a sense of peace for a few minutes. So they`d hardly argue their points that they didn’t fit into the regular generalization of how everyone was an immediate mediator?

But they did.

And whatever peace was in the room a few moments earlier was now gone for all.

The moral of this story is that starting into a successful mediation practice can take time. Although you can sit quietly for a few minutes every day and try to mediate in reality it can be just you sitting there with your eyes closed without meditating. You may even find yourself checking the time now and then and wondering how far you`re into your initial five minutes of supposed mediation.

If that’s happening, certainly, you`re not in a meditative space.

To begin meditation you first need to sit yourself down and list all the things you feel are stressing you on a given day. Then from there, you need to list the bigger stresses that are in the background of your life and pulling the strings of your overall habits.

For example, why are you working at what you’re working at?

What are your biggest financial pressures?

What relationship stresses have you got?

And what health worries have you?

If you can come to a point of temporary ease with these bigger questions you then need to find a day where you`ll be able to start with it being uninterrupted and from there you can start to meditate alone.

From there you`re likely to truly enter a space of where you want to go with the journey into yourself.

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