It's all in your mind

While I would love to say that I have a regular meditation practice going on, this would be a total lie. At best, it could be described as sporadic or maybe occasional.

Incorporating 20 - 30 minutes of meditation into my daily routine has been one of my new year resolutions for god knows how long now. I have done meditation workshops and courses, read books on the subject, used podcasts - but nothing has really managed to ingrain meditation in my life.

But I keep on trying! Because I know that it is possible and I know that it is something worth having.

Regular meditation has many potential benefits, including stress reduction, lower blood pressure, improved sleep, increased concentration, pain management and emotional balance.

And while I am obviously no expert, I thought I would share some of the tips that I have picked up along the way - I'm going to be following them myself as I try to get back into it.

1. Start small and build up over time.  Sure, getting 20-30 minutes of meditation in daily might be best for optimal results. But if you try to demand that your brain sits still for half an hour straight off the bat, you are pretty much guaranteeing that you will fail. It takes time and discipline to get to that stage. So start with just 5 minutes and slowly increase the length over time. 
2. Find a space where you won't be distracted. It is hard enough keeping your mind on your meditation without external distractions getting in the way. Set up somewhere where you are unlikely to be walked in on, turn off your mobile (no, seriously - turn it off!), shut the door and, if there is a lot of street noise, maybe shut the windows too (so long as this won't make you too hot). It doesn't have to be perfect - absolute silence isn't something that is that easy to come by, especially if you live in a city - but the less distractions, the easier it will be for you to focus.
3. Be comfortable. Ok, yes - ideally you want to be sitting cross-legged with the weight evenly distributed through both sitting bones and your spine straight. But while you are getting started, this might be close to impossible. It can actually be quite demanding on your back muscles and your hips to sit still for so long. So maybe start off leaning against a wall or sitting in a chair. Try not to slouch though - you still want to stay as much in alignment as possible so that you can stay focussed. Otherwise, you may as well just hang out on your couch. You can lie down if it is the only way you can be truly comfortable - but you might end up napping instead of meditating which isn't really the point, so sitting up right is really the way to go.
4. Just breathe. There are many different meditation techniques out there but concentrating on your breathing is probably the easiest. Start with a few deep breaths to relax your body. If you still feel tense, mentally scan your body and check in with any spots of tension and consciously relax them. Once you feel settled, breathe naturally and start paying attention to your breath - how it feels when you draw the breath in, the subtle expansion through your stomach and chest and then the contraction as you breathe out. And then - guess what? You are meditating!
5. You don't have to clear your mind. Thoughts are going to come into your mind - that is just natural. The challenge in meditation is to just let them come in without getting caught up in them. Acknowledge whatever comes up, and then just let it go and gently draw your attention back to your breathing. This is going to be hard to do at the start - we are so use to just following whatever little idea pops into our head and then obsessing over it until some other thought pops in and takes over and so on and so on. What you are trying to achieve through meditation is to create space between these thoughts - so you don't just jump from one to the next. To begin with, you might be only able to draw your mind back to your breath for a few moments. But that's ok. The more you practice, the more you will be able to turn away from your thoughts and soon the spaces between will be much longer than the thoughts themselves.
6. Set an alarm. To stop yourself from wondering how long you have been meditating for, or how long you have to go, I suggest setting an alarm. Something nice and not too loud if you can so it doesn't make you jump when it goes off. I usually just use my iPhone and use one of the quieter alarm tones, like birds whistling or bells. Just set it for however long you want to meditate for. Don't be overly ambitious though - if you set it for 30 minutes on your first try, it will seem like forever and you are going to still be distracted by your watch to see how much longer you have to go. An alarm is also handy if there is a chance you could fall asleep. Or if you have somewhere you need to be. It cuts out a clear patch of time for you to commit to your meditation but still allows you to get on with your life. 
7. Keep at it.  It is the same as with anything, if you are going to develop a good meditation practice, you have to keep trying. Maybe do it every morning, when your mind is more likely to be calm and less-occupied. Just 5 - 10 minutes is fine. It is more important that you do it consistently. (Admittedly, this is the bit that I usually fail at but I do seem to do better with it each time I try.)

So I am going to commit to getting back into it starting tomorrow morning. Anyone with me? :)