Hi,
I had started meditation. But unfortunately stopped practicing for a few days in between. How do I firmly stick to the practice? Besides I have a very tight schedule and sometimes compromise on my sleep to get up early and meditate which makes me tired. Guide me as to how I can firmly stick to this path in spite of all distractions .
—R.Nandini, India
It is to be expected that meditation, like any new activity, will take some time to integrate into your daily life. But unless you really want to meditate, and have a level of enthusiasm for doing it, then you simply won’t be able to do it.
Think about taking up tennis, or some other sport or activity that you really want to do. Practicing it is a joy, because you have enthusiasm for learning it. And you are willing to make room for it in your life.
Without that kind of commitment, you simply won’t learn it.
The practice of meditation is no different. If meditation is important to you, then make it central to your daily activities. Don’t leave it as something you do “when you have time.”
Integrate meditation, from the beginning, as part of your daily routine. You wake up in the morning, you meditate, you have breakfast, you go to work. When you come home, you have a meal (or perhaps you meditate first and then eat) then later in the evening, as things quiet down, you meditate before going to bed.
But if there is no joy in what you are doing, then why would you continue doing it?
I would say that some of the most important ingredients for a successful meditation practice are:
- Energy and enthusiasm for meditation.
- Routine and regularity and commitment to that regularity.
- Satsang – associating with people who meditate regularly.
- Loving God – having a purpose for your meditation practice that goes beyond the material world: that of inner communion with the divine, in whatever form you hold dear.
If there is love and devotion in your practice then you will find tiredness and distractions begin to disappear.
Over time, as you stick with your practice, the results you gain from it will speak for themselves:
- An inner feeling of peace and calmness in your life.
- A feeling of joy that stays with you, no matter how busy or stressed out you may be.
These are the kinds of results a regular meditation practice has to offer. And they are, most certainly, what make the effort worthwhile.
