As a meditation teacher, one of the many questions people ask me is how to get back into meditation. They’ve fallen out of the habit, they’ve somehow lost touch with the practice, and they want to start doing it again.
Hey, I get it. It happens to us all. At times in my life, like when I moved country, I’ve temporarily dropped my practice too.
There are many reasons why we stop meditating. Sometimes it’s because of lifestyle changes. Suddenly, you’re a lot busier than you used to be and it seems impossible to find those 20 minutes in which to sit and be mindful. At other times you might lose your motivation, forgetting why you ever meditated in the first place. And then there are times when you just procrastinate forever, telling yourself that you should meditate but never actually doing it.
No worries. You can start meditating again any time you like. Let me show you my 5 step system for getting back into meditation.
Let me show you how to get the most out of meditation.
Come meditate with me today!
How To Get Back Into Meditation
1: Realise Why You Stopped Meditating In The First Place
Ultimately, you want to develop a meditation practice that you stick to every day for many years. To achieve that, you need to be aware of the times that you fall off track and why that happens.
So ask yourself, why did you stop meditating? Maybe it was because your schedule got out of whack, or because you lost the motivation, or possibly because you simply don’t have the time anymore.
It’s a good idea to workout why you stopped meditating. Then you will know one of the roadblocks in your way to succeeding in your meditation practise. By understanding what happened, you can make adjustments so you stick to your practice better in the future.
2: Motivate yourself
Meditation is a weird thing in that, even though it is incredibly beneficial, it can often seem like you’re doing nothing, so what’s the point?
It’s okay if you lose motivation from time to time. All you need to do is to remember your personal reason for mediating. Is it for stress relief and relaxation? Maybe it’s for personal or spiritual development. Or maybe it’s to help with a specific health issue.
Remember the reason why you want to meditate. Remember how much meditation has to offer you, and why it is so beneficial for your life. Remembering these things will help you to feel motivated to get back into, and to stick to, your meditation practice.
3: Make It Better Than Before
Why would you want to pick up the same old meditation practice when you could start a much better one?
This is a good time to analyse your previous practice.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What was good about your previous practice?
- What was bad about it?
- Which techniques did you try? Which techniques worked and which did not?
- Was there an aspect of meditation that you always wanted to try but didn’t? For instance, maybe you always just did breathing meditations when you would really like to try more spiritual techniques?
- How successfully did you integrate meditation into your lifestyle? What changes could you make there?
4: Design a new program before you start
Instead of just jumping back into meditation, it’s a good idea to design your practice first. Indeed, this is one of my specialities in my online meditation lessons. I help my you to design a meditation practice that is perfect for you and your lifestyle.
You want your practice to fit comfortably into your life. To do that, ask yourself when it would be most convenient for you to meditate, and what you would most like to get out of it. Remember, meditation can do a heck of a lot more than just relaxing you. Do you want your new practice to make you happy, motivate you, boost your intelligence…? Decide on your goals and then devise a meditation practice with that goal in mind.
5: Work With A Teacher Like Me
If you truly want to get back into meditation and get the most out of it, book an online lesson with me. I will help you to create a meditation practice and to make meditation a habit. Plus, the wisdom and insight that my experience brings will be invaluable.
Paul Harrison is a passionate meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in meditation and mindfulness. He studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.
“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison