Developing A Regular Meditation Practice

Serious illness brings a whole host of other problems beyond your symptoms.

Wait times for appointments, unpleasant hospital stays, upset loved ones, plans put on hold—the list goes on, and it all builds up to a lot of stress.

While meditating might not seem appealing when you’re going through a tough time, it could be one of the best habits to pick up, as it can help you relax, keep your mind focused on your goals and build a positive outlook.

In recent years, mindfulness and meditation practices have been growing exponentially.

A plethora of research has proven that a regular meditation practice helps in driving creative progress and general well-being.

There’s plenty of help for those wanting to meditate. More than 2500 meditation apps have launched since 2015.

Despite the overabundance of apps and free meditation classes, many people are unable or unwilling to commit to meditation on an ongoing basis. Often, they blame themselves; “my mind just goes very fast”.

The goal of meditation, seemingly, is to get to a “no-thought” state. And yet, the moment you sit down in meditation, thoughts come flooding to the mind. The irony of meditation is the more you “do” something to try to get to that no-thought place, the more it becomes elusive.

When new meditators experience this, they feel that they have failed. Maybe this is not for them. They give up. What they don’t realise is that meditation gives their system a chance to detox and release the thoughts.

The practice of meditation is the practice of allowing thoughts and releasing them vs. suppressing them. Meditation is the practice of noticing it all, and it is the practice of doing absolutely nothing about it.

A regular meditation practice is the best, low-risk way of practising thoughtful inaction as a choice. No apps and props are needed; you and your breath are enough. 

Meditation is not a skill but a habit to be developed. It is an excellent way to practice thoughtful inaction in the smallest micro-moments, where the stakes are not so high; which can then serve as training for inaction as a choice in the bigger moments of life.