Meditation sucks for everyone, now and again.
Who the heck knew simply sitting and not thinking could be so damn hard. Right?
The problem is that regardless your reason for meditating… that reason is a lie.
Meditation — stilling your mind — is nearly impossible to do.
But is it worth it? You bet your sweet bippy.
Mastering the control of your mind is the first step in having Universe at your fingertips.
But when you begin a dedicated meditation practice, it’s like opening a “Pandora Box” of troubles.
The 5-steps to fixing your meditation practice:
Step 1:
Know why you want to meditate (the real reason).
Meditation is the cool, chic thing to do right now. All the cool kids are doing it. Take a look at this star-studded list of meditators: Trevor Noah, Katy Perry, Madonna, Hugh Jackman, Kristen Bell, Oprah Winfrey. Heck, Dan Harris even says he’s 10% happier because of taking up meditation.
But all that matters is why you want to meditate. The problem is that whatever your reason is for meditating, it’s a lie.
And the lie will not sustain you through the forest of delusions and mental land mines you have to cross when you start meditating.
Step 2:
Declare an authentic why.
To discover your authentic why, you have to write. Write in your journal all the reasons you should meditate. Write all things you want meditation to fix for you. Write about the person you hope to become by meditating. Write. Write. Then write some more.
After all this writing and completely dumping everything you and your brain have stored up about meditating, know that its still all a lie. And a lie will get you started, but a lie will not let you finish. A lie will not allow you to open the spiritual eyes of your soul.
To open your spiritual eyes requires a calling from your spiritual, highest and best good. A willingness to stop wallowing in pain and suffering and make a declaration to wallow in beauty and love. Ponder this the next time you’re too busy to meditate.
Step 3:
Be amused.
While you’re sitting patiently through the many ways your mind and body will inform you that your “meditation sucks,” be amused by the antics of your untrained mind.
Untrained, your mind is like a two-year old child dominating everyone around them. Smile at how hard your mind is fighting to stay the boss of your instead of you being the boss of it.
Step 4:
Be curious.
After a few short weeks, meditation begins to alter your brain’s functioning.
These changes allow you to delve into a time-capsule, a three dimensional, holographic map of your reality. Your thoughts — in the form of judgements, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes — mirror the world you grew up within.
During meditation, you can become aware of each thought as it bubbles to the surface from the recesses of your subconscious mind.
Be curious where that thought came from. And more importantly, if that thought still serves you.
Step 5:
Enjoy being cynical, jaded and resigned.
Too many times when our meditation sucks it’s because we want it to change some part of ourselves that we feel needs changing.
We should be better, nicer, more loving, stronger, more assertive, or maybe someone else entirely. Meditation won’t make those changes happen. As you learn to master sitting and not thinking, be very cynical, jaded and resigned about the person you think you want to become in life.
The person you want to become isn’t you. The person who looks back at you in the mirror every day, is you. But the good news is you’re not seeing the person below the reflection in the mirror. You’re seeing someone completely different. Someone who your created to survive in a physical world.
Virtually every thought, idea, emotion is some automatic response you decided was the best way for you to survive and thrive in this reality. But you’ve forgotten that the reality you’re trying so desperately to survive was created and constructed by you. And you built most of it before you ever knew your ABCs.
Be happy that your meditation sucks.
You’ll know your meditating properly when your happy that your meditation suck. Because when done right, meditation strips you of all pretense and rehabilitates your view of the world. This is hard work.
But the promise made by all spiritual teachers is simply this, you’ll love the person you become on the journey your take developing your awareness.