The habit of meditation

 Tips on how to make meditation a habit

One of the most difficult things about meditation is developing it as a habit. The "habit" part is important because it is in consistent practice that we begin to feel the benefits of our meditation practice in the daily living of our lives. Like healthy eating, meditation is not something we can do once in a while if we want to create change. Ideally, it is something we do every day.

I am a big advocate of morning meditation for several reasons. First, when meditation is the first thing I do in my day, there aren't many things that can derail or get in the way. Second, my mind is calmer and clearer when I first wake up. Once my day is in full swing, I find it harder to quiet my thoughts. And third, mornings tend to be quiet. At home the family is asleep and our phones are still in airplane mode. No one needs me at 6am. It's a time just for me.

A key pillar of effective habit building is knowing how to "anchor" a behavior in the right place in your day. You can ask yourself the following questions: when does meditation make the most sense for me? When am I most likely to do it consistently without something getting in the way? When do I want to do it?

A second pillar of effective habit building is knowing how big (or small) to start. In our enthusiasm to start a meditation habit, it can be tempting to set a big goal, how to meditate for 10, 20 or 30 minutes. The problem with this approach is that after your initial enthusiasm wears off, you are left with the need to use your willpower to do your practice.

The most important idea I learned is that motivation (enthusiasm) and willpower are not sustainable or reliable. These eventually diminish or run out completely and we are left with behavior that is left stranded on the side of the road. In essence, our behavior runs out of gas if we only use motivation and willpower as fuel.

But when we create a habit, which is an action we do automatically and without conscious choice, we no longer use motivation or willpower at all. The key is to make your behavior really small as you develop the habit, so it is almost effortless.

In meditation terms, this would mean that your habit would be to meditate for one minute every day.That's it! Just one minute. Once it becomes an established daily practice, scale it up to ten minutes or more. But as you plant the seed of this habit, it's important not to apply too much pressure to practice, lest you have to try too hard to do it. If you make it very easy to start your meditation habit, you will find that the practice will be much more sustainable.

I leave you this interesting video, about the science of habits

Tell me, do you find it difficult to create new habits, do you think that creating a habit of meditation will help you?