So I want to create a regular meditation practice, something I have utterly failed to do for the last *checks age…* 15 years
people who have achieved this treasured feat - what has worked in your experience to establish a consistent practice that feels natural?
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For context, I’m not a complete noob - I’ve done a couple of hundred hours, just inconsistently and a little too much dabbling
I’m looking to create a proper practice that might endure decades, not just get started with exploring meditation
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1. Committing to less than you know you are capable of but being absolutely disciplined with the minimum.
Even if you know you can sit for a half hour, promise yourself you will sit for at least 5 mins per day and stick to it. Often getting there is harder than staying.
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Having the freedom to quit after 5 mins sometimes means that the days you sit for longer are obviously choiceful and feel better for that.
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2. Inspiration: have one inspiring, motivating read at any time. Maybe it’s notes you made to yourself about why you want to sit. Maybe it’s a text. Maybe it’s a short recitation. Remind yourself with it why you want to sit at the start of each session.
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Swap out the inspiring prompt for another one fairly frequently.
Maybe spend a few minutes “getting into mode” with it before sitting.
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3. Talk with peers about your practice. It’s hugely motivating and you pick up all sorts of inspirations & ideas along the way.
Join group sits. We have lots regularly in Evolvingground.org Also, big recommend for Youtube groups
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fwiw, not to argue against this but just to share my experience - i found i had several triggers tied to group sits that made them very unpleasant for me, often sleepy, eventually developed psychosomatic pain in my left shoulder that only happened during group sits
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have had to very slowly ease back into solo sits as a result. i feel too constrained in many ways in a group sit, it's too similar to ways i was punished as a child. ymmv of course!
for me actually group sits were majorly helpful in starting to develop a sense of safety in the presence of other people; I think back warmly on times at the Zen center after 3x30 minutes of zazen having tea together and experiencing ease in a group like never before
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but that’s kind of lucky, like my anxiety was at a level where I was able to “sit with it” and maybe do some kind of emotional reconsolidation or whatever; I often felt like what I was really working with in those sits was like 50% social anxiety
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