Everything You Need to Know About Goals & Habits

Making Meditation a Habit

Meditation is one of the most challenging and rewarding practices a person can incorporate into their day to day routine. Meditation offers relaxation, anxiety relief, and improves your general health. Like exercise is for the body, meditation is for the mind. Having a healthy mindset will lead ultimately to more life success and personal happiness.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you get started meditating as a habit:

1. Research types of meditation: There are dozens of types of meditation styles, and all of them offer a variety of mental benefits. Two examples are loving-kindness meditation, which focuses on self compassion, and body scan meditation, which has you focus on how your body feels and working to progressively relax it. Research what you think might work best for you based on your personal needs.
    
2. Schedule your practice: Scheduling your practice makes it harder to forget or push back. Make some time each day, or a few days a week that allows you to meditate in peace and quiet. A lot of people find success in meditating in the morning right when they wake up. Others find success in meditating before bed. Make a comfortable, safe space for your meditation as well. Set up a space where you can focus and relax.
    
3. Set a goal and intention for your practice: Habits become habitual when there is a goal and intention tied to the routine. Focus your practice on a new intention or a similar one each day, and remember your intention as you meditate. Also, you can attach a long term goal to your practice. For example, your daily intention can be to relax your body, with a long term goal of feeling physically more at ease. No matter your intentions or goals, make sure they are the center of your focus.
    
4. Start small: It’s important to not overdo it at first with meditation. You might be able to meditate for thirty minutes your first time, or five. It doesn’t matter how small you start, so long as you start. Mindful meditation is a type of meditation that can be practiced for a few minutes a day and offers phenomenal relief. It’s a great way to begin your practice.
    
5. Take a class: Social pressure often helps people continue to practice something, as others can hold us accountable for our actions. Having a meditation partner, or taking a class will help you stay on track with your practice, stay excited and stay motivated.
    
6. Download an app: There are dozens of apps that offer free guided meditation, or subscription services. It’s a convenient way to get a quick meditation fix.
    
7. Take a break, but don’t quit: If work, school, or life gets in the way of your meditation practice, or if you simply fall off the horse, get back on as soon as possible. Just like exercise, meditation is something that requires the discipline of routine, but if you lose track of that routine, don’t hesitate to restart when it’s most convenient for you. Don’t be discouraged if you need to take a break from your practice. Keep moving forward.