Four Timeless Principles of Meditation Practice
Meditation has been practiced consistently for at least the past 2500 years. In recent years it has exploded in popularity and there have never been more opportunities to learn, practice and experience the benefits of meditation.
Regardless of your level of interest, experience or where you are on your meditation journey, these four principles are worthy reminders that will help you in your practice.
1. Self-compassion
It's easy to get into the trap of being hard on yourself. It can seem counter intuitive but you will find it harder to make progress in meditation if you push and force yourself. Being kind to yourself, relaxing any tensions about your own progress and being self-compassionate will help you progress much faster. Know that you are doing what you can and accept how things are in the moment. This decision to be self-compassionate will help you recognize the benefits of meditation and further reinforce your practice.
2. You will get distracted
This is worth repeating: You will get lost in thoughts. Your mind will wander. Your mind will not go blank when you meditate. We cannot turn our thoughts off. This is not a problem! You can have lots of thoughts, be constantly lost in daydreams and still develop great meditation skills. When you recognize you've been distracted by thoughts, simply smile and return your attention to the technique you are working on. Over time you will become more aware of your patterns of thought and reaction, and learn to work skillfully with them.
3. Patience and diligence
Developing meditation is like developing physical fitness. Practice patiently and diligently and your progress will be steady. Try not to hold on too tightly to goals or expectations and just aim to be consistent. Breakthroughs come by sticking with the practice, even when it doesn’t feel like it’s going how you would like or expect. Resolve to practice for the whole time you have allocated. With patience and diligence you can establish a strong meditation practice that will be a part of your life you don't need to think about anymore.
4. There are no bad sits
Whenever you make the time for practice you are doing something good for yourself. This intention to take time out and cultivate awareness will lead to the development of useful skills. Remember, no matter how a sit goes, it was time well spent. It is all training. It is all progress. When a meditation session doesn't meet your expectation or go how you wanted it to, often these can become the most important moments of reflection and progress. Be grateful for any time you are able to spend practicing.
Learning to meditate doesn't need to be complicated. The fundamentals are simple to learn. Anyone can do it.
The hardest thing about meditation is establishing a strong consistent practice and knowing how to guide your own journey forwards.
That is why we designed the Sit Down and Practice 42 day training course.
Over six weeks this training will help you develop a consistent, daily meditation practice.
We guide you through the fundamentals of meditation to develop three important skills: focus, observation and balance.
Most importantly, you'll learn through direct experience how to make meditation work for your life, and understand how to keep guiding your own journey forwards.
Our mission is to make meditation work for you.