How to Meditate Daily – 5 Mindset Shifts to Make Meditation Easy

Do you want that calm, peaceful Zen state that you know is possible with a meditation practice? But no matter how hard you try you just can’t seem to make it a daily habit. Then this video is for you! I wanted to share with you five key mindset shifts to help you make meditation a part of your daily life. Now, these are really key considerations to think about before you even get to the meditating part of meditation. 

SHIFT #1 – STOP TRYING TO MEDITATE
Trying and doing are the opposite of meditation. In fact, it’s like an oxymoron. Meditation is all about non trying and non-doing. Now the reason that this meditation can be so difficult is because we go to the practice with this brain that is in the trying and the doing state. It’s been honed well, to try and to do, because that is what our conditioning has been. That is what we’ve been practicing since we left kindergarten. For so many of us from the time that we were a small child we were told to sit down, do what we’re told and do it the right way. You will be graded on how you do it, and you will want to try to get an A. So, for decades and decades, we have been moving through life with a trying and a doing brain. So, no wonder when we come to meditation and we try to do it the right way, we often struggle and falter. We find it challenging and so we stop. So, before we even get to the practice, the cushion, the chair, wherever you are going to practice your meditation, we want to stop and remember that it is completely opposite to how we do just about everything else in our lives. So, it’s going to feel a little bit weird. It’s going to feel a bit wonky if we haven’t been practicing it for much of our lives. Imagine if from the time we were a small child somebody tied our arm behind our back and then for 10, 20, 30 years, we never used it. And then all of a sudden they untied it and said, “go ahead, use your arm.” Those muscles, having never been used for decades and decades, the brain connection to move that arm has never been used. So, good luck just going ahead to pick up a pen and start writing, there is no way. So, remember you’re doing something you’re not used to doing, and that is okay.

SHIFT #2- LET GO OF HOW IT LOOKS 
As soon as we say meditation practice, of course, we conjure up images of a person sitting in stillness with their hands a certain way, sitting on a cushion, looking so peaceful and serene with a mind that is calm and still. It doesn’t have to look that way at all. I like to say, no cushion, no crystals or incense required. Now, of course, I love my cushion. I love my crystals and I love my incense but it doesn’t mean that it has to look like that. You can meditate in a chair. You can meditate, lying down. You can meditate walking. You can meditate with your eyes closed or open. You can meditate while eating. It doesn’t have to look any way. The most important thing is that it feels good to you. So, let go of any idea of how it’s supposed to look or how it’s supposed to unfold. The most important thing is that it’s your practice, it’s yours. So, it has to feel good and work for you. 

SHIFT #3- LET GO OF CAN’T 
So often I hear, “I just can’t meditate. I just can’t get into it. I can’t quiet my mind, I can’t sit still. It doesn’t work for me.” Let go of can’t. Meditation is a way of being. And if you can breathe you can meditate. It really is that simple. It is a practice. It takes practice. But if we’re saying, “can’t,” then we’re already setting ourselves up for failure. So, let go of can’t, embrace breathing, which you do every day without thinking so you can meditate as well. 

SHIFT #4 –  LET GO OF OUTCOME 
So often we go into the practice and we want that thing. We want that tangible feeling of joy and peace and serenity. And when we’re not used to meditating, we go to the practice and we are completely put off by the fact that it may not feel so good. Why is this? Because meditation is not about getting anywhere. It’s about being here. And if we are not used to that, being here, can be uncomfortable. Because here, there might be feelings of sadness, unhappiness, fear. And when we’re so used to going and getting away from here, then we’re not used to dealing with the things that are here. So, at first this can be jarring and that is okay. It is absolutely okay, because this is a practice. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes courage quite frankly, because we are so trained and conditioned to go and get away from all of the things that are here. So, let go of the outcome of feeling so peaceful and calm because you might not get that when you’re just starting out. Or maybe you’ve been doing it for 20 years and today is just a frustrating day. There’s lots of feelings that come up when you’re here in the now. So, it doesn’t even matter if you’re a beginner or a long time meditator. Being here means being here no matter what. And it might be uncomfortable. The point is that we practice the muscles of being okay with the uncomfortable. That takes practice. So, let go of the outcome, come in to the now and let the now be whatever it needs to be. 

SHIFT #5 –  LET GO OF MEDITATION
And shift number five, and this might sound really odd, but let go of meditation. That’s right. Everything you imagine, picture, think, believe about meditation, every experience you’ve had just let that drop right now. And just think about the practice of being. That’s really what we’re after. We want to be more in relationship with life. And yes it’s what we call meditation that allows us to do that. But really it’s just slowing down, getting still and creating space. It really is that. So, it’s not so much as specific methodology, it’s not so much that it looks a certain way, it’s not so much that it’s five minutes, 20 minutes, two hours, eyes closed that you’re on a cushion. You can let all of that just fall away and just remember that it’s slowing down, getting still, creating space. Just those things. And then from there, we can allow the now that’s already here, this present moment to really come alive. And then, as the now is coming alive we can see ourselves meeting the now and how we react, which is what we’re doing is we’re going about our busy lives. We’re just reacting all of the time. Life’s happening and we’re reacting. And without the slowing down, getting still and kind of being able to step back from that, then we are just unconsciously running through life. And that’s where the challenges arise, frustrations, the angst, the fear the worry, the sadness, the, “why is nothing going my way? Why do things not work out?” All of those mental tapes that monkey mind that’s spinning around day after day, continually in the habitual loops that it gets itself into ’cause that’s what happens in the mind. But slow down, get still, create space, allows our heart to come online. It allows the mind to slow down so, those tapes aren’t just running and running. And as the heart comes online, we can show up to life from a much more conscious, compassionate and intentional place. And this is where it gets really exciting because now we get to step into the role of creator of our lives instead of a reactor to the life that we believe is just happening to us. That’s where it gets really juicy and that’s where we can start to fall in love with what meditation can give us and bring to our lives. 

Please let me know if you found some benefit from these mindset shifts. Did this shift the way that you think about meditation? Are you excited to get into the practice a little bit more? I really would love to hear from you. And if you’re interested in diving deeper then definitely sign up for my
FREE 7 Day Meditation Journey: https://7dayjourney.carolyncreed.com/

Watch my video on YouTube:


Thank you so much for reading.
Have a beautiful day!

JOIN my Facebook Group!: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GentleWarriorCollective