How To Integrate Regular Meditations Into Your Life In 2021

I grew up with this fringe concept of meditating.

I was twelve years old in the mid-1970’s when my mother took my younger brother and me to see some guy, whose name I have long since forgotten, who would teach us to meditate.

This guru of sorts (my brother and I called him The Task Master because he had given us this annoying task), took me aside, gave me a flash introduction to meditation and very ceremoniously (there might have been incense) instilled upon me a single meditative word to use as a mantra. It was to be my very own special word, and every day while getting dressed for school I was to repeat this word over and over for fifteen to twenty minutes, and I don’t know, perhaps find my bliss before beginning the complicated and emotionally fraught day of a budding teenager.

I was/am, to some extent, a pleaser. I want to feel included so I am mindful of making myself inclusive of new people, new ideas, and new relationships. I want to make people comfortable/happy/at ease so I go with the flow. I am very aware, looking back on it, that this was part of my emerging teenage self.

Not so my brother.

Where he rebelled and refused to go along with the morning word play, this introduction to a spiritual journey, I simply followed along with what was offered to me. I was given a task from The Task Master, and I found myself repeating that single word, daily, without really thinking too much about it. It was simply a new task. And so I did it.

I don’t remember for how long I repeated the mantra (and yes, I still remember the word), or if I ever lasted more than a few weeks in this morning meditation ritual, but what emerged from that experience years later it was not the action of meditating, which is what I was doing somewhere off on the fringes as a twelve-year-old, but the appreciation for what my mother had introduced to me.

I now had experience, an offering, and the safety net of maybe trying it again.

Now is the time to disengage from the tangled mess of our outer world and begin to explore our true selves.

Meditating is not scary.

It is a task, sure, but rather than refer to it as something you have to do because someone suggested that you do it, therefore making it something you really don’t want to do, what word can I use to help encourage you to integrate regular meditations into your life?

Meditation is a discipline. It is a practice. It is a ritual.

These are all appropriate words, but still they convey duty. Need. And by failing to stay with meditation, these words just make you feel guilty if you quit.

No, meditation is not a discipline. It is not a practice. It is not something you have to do, or should do, or ever feel hoodwinked into doing.

Simply put, meditation is about relationship.

It is about you, your body, your heartbeat, your breath, and your form being grounded on the planet in a way that helps to bring you a) stability, b) ease, c) structure, and d) fulfillment. Meditation does not bring you ease if you feel discomfort or somehow disqualified because you can’t do it. It’s not about doing. It’s about being. Period.

Meditation; therefore, is a way. It is not a task. It is not a duty. It is not a practice, and nor is it a discipline.

It is a way of being here. Mediation is a way.

Let’s circle the proverbial wagon for a moment. If meditation is a way, and you follow this way, this trail, this road, will it bring you to where you want to go?

That depends.

It will if you want to be on this road. It will if this is your way. Of being. Meditations come in so many different forms.

It’s important to think of meditation more broadly.

It is not limited to repeating single word mantras, or spending time in false constructed rituals that only bring unease. Meditation is you. It is your relationship to yourself, your heart, your breath, and your form.

You are a body operating in a sequence of events that take you from point A to point B on any given day/week/year. We’re accustomed to going from place to place hoping to a) succeed) and b) not fall into some abyss. Meditating doesn’t need to contribute to the fear of failure. This is the single most compelling reason people don’t like to meditate.

I can’t do it. I’m too restless. I can’t sit still that long. I feel like a failure doing it. I want to do it, but when I can’t stick with it I feel like I’m not good enough.

What then is mediation if it is not your way?

You are your own way. And only you have the answers as to what that way might be. Be it while on a walk in the park, on the beach, or driving in your car to and fro, you are in relationship to yourself at all hours of the day. Carve out those moments. Share those quiet moments with your children. Turn off the radio. Listen. You are so afraid of your own thoughts you can’t be quiet with yourself. And nor can your children. Why? Are we that afraid of ourselves?

To integrate a more regular meditative way into your life in 2021 stop thinking about meditation as a discipline and begin to incorporate silence into the day in ways that bring you to you.

It’s not just about being still and quiet to achieve bliss, it is about listening to your inner breath, your heart, and your body in relationship to the way you live your life. Not the way I live mine.

Find time in the day to turn off the radio. Start there. Meditation is about listening to yourself.

When you’re ready for the next step, join me in my guided meditation series. This free resource is designed to bring novice and experienced practicers grounding and healing for gaining more creative energy as we move from winter into spring.