9 tips to make meditation a habit

You decided do meditation to improve your day to day? I congratulate you because it is one of the most beneficial practices for your mind and your body. There is only one problem: the dropout rate among those who decide to start meditation is very high.

I hope these 9 tips to help you make meditation a habit in your life.

9 tips to make meditation a habit.

1) Admire the great meditators.

Meet the great meditators and see how calm they are. How they dominate every movement, every word, every emotional state at will. It will motivate you because I am sure you want to become a person who has absolute self-control of yourself.

Matthieu Ricard is a Westerner who left everything to dedicate his life to the practice of meditation and learning about Buddhist culture. It can be an inspiration to you. I leave you with a lecture of his:

2) Pick a time of day.
I recommend that it be in the morning: just woke up, after having breakfast or before leaving home. Meditation recharges your batteries, induces you into a very beneficial trance state to face your day to day.

Pick a time and commit to practicing a little meditation every day. Being consistent with this practice you will begin to notice the benefits of meditation. It is a matter of compromise.

3) How long do we need to create a habit?

How long does it take to create a new habit? Estimates vary because it depends on each person and the habit we are trying to create. To make meditation a habit requires a month or two of regular practice. The good news is that there are already measurable changes in the brain after just two weeks of practice: benefits of meditation.

4) Becoming the exception.

Keep in mind that the dropout rate among new meditators is high in specialized academies, only two out of ten continue with this practice after a year. Are you willing to be the exception?

5) Be realistic.

Be realistic with your expectations about meditation. For example, don't expect to get as sharp a high as taking a pill (although a similar high is possible). Remember that it takes time to get the necessary changes in your brain.

6) Start small.

Changes in the brain can occur with as little as three minutes of mindfulness meditation a day. They often recommend starting with five minutes a day and going up to twenty if you see that you are consistent and doing well.

7) Enjoy.

It is very important to associate pleasure with meditation. In this way it will cost us less and less to find our particular moment of meditation.

8) Don't make too many preparations.

You just need to lower the blind a little and a bit of silence, some plugs can help you. As simple as that.

9) Learn the basics.

When you are starting out it can be useful to start with a meditation guide, there are many good resources for this on the internet as well as guided meditations from expert people. These resources must be temporary in order to comply with advice no. 8. Once you learn to meditate I recommend stepping away from guided meditation.