How is your relationship with meditation?

My meditation practice has been so inconsistent over the past few years. I go through periods where I meditate every day, to times where I don’t meditate at all for months. Sometimes I crave it, sometimes it feels like a chore.

But you know what I find? It’s always there for me. No matter how long it’s been, no matter how many times I’ve lost it and found it again, it always catches me when I need it most.

When I’m at the end of my tether, when all of my usual distractions aren’t working - the compulsive eating, mindless scrolling, absently watching something, the hot shower, the ranting to a friend, the nap, the frantically looking for a yoga class that will solve all my problems - it gives me a gentle all-knowing nudge. The “I’m still here” kind of nudge. And I stop. I come back. And I’m welcomed with open arms.

Most of those distractions (apart from the first few) are not actually bad - they are wonderful tools in their own right. But I know they are not what I need in that moment. I just needed that nudge to remind me.

Some ways in which I meditate, that are not just sitting still in silence:

• a guided meditation whilst walking, using an app (1giantmind or insighttimer).

• Lying down, hands on my belly or heart, or both, inhale for 4, exhale for 6, 7 or 8.

• Using a mantra, usually So Hum (‘So’ on inhale, ‘Hum’ on exhale).

• Drinking my first coffee, not scrolling, noticing tastes and sensations.

• Doing a repetitive task, getting completely in the zone (washing dishes, packing boxes).

There are so many ways to come home to yourself, and not one is right or wrong 🖤