If you’re wondering how to enjoy meditation, you’re pondering over the right question.
Because there’s one thing that makes forming and keeping a habit like meditating easier…
Rewards.
According to researchers, habits rely on them.
That’s because every habit is actually made-up of three parts: a trigger to kick-start the behaviour, the behaviour itself and a reward that follows.
When it comes to meditation, setting a trigger is quite simple. You could select a time in the day or a physical cue to remind you to meditate, like a picture of a peaceful scene. Another option is to choose an activity to piggy-back like drinking coffee: after you finish your morning coffee, you meditate. Or you could set an alert on your phone.
These are all examples of something which triggers you to start the behaviour.
The behaviour itself isn’t always as simple. This common myth often gets in the way of meditation. But once you get to grips with what’s supposed to happen when meditating, doing it becomes easier.
The reward, on the other hand… I’ll hold my hands up and admit it: meditation doesn’t always feel rewarding.
Especially when you’re first getting into it.
Instead meditation can feel frustrating, boring or pointless, even.
The rewards are there, I promise. They need a bit of scratching under the surface to reveal, though.
So if you’re trying to form or keep-up a meditation habit, this should help…
Here’s 3 ways to enjoy meditation.
Practice
These simple techniques reveal the sometimes-hidden rewards that come with meditating, making meditation feel enjoyable:
1. Make it a ritual.
Rituals help a practice feel special, as if it’s a treat. What makes it feel this way will be personal to you.
You could try setting up a cosy space each time, lighting a candle, putting some music on, setting up some props like mala beads or a singing bowl…
It doesn’t have to be anything big, just something that makes it feel like a special activity.
2. At the end of each meditation reflect on what felt good.
If you’ve joined my guided meditations you’ll know I often finish with a few deep breaths, guiding you to “Suck in anything that felt good about the practice with each breath in”.
An odd thing to say, I know. But this is me helping you to identify anything rewarding.
As humans we have a bias towards the negative. We’re much more likely to notice feelings like frustration or boredom during a practice rather than the more subtle positive experiences, like feeling a sense of pride for meditating or feelings of relaxation or caring for yourself.
Consciously reflecting on what felt good whilst meditating overrides out bias, allowing the reward to shine through.
3. Write down any benefits you notice as a result of your practice.
Big or small, write down any positive impact you notice in your daily life.
It could be an “Aha!” moment – when you suddenly understand something about how your mind works. It might be how you handled a challenging situation much better than normal. Or a comment your partner made about you not worrying about work so much.
The benefits of meditation can be slow to appear and subtle at first, writing them down helps you fully acknowledge the benefit so it feels rewarding.
You could take this technique even further by writing what you notice on small pieces of paper and putting them in a jar somewhere on display. By doing this you can physically see the benefits stacking up, giving yourself an added reward boost each time you spot the jar.
Research
Read more about how habits work, the role of rewards and how to use this knowledge to your advantage in Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit.