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M15 Ep049: Should you meditate today?
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So, it’s not like I go around broadcasting to one and all that I’m a meditation teacher, but whenever the topic comes up in conversation, there’s a good chance that someone will say to me, “yeah, I should meditate, but [insert excuse here].” What about you? Do you think you should meditate more?
Should is a perfectly useful word, but intonation is everything. Should can be said with a sense of excitement and curiosity, as in “Wow, what a great idea. I should try that!”
But often we say it to excuse our lack of action and then lay on overtones of guilt and shame. When people say to me “I should meditate,” I hear them saying “I know it would be good for me, but I don’t do it and I feel bad about not doing it.”
The problem is telling yourself what you should do doesn’t motivate you. In fact, it’s just the opposite. If you use should to give yourself unexamined excuses, you rob yourself of opportunity. If you use should to make yourself feel bad, you take away any energy you might have had to engage in positive action.
Healthy habits are best built using positive reinforcement. You meditate, it makes you feel good (perhaps relaxed, calm, or happy), so you’re more likely to meditate again. You can start very small with just a couple of minutes of meditation, but, you have to take that first step and meditate.
To boost motivation, try making one small change: Replace “should” with “could”. “I could meditate today.” That’s a statement full of possibilities with no recrimination.
The words we use have the power to change how we feel, so when talking to yourself, choose your words wisely. Ditch the words that demotivate and choose words that encourage you. You could do this!
This Week's Peaceful Moment: Sunset in Cedar by the Sea, British ColumbiaPhotograph is copyright protected and used with permission. Please don't copy it.
Let's meditate together
For a 12-minute guided meditation on balancing alertness with relaxation, forward the podcast or the video above to 2:24. You'll learn to play with your breath and use it to help boost energy or to relax tension when you need to.
Next week:
Next week marks the 50th episode of Mindful15! I’ll be answering a question submitted by Brendan who asks whether it’s okay to lie down to meditate. To be sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to our newsletter.
To celebrate episode 50, I’ll be sending out not one, but three free deep relaxation recordings to anyone who subscribes before September 30th, 2018. If you’re already subscribed, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you! I’ll send the relaxations out to you, too.
Before you go
If you enjoyed this lesson, please share it using the social media buttons you see below, or click here to tell your friends.
To subscribe to our lessons, use one of these links:
Email (you’ll get free extras) | iTunes | Stitcher | <...
View all episodes
Listen:
Watch:
Read:
So, it’s not like I go around broadcasting to one and all that I’m a meditation teacher, but whenever the topic comes up in conversation, there’s a good chance that someone will say to me, “yeah, I should meditate, but [insert excuse here].” What about you? Do you think you should meditate more?
Should is a perfectly useful word, but intonation is everything. Should can be said with a sense of excitement and curiosity, as in “Wow, what a great idea. I should try that!”
But often we say it to excuse our lack of action and then lay on overtones of guilt and shame. When people say to me “I should meditate,” I hear them saying “I know it would be good for me, but I don’t do it and I feel bad about not doing it.”
The problem is telling yourself what you should do doesn’t motivate you. In fact, it’s just the opposite. If you use should to give yourself unexamined excuses, you rob yourself of opportunity. If you use should to make yourself feel bad, you take away any energy you might have had to engage in positive action.
Healthy habits are best built using positive reinforcement. You meditate, it makes you feel good (perhaps relaxed, calm, or happy), so you’re more likely to meditate again. You can start very small with just a couple of minutes of meditation, but, you have to take that first step and meditate.
To boost motivation, try making one small change: Replace “should” with “could”. “I could meditate today.” That’s a statement full of possibilities with no recrimination.
The words we use have the power to change how we feel, so when talking to yourself, choose your words wisely. Ditch the words that demotivate and choose words that encourage you. You could do this!
This Week's Peaceful Moment: Sunset in Cedar by the Sea, British ColumbiaPhotograph is copyright protected and used with permission. Please don't copy it.
Let's meditate together
For a 12-minute guided meditation on balancing alertness with relaxation, forward the podcast or the video above to 2:24. You'll learn to play with your breath and use it to help boost energy or to relax tension when you need to.
Next week:
Next week marks the 50th episode of Mindful15! I’ll be answering a question submitted by Brendan who asks whether it’s okay to lie down to meditate. To be sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to our newsletter.
To celebrate episode 50, I’ll be sending out not one, but three free deep relaxation recordings to anyone who subscribes before September 30th, 2018. If you’re already subscribed, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you! I’ll send the relaxations out to you, too.
Before you go
If you enjoyed this lesson, please share it using the social media buttons you see below, or click here to tell your friends.
To subscribe to our lessons, use one of these links:
Email (you’ll get free extras) | iTunes | Stitcher | <...