Falling Off The Tracks Of Meditation

[Fatrat]

I have started meditating since Augusti 2016. I started with ten 10 mins for a while then moved to 20 and then 25 mins (regularly) for months, nowadays for some reason i feel like i dont have the power, intention or determination for it, even though in the back of my head I still remember how it benefited me sometimes. nowadays i meditate for only 5 or 10 mins, and I feel like i am starting to slack off.

If there is anyone who went through the same situation and would have some advices or a way to solve this, then feel free to help.

[cetus]

@Fatrat Listen to what Leo has to say @ 5:00. "embody the work"

 

Edited May 7, 2017 by cetus56

[Afonso]

16 minutes ago, Fatrat said:

I have started meditating since Augusti 2016. I started with ten 10 mins for a while then moved to 20 and then 25 mins (regularly) for months, nowadays for some reason i feel like i dont have the power, intention or determination for it, even though in the back of my head I still remember how it benefited me sometimes. nowadays i meditate for only 5 or 10 mins, and I feel like i am starting to slack off.

If there is anyone who went through the same situation and would have some advices or a way to solve this, then feel free to help.

Yeah, in the 2nd month of my meditation I almost fell off track and did not meditate (I meditated just 5 minutes). It's the homeostatic system at work. You have to push through it. There's no magic pill to this. Emotional labor is required. If you're not serious about it, might as well not meditate at all. Make a vow to yourself to meditate for X minutes every single day. The days you grow the most in willpower are the days where you least want to meditate.

[aurum]

I'm currently on my best meditation streak since I started practicing around 4 years ago. I was a dabbler for awhile and feel like I've finally settled in a groove that won't be broken.

What changed is hard to exactly pin down because of the sheer volume of events happening in my life during that time. But I'll identify a few:

-Having a few enlightenment / bliss experiences. This is probably hands down the most important because it showed me that meditation is not just sitting and wasting time. There are real, tangible results to be obtained and now I knew it for myself.

-Taking a 10 Day Vipassana Retreat. Although I was initially worn out when I came back, overall this gave me a huge amount of macro momentum with my meditation habit

-Just making the commitment to do it every day, no matter what. Even if that means I'm dead tired and fall asleep half way through, which has happened to me plenty of times

-Not trying to jump ahead too fast. It took time to build up to my current habit of 1 hour a day. I did plenty of 20 mins a day, 30 mins a day, 45 mins a day, etc before I got here.

So falling off the habit is part of the process. Nothing to do but get back on. God has all the time in the world...literally.

[JustinS]

Try out a float tank in your city. I think most cities have them now. Get a full body massage. Begin to fall in love with that place of total stillness and relaxation, then maybe you can have a more healthy positive relationship with meditation. 

[Max_V]

I had a similar experience, I started to slack off simply because I was neuroticly motivated to meditate.

You have to find a way to enjoy your meditations again if this is the case for you. 

I switched from the do noting technique to mindfulness. During this practise I started to learn that every experience is perfectly fine. So maybe try and find something that you enjoy, focus more on the training then the outcome

[Alex K]

@Fatrat Well maybe you can describe a little more. How exactly do you meditate and which benefits have it brought to you already.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Alex K