Bad Meditation Habits?

[Jack_Clark]

I've been meditating about 20 minutes a day for a year and a half now and have been noticing subtle changes in my life which I see as positive, but as for the practice itself I am unsure of whether I am doing it effectively. I am often fidgeting and wriggling around breaking my concentration, I open my eyes and check how much time is left periodically and I can get distracted in a train of thought for a whole session, I think the act of making it a habit has made meditation more of a mechanical practice for me than something I focus my awareness on and as a result the quality of it has been diminished. Does anyone have some advice or a different way to see this?

[Afonso]

It seems you're already aware of what you need to change.

[Jack_Clark]

@Afonso So it's just a matter of trying to clean up these bad habits?

[Guivs]

Do what you feel is best for you. I do not know how it goes for you, and I have basically no experience, but let me share what SOMETIMES works for me, might it help you.

- Spending time setting your intention  (why do you really practice) before your meditation might help generating enthusiasm and a more dilligent focus. 

- Reflect on death and impermanence, that you could die at any moment at the start of the meditation, every time a thought occur. This will help in cutting the chain of thoughts. 

-Maybe making meditation a bit of an "event", dressing up for it rather than crawling out of bed

(Of course, the goal is not to cut all thoughts in meditation, but sometimes they overwhelm you and you lose awareness. As long as you have awareness, everything is fine). 

Edited January 15, 2017 by Guivs

[Dodo]

This is to help you with the monkey mind problem. When you catch yourself thinking, focus on breath and then if you like into the inner body sensations. 

Also you can google for Mooji guided meditations and do a bit of those too - they are masterful. I bet you wont regret. Have fun with meditation, its not really a chore, or shouldn't be.

Meditation as a habit is fine, at least for me.

Nowadays I find myself thoroughly enjoying my sessions, it feels like a quality experience of being alive without need for anything external - wheras if I play a pc game for example,  while it is fun, I dont feel like im as alive during the act.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Dodoster

[Just Do Nothing]

23 minutes ago, Dodoster said:

This is to help you with the monkey mind problem. When you catch yourself thinking, focus on breath and then if you like into the inner body sensations. 

Also you can google for Mooji guided meditations and do a bit of those too - they are masterful. I bet you wont regret. Have fun with meditation, its not really a chore, or shouldn't be.

Meditation as a habit is fine, at least for me.

Nowadays I find myself thoroughly enjoying my sessions, it feels like a quality experience of being alive without need for anything external - wheras if I play a pc game for example,  while it is fun, I dont feel like im as alive during the act.

I don't know why but I found that video so entertaining! 

[Saarah]

@Jack_Clark  A significant help for me was striking the right timing, when I was doing smaller times, I could see the end was near as soon as I'd started so it'd just be about finishing the whole way through, whereas adding an extra 10 minutes made is seem like an actual time I had to really focus on my thoughts. Otherwise smaller times made me more prone to giving up entirely on the habit.

Also try combining with SDS for the fidgeting issue 

Finally, all those frustrations about wanting it to finish and getting distracted are entirely part of the process, beyond solving any practical issues with it, there's nothing else to do except accept that you feel completely and utterly frustrated every bloody meditation session! 

If you watch your frustration you may even just find it amusing at times  

[Jack_Clark]

@Saarah Sorry for the ignorance but what's SDS?

[Saarah]

@Jack_Clark Strong determination sitting, there's a video on it  

[Jack_Clark]

Thanks for the advice everyone!, i'll give these a go!

 

[Jack_Clark]

@Saarah  Oh right yea, i've tried that a few times but never made it a habit I'll give that a go too.