*This* Is Why You Have Trouble Meditating

A wise man once said, “Meditation is f*cking hard.”

Just like exercising, meditation is meant to push your limits and inevitably involves discomfort.

Your body will ache.

Your thoughts will stray.

You will try to rationalize that 5 minutes is good enough.

You will wake up late and just want to skip to the ‘important stuff’.

Know and accept this… for you are meditating for a purpose. A grande purpose for which you are willing to submit yourself to discomfort, impatience and anxiety.

Ironically, you are meditating precisely so that you can avoid more intense and prolonged discomfort, impatience and anxiety.

What to do about it

Decide

you meditate.

Do you know why?

Surely the usual answers immediately spring to mind (controlling my thoughts, happiness, calming emotions, etc.). But are you TRULY conscious of how powerful meditation is in your life?

Try it now: I meditate because _________________________.

If your answer isn’t compelling enough to make you near-ecstatic to plop down and OMMM for 20 minutes each day, consider the following:

1) If there is one metric for being ‘good at life’, it’s the ability to focus. It is crucial to:

• Learning and retaining information
• Having amazing sex
• Completing any task efficiently
• Not opening a new tab to Facebook/Reddit every 5 minutes
• Enjoying this ‘life’ thing

2) The myriad of benefits to your physical and mental health:

• Decreased blood pressure and hypertension
• Lowered cholesterol levels
• Reduced production of “stress hormones,” including cortisol and adrenaline
• More efficient oxygen use by the body
• Increased production of the anti-aging hormone DHEA
• Improved immune function
• Decreased anxiety, depression, and insomnia

3) That ‘OH HELL YES’ feeling of simultaneous Clarity, POWER, Calm and EXCITEMENT when you open your eyes and know you’re going to kick ass today.

One last thing

You may be thinking, “I know all of this but it’s still so hard to  meditate! Why?”

Marianna Williamson said it best:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”

Perhaps, deep inside, you are afraid of what you can become through meditation. After all, is it really that hard compared to the rest of life?

Remember: You are a warrior of light. It is your privilege and duty to cultivate your light and go out and shine it on the world.

So, why do YOU meditate?

Share your reason in the comments :)