Having issues getting into meditation? Too many questions around how to do it, or what to do, or what is coming up for you during it?
This is perfectly natural, and it’s something we’ll work through in this article.
With meditation becoming so popular over the last 15 or so years, there are lots of ideas and different perspectives about it all over the net, making it seem more daunting than ever.
In this article I’ll be going through the different struggles and challenges people have when starting meditation, as well as the most commonly asked questions and objections to the natural practice.
Most of the meditations in the mainstream media and within meditation apps are technique or religious based meditations, mindfulness, breathwork, body scanning, to name just a few.
The meditation I’ll be referring to throughout this article is natural meditation, the most simple and grounding meditation on the market.
As it is the most simple and natural meditation it is perfect for all levels of meditators.
Natural meditation is about simply sitting physically still and feeling the sensations in your body. By feeling these sensations and letting them be without any judgment or bias you release any accumulated stress, and come to accept yourself exactly as you are.
So let’s dive in.
The Challenge of Sitting With Yourself
The biggest challenge I would say people have with meditation is simply sitting with themselves.
Most of our day is spend distracting from how we’re feeling, into computers, or phones, listening to music or podcasts, constantly on the move, constantly distracted.
So when I tell people, meditation is simply sitting still and feeling how you feel, they seem to get a little uncomfortable, the idea of just being with themselves without a distraction seems too much.
They tend to brush it off by saying, ‘oh I tried that but I got bored, or I fell asleep…’
So let’s dive into some of the common myths and questions people have about sitting physically still.
- Why do I get bored or restless during meditation?
If you’re feeling bored or restless during your meditation, this is simply a sign that you’re coming up against something inside yourself that needs to be resolved. Whether that’s certain pain, trauma or just something you don’t want to face.
The boredom or restlessness is simply a distraction, something for you to focus on, which is keeping you disconnected from what’s hidden behind the boredom.
Rather than viewing these as obstacles, start seeing them as integral part of your meditation.
You need to feel the feeling of boredom, feel the restlessness, without acting on them. The longer you feel these without acting on them, the sooner they’ll dissolve, allowing whatever feeling, pain, trauma that was behind them to come to the surface.
The longer you sit with the restlessness or boredom, the deeper you go, allowing you to understand and get in contact with and so eventually resolve the underlying causes behind the feelings.
- What do I do when I feel discomfort or pain during meditation?
It’s common for discomfort or pain to arise during meditation. First understand that these pains are healing pains, they’re not harming you in any way.
A lot of the traumatic experiences that we go through in life (whether they are big or small) can leave an effect within our body if they are not fully healed. When we sit physically still, as we do during meditation, we are allowing those experiences to reveal themselves. And each experience may express itself as different pains or discomforts throughout our bodies.
Just stay physically still with these feelings, and don’t try to work out what they are, where they came from or try to get rid of them. They will resolve in their own time, if you give them the space to heal in meditation.
So feel these sensations as part of yourself. By allowing your body to process them, you’re actively engaging in a deeper healing process.
Approaching Meditation With Ease
A very common question is Why do I feel like I’m not doing it right? and there is a very simple answer to this.
Feeling uncertain about your meditation often stems from the misconception that there’s a “right” way to do it.
The idea that you need to be doing it a certain way, or achieving a certain result is something that has come from technique based meditations, like mindfulness. There is nothing you need to achieve in your meditation, while you’re sitting there, stay with the feeling that you’re not doing something right, and let that feeling burn out as you sit there.
The biggest motivational killer for meditation is the idea that you need to be achieving something, or reaching some goal.
You need to drop these ideas as they can block you from actually resolving any issues, pains or distresses that come up for you during your meditation.
Instead, take the pressure off, sit down and feel whatever arises from within you.
Some days it may be nothing, while others, it may be too much. Either way whatever is coming up for you is what you need to feel and resolve that day.
Meditation is far easier when you take away the harsh discipline and just relax into the physical feeling of your body.
Remember meditation isn’t a linear process. Some days will be challenging, while others will be easier. It’s natural for your meditation experience to vary based on what you’re going through each day.
Competing Demands and Time Management
Meditation, at times, may seem unproductive or dull. This feeling could occur during the process or even prior to it, leading to procrastination. We often fall prey to the misconception that our relaxation time must either be filled with activity or entertainment.
However, the essence of meditation lies in its consistency. Regular practice is key to experiencing its transformative effects.
- How do I find time to meditate regularly, and incorporate it into my busy lifestyle?
Integrating meditation into your daily routine doesn’t require large blocks of time. Meditation can be done in brief moments throughout your day. Even a few minutes of reconnecting with your body’s sensations can help ground you and resolve accumulated stress.
Setting up a routine, or adding it to your routine ensures that meditation becomes a practical and sustainable part of your daily life, supporting your overall mental fitness and well-being.
To cultivate this habit, there are two essential steps:
- Establish a specific time and place for your daily meditation. Start with just five minutes a day and gradually increase the duration. Schedule it into your day as you would any important appointment. Consider meditating first thing in the morning or right before bed to seamlessly integrate it into your routine.
- Employ guided meditation via an app or a YouTube video. This is particularly beneficial for beginners as it prevents you from getting lost in your thoughts or feeling unproductive.
Remember, even 10 minutes a day can have a profound impact on our daily lives and overall outlook when practiced regularly.
Misinformation and Misconceptions About Meditation
There are many misconceptions about meditation out there, varying from overthinking, to techniques, to music as part of your meditation.
Let’s dive into a few:
- How can I stop my mind from wandering during meditation?
One prevalent misconception about meditation is the notion that it requires you to ’empty your mind’ or ‘eliminate your thoughts’. This is often promoted by technique-based practices such as mindfulness. These very techniques, proposed as tools to rid yourself of thoughts, paradoxically keep you entangled in a constant cycle of pondering over your thoughts in an attempt to eliminate them.
However, the act of thinking is not something you need to get rid of or escape from. Your thoughts are an integral part of your meditation journey. They serve as the outward expression of whatever you are processing during your meditation. Fixating on eliminating them, or feeling frustrated when you catch yourself thinking, simply traps you further in this thought process.
Instead, just come back to the feeling underneath these thoughts. By staying with this feeling, your thoughts naturally fade into the background. If you find yourself entangled in thoughts again, simply return to the feeling in your body. Drop the pressure of trying to get rid of your thoughts, and just allow yourself to feel whatever is coming up for you during your meditation.
- Am I meant to be feeling at peace when I meditate?
Sometimes you will feel relaxed and peaceful, sometimes you will feel distressed, disturbed or in pain, natural meditation isn’t about achieving a certain state or feeling.
Meditation is about feeling whatever state you’re currently in, without judgment or trying to fix or change it, just allowing it to be there.
Whatever you are feeling is exactly how you should be feeling, trying to fix or change a state or feeling is an attack on yourself.
You’re telling yourself, “How I’m feeling isn’t good enough; I need to change because I can be better; there is something wrong with me and I don’t want to be this way.”
How do you know you’re not in the state that you need to be in, given your life experiences?
By asking the question itself, it shows that you don’t understand yourself at all.
This is why it’s necessary to know and understand your thoughts, feelings and behaviours on a deeper level, beyond the superficial.
By sitting still as you do during meditation, and being still, and quiet enough to see the nature of your thoughts and feelings and taking an interest in how they/you behave, you will gain massive understanding of yourself.
- Is meditation effective with music?
Simple answer, no.
Meditation is about coming back to the real feeling of you in the body and just staying with that, however that feels in that moment without any distraction.
When you’re just staying with these feelings, you are enabling yourself to resolve and dissolve them in their own time. Which allows you to release any tensions or stresses that have built up in your body.
Music, however, is a distraction.
So playing music while you’re meditating defeats the whole purpose, because it is distracting you and taking you away from how it feels in your body
Which is not allowing you to just be quiet with yourself in that moment and just allow yourself to really feel and so therefore heal whatever it is you’re going through.
Overcoming Barriers and Resistance to Meditation
Feeling any barriers or resistant towards meditation or during meditation isn’t a resistance to meditation itself, but more a resistance or barrier to what meditation is putting you in touch with.
Whether that’s a pain, or trauma, a discomfort or just something you don’t want to face in yourself, by sitting physically still you will ultimately be feeling those feelings.
- How do I deal with resistance to meditation itself?
On the days where you’re feeling a resistance to meditating, sit down for 5 minutes or 20 minutes and just feel that resistance. Get comfortable with that barrier.
The only way you’re going to burn away that resistance is by feeling it, and getting to what’s behind that feeling.
The longer you sit with it, the softer it will become.
This may take many meditation sessions, don;t expect it to go away all at once, just allow it to take the time it needs to burn out.
The other thing is don’t expect yourself to always be excited or looking forward to meditation. There are going to be sometimes when you’re not going to feel like meditating, and those are the days when you really need to just sit down and feel.
Now there are two things I would suggest to do when you’re feeling resistant to meditating:
- Meditate as soon as you wake up: This will stop you coming up with excuses and things to do so you don’t get a chance to meditate.
- Put on a guided meditation: A guided meditation will keep you connected with the feelings, rather than getting caught in your thoughts about the resistance. You can check out Undo for deep guided meditation, they even have a meditation specifically on Resistance.
What Are the Benefits of meditation?
The benefits of natural meditation are vast and unique to every individual.
You will notice and feel changes within yourself when you start meditation, clarity in your thinking, deeper sleeping, reduced anxiety, to name just a few.
You’ll also start to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for yourself, allowing you to start activating your natural healing process.
Natural meditation helps you return to a more natural state, reconnecting you with reality as it is rather than how it seems when you are under influences. This understanding causes you to approach your life very differently, it helps you resolve your stress rather than push it aside and accumulate it internally.
Your ability to deal and respond to your life problems, release their effects and move on with your life will amaze you and others.
Your body’s capacity for healing both minor and major illness, injuries, ward off allergies and stabilise the ongoing effects of our modern environment will improve massively.
Here is what meditation can offer you:
- Connection: It helps you gain a deeper understanding and connection within yourself.
- Calm: It assists in resolving the tensions and stresses that build up over time.
- Clarity: It clears mental fog, enabling sharper thinking and decision-making.
- Control: It empowers you to respond rather than react to life’s challenges.
Experience the benefits of meditation for yourself with Undo.
Conclusion
Meditation can look challenging for many. However, these challenges often stem from misconceptions and external influences that hinder our natural ability to connect with ourselves. With natural meditation, we move our focus from spiritual techniques and expectations to a more body-first approach. This perspective allows us to reconnect with our body’s sensations, understand our thoughts, and activate our self-healing processes.
It is never about achieving a specific state or eliminating thoughts. It is about experiencing and understanding whatever arises within us. Whether it is restlessness, discomfort, negative emotions, or resistance, these are all part of the path to deeper self-understanding and healing.
Success Story
Jun Rong
“Before using Undo, I struggled with self-confidence and anxiety, constantly influenced by many beliefs that took a toll on my body. Trying to cope with these overwhelming feelings, I found Undo’s anxiety podcast episode, which changed my life. The natural progression through the chapters in the app gave me practical insights for my meditation and daily life.
Over a year of using the app, I deepened my understanding of my suppressed feelings. When I got clear on what I truly felt, many routine activities and beliefs became irrelevant, and stopping them got easier.
It was a natural revelation of who I really was, free from harmful beliefs and influences. Undo is still transforming my life from the inside out. I live more aligned with myself, my values, and my feelings, and I’m slowly able to separate external beliefs.
No other app, therapy, pill, or program has given me such depth of life. I recognized my own true healing power in my feelings. Undo has proven to be a revolutionary form of education about our feelings and truth amidst the falsehoods we’ve been taught, which cause us to sabotage ourselves unknowingly.”
