Sounds like an oxymoron, yet this happens to me quite often. My plan to meditate 30 minutes in the morning for a minimum of one week is set. My confidence level is high and I know I will make it through my first week’s commitment.

My clock is set 30 minutes early so that I can add my extra morning activity of meditating before work. This makes perfect sense to me. If I need an extra 30 minutes, then setting my clock 30 minutes earlier should do the trick.

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The first morning, my body is saying, “No, wait! It is not time to get up yet.” The war in my head begins and it sounds something like this….

“Yes, but remember our meditation commitment for one week?” 

(I am using “we” because there are definitely 2 voices in my head)

“Yes, but it too early to get up, you need your rest for your busy day.”

 

“Yes, but I feel really motivated to give myself some quiet time before I rush off to work.”

“Yes, but you can always start tomorrow. You can go to bed earlier.”

“Yes, but I made a promise to myself to start today.”

“Yes, but what’s one more day, you can start tomorrow.”

“Yes, but……”

I know you are getting a snapshot of my morning battle. It seemed so counterproductive to be so stressed out even before I got out of bed. My meditation commitment was stressing me out!

I knew then it was important for me to remember why I wanted to try meditation in the first place.  I also knew that my motivators for getting up even earlier better be pretty strong. 

After checking in with myself and identified my reasons, I still strongly felt 30 minutes of meditation would bring some peace, connection to me and calmness to my life. Something that I really craved and wanted.

I decided to re-decide and tweak my commitment so I wouldn’t have to get out of bed earlier on my work days, which are already too early. That battle was a no-win.

My new meditation plan consists of carving out 30 minutes before bed, in a quiet room, alone and technology-free. I don’t follow any systems, gurus or meditation positions. I just sit. 

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If your life is filled with people or children, you might want to put a lock on the door and let everyone know when the door is shut, it means “please do not disturb.”

I am finding that the gift of that quiet, computer/phone-free, people-free space is the highlight of my day. My energy and focus have improved. My ability to go with the flow has increased. My interactions with my friends, family and co-workers are much more gentler. Maybe I did not follow my first plan;  however, I tweaked it until it was a fit for me.

When was the last time you had 30 minutes of quiet, technology-free, people-free space? If you don’t remember, maybe it is time to try this out.

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