Jun 22
Want to make the most of your meditation practice?
Meditation is a wellbeing practice that’s been around for hundreds of years. Its benefits are scientifically proven and range from improved biological wellness — like increased serotonin levels, lowered cortisol levels, stable blood pressure — to having a better toolkit for handling life’s challenges. Practiced consistently over time, it helps you become more resilient, mindful and attuned with your core self.
It’s an exercise where you build your mind’s muscles with practice, and like all practices, as you start doing it, you might encounter obstacles along the journey.
What are some barriers towards better meditation?
One of the common hurdles towards getting better at meditating is what seems like an inability to keep your mind in one place. It’s like a hummingbird hovering near a flower — it stays there for a just few seconds before moving on to the next one. Because it moves so fast and seemingly so randomly, it feels impossible to exercise any agency over where it goes and how long it stays there.
Why is it important to stay focused?
The first question that might come up is — well, why do I care if the mind’s running around from one thought to another? Isn’t the fact that I’m disengaging from other things and sitting quietly and taking in deep breaths good enough?
Well, of course it is. That’s something you need to acknowledge and thank yourself for — you took the first step towards becoming a better version of yourself. But what if you could get the most out of your daily practice? What if, over time, your practice made you feel, say, twenty percent better than if you just kept going with the status quo?
Developing the ability to keep the mind focused and grounded builds a solid foundation upon which your meditation practice can thrive. The better you get at keeping your mind within the space you’d like it to be, the more your ability to stay in the present moment grows. And being able to live life in the moment — in this moment, right in front you — is one of the key takeaways from a meditation practice. It’s the core of mindfulness and opens the door to a whole new set of possibilities for healing and thriving.
My typical meditation session
I started meditating formally over a decade ago. I do a fifteen-minute practice most days. It’s based on the vipassana technique and involves scanning — just noticing and being aware of — the sensations in the body from the top of the head to the tip of the toes. The idea is that the more we recognize that everything is changing, including the sensations in our body, the more comfortable we become with the change that happens around us all the time.
Even though I’ve been practicing for a while, almost every session has moments where my mind starts to wander: what about that project I need to start at work today. Keep scanning the arms. Move to the palms. I need to take the recycling bin out tonight. Move on to the chest, the stomach and the abdomen. What’s the weather going to be like today? Keep moving through the thighs, calves, feet and toes. I feel upset about what she said to me yesterday. And thus, it goes.
A wandering mind is a natural thing — that’s what our minds do. On average, humans have over six thousand thoughts per day. Thoughts are triggered by circumstances and lead to feelings and actions. It’s a perfectly normal thing, even when you’re trying to meditate. Often though, the advice given to ‘fix’ this issue, is to keep coming back to your breath: notice when your mind wanders and gently bring it back to your breath. Stay with the breath until your mind wanders again and repeat the process.
It works sometimes, but for me personally, it was easier said than done. I’d come back to the breath for a few seconds before wandering off to the next thought.
How to improve it
So, how do you get better at it? I was on a walk one morning, and for some reason, this idea came to my mind — just another random thought — and I decided to give it a try. Here’s the essence of the process:
- Keep your regular setup — this involves where you meditate, how long you do it for, how often you do it and whatever style of meditation you practice. Those aspects can stay the same.
- Pick a phrase, a few words or a sentence. It can be something like “I am meditating right now”, or “It’s raining quite a lot today”, or “I feel excited about this new technique.”
- Start your practice however you’ve been doing it — this may involve taking a few deep breaths, chanting mantras or listening to calming music.
- Say the phrase you picked above. You can choose to say it silently within your mind, or utter it softly:
I. Am. Meditating. Right. Now.
It’s. Raining. Quite. A. Lot. Today.
I. Feel. Excited. About. This. New. Technique. - As you say each word, pay attention to it. Make the word you just said, the focus of your entire moment. Once you’ve said it, move on to the next one and give it the same attention and importance you did to the previous one. Complete the sentence and start over again.
The key is to focus on the word you’re saying. The more your mind focuses on that word, the less likely it is to wander away.
Do this for a few minutes. When you start this practice, my suggestion is to start small — something like a minute or two — and move up slowly. You can set a timer, if it helps.
Once this is done, move on to your regular meditation practice.
Why does this technique help?
Focusing the mind on something that’s abstract and vague — like visualizing a happy place or a fond memory — can often be a great cue to lead the mind astray: What kind of place is it? What’s the weather like? Oh, I actually miss that long weekend I went to the desert…you can see how easy it is for the mind to wander.
Focusing the mind on something like counting the breaths may work for some people, but for me, it was a matter of time before my mind wandered away. In-breath number one. Out-breath number one. In-breath number two. My feet are cold. Out-breath number two. In-breath number three. Out-breath number three. I feel anxious about the presentation. In-breath number four.
What helps is to have something specific — like imagining a simple word being written down, focusing on the letters of that word and repeating it again — but also not too demanding. You need to give your mind just the right amount of specificity and workload, so that it’s not overwhelmed, but it’s also focused. This is why I encourage you to experiment with the sentences you pick. It will be a trial-and-error process where you play around with different words until you find a sentence that works for you.
Other ways to tweak it
- If you choose to say it silently, visualize each word being written on a piece of paper or a Word document or a whiteboard. Having a visual representation will improve your ability to focus on it.
- If you choose to softly utter the words, visualize each word coming out of your mouth, your lips moving in whatever direction they need to in order to let out the words.
Final notes
As with any practice, it’s important to be kind and compassionate to yourself. This isn’t a project that you’re asked to do at work; it’s a voluntary experiment you picked up because you want to grow and evolve. It’s a learning curve and, like all things, it’ll take a while to cultivate. There are no mistakes or screw-ups — it’s a non-judgmental journey of learning and curiosity.
If you have other ideas or techniques that’ve helped you, please share those via comments. Thanks!
