STICK WITH PRACTICE

By Carly Hunt

If you find yourself struggling to start or keep up a meditation practice, you’re not alone. Although the instructions for basic mindfulness meditation are simple (pay attention to your breathing in and out; when your mind wanders, notice that and gently bring the attention back to your breath), that doesn’t mean meditating itself is always easy. Research suggests that new and experienced meditators alike face barriers to practice.

For instance, a study I published with colleagues in 2020 found that new meditators often question whether meditation will in fact be beneficial, and doubt whether they’re meditating correctly. New meditators may also struggle to find space and time for regular practice, and may worry that meditation conflicts with their cultural or familial norms. Even after people complete a formal meditation course, pitfalls are common: Their meditation frequency often drops; even experienced

About The Author

Carly Hunt, PhD, is a psychologist, researcher, and educator. She has published on topics in positive and sport performance psychology, taught the science of happiness, and counseled athletes, students, and adults on improving health, well-being, and performance. She is currently a research associate at the University of Virginia and psychologist in private practice at Present Mind Consulting, LLC.

meditators describe how hard it is to face difficult feelings that can arise in meditation, like anxiety.

As a meditation researcher and practitioner myself, I admit that it can be tough to keep up the habit each and every day. Yet, amid systemic oppression, economic instability, the climate emergency, and the frenetic pace of the average workplace, we all need the practice now more than ever. If you want to start or return to a consistent meditation practice, but are feeling stuck or discouraged, read on for some science-backed ways to stay consistent and strengthen your mindfulness habit.

A “Right” Way to Meditate?

The importance of daily meditation practice has been a subject of some debate among researchers in recent years. Does it matter if we meditate at home on a regular basis, or is it enough to take a teacherled course without integrating formal meditation into our daily life?

Researchers have tended to study this issue by asking people enrolled in a formal meditation course, like Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MindfulnessBased Stress Reduction program, to record how much they meditate outside of class on a daily or weekly basis. They then add up how much each person practiced and look to see if people who meditate more at home benefit more from the course than those who practice less.

Although multiple studies suggest that more practice means more benefits, others report that it doesn’t matter how much people meditate—they’ll improve about the same amount, in terms of clinical outcomes such as symptoms of depression and anxiety. What could that mean? These inconsistent findings signal that meditation practice in daily life could be beneficial, and that factors other than how long we practice can make a difference.

For instance, a factor that could be equally or more important is the quality of practice. Researchers have measured practice quality by assessing the balanced resolve toward receptive, present-moment attention during a meditation session. There are also many sideeffect benefits that come from taking part in any →

Resource

How to Meditate mindful.org/ how-tomeditate

When we meditate, we inject far-reaching and longlasting benefits into our lives. Let us walk you through the basics in our mindful guide on how to meditate.