1. Know your goals & motivation

Spend some time outside of your meditation practice to think about why you’re doing it. Some Headspace packs are more goal-focused than others, e.g. the Relationships pack, and prompt you to think about why you’re doing this meditation, and what you hope to achieve. What you hope to achieve could be as general as to “feel less stressed”, but it might help to keep this in mind, particularly on days when you’re tempted to skip your meditation practice. You might even try writing down your goals, and post it somewhere you’ll see it every day, like your computer monitor or bathroom mirror.

  1. Meditate at the start of the day

Meditating is a great way to start the day. Generally, stress tends to build as the day goes on. Why wait until we are feeling stressed to do meditation? Start the day off right, get into a calmer headspace so that you are in a better position to deal with the inevitable stressors of the day to come. Incorporating meditation into your morning routine will also help you form a habit of meditating; think “Eat breakfast, meditate, brush teeth”.

  1. Be flexible & realistic

While it’s ideal to practice at the same time, in the same place, life doesn’t always allow us to stick perfectly to our routines. Not every day looks the same, which might mean needing some flexibility around where or when you meditate. Don’t use not being able to stick to your preferred schedule as an excuse to skip your meditation altogether. Be realistic about your daily practice; choose a manageable length of time for the sessions, which will enable you to comfortably fit them into your schedule.

  1. Write down your thoughts before you meditate

Thoughts will inevitably come and go during practice. If you find that you are overloaded with wandering thoughts during your meditation (E.g. ‘Did I leave the lights on at home?’ or ‘I need to prepare for this afternoon’s meeting’), it might be helpful to make jot down a few things on your mind before you start. There’s rarely anything that can’t wait the 10-15 minutes it takes you to meditate. Put them on paper, and then leave them aside, to deal with when your meditation is over.

  1. Take advantage of Minis

These one, two, and three minute tracks are perfect if you do find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed during the day. Especially if you’ve already completed your main meditation earlier in the day, you might find that just one or two minutes can make a big difference and ‘top up’ the clarity and awareness achieved in your main practice.

 

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