10 Reasons Why Meditation Might Not Be Working For You – Yet

Meditation is cheap, highly effective, and simple – but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.

Although, to be honest, it actually is pretty easy – the problem is that it’s just not what people expect it to be.

People who are new to meditation tend to encounter all sorts of challenges – but most of them aren’t really problems at all, because those “problems” are simply part of the meditation process.

The truth is, meditation can work for everybody that puts in the time and effort.

So, if you are struggling, maybe one or more of the following challenges are what’s holding you back.

1. Your mind is too active.

   Of course it’s active – that’s what minds typically do, left to their own devices.

   It actually takes practice before the mind quiets down, and even then, it’s rarely silent no matter how many years of practice you’ve got under your belt.

   For example, experienced meditators usually take around 20 minutes before they notice a slowing down of the mind.

   And this isn’t really a problem – part of the purpose of meditating is to learn how your mind operates, and this is how it operates.

   The solution is relatively easy – simply return your focus to your breath.

2. Your mind wanders.

   It’s not uncommon to suddenly realize that you’ve been daydreaming for the last five minutes.

   The solution is, once again, simple – return your attention to your breath and continue.

3. A lack of consistency.

   Meditation needs to be done daily to obtain the greatest benefits, but it should also be done daily to gain a high level of proficiency.

   It’s like anything else – you can’t become skilled at what you don’t practise, so get as much practice as you can.

4. You fall asleep.

   It’s not easy to fall asleep if you have the proper posture. In fact, it should be nigh on impossible to stay asleep if you have the proper posture, because you’re sure to lose your balance and fall over. (Although Mr Bean appears to be able to do that successfully in one of my favourite comedy movies.)

   So, what is the proper posture? It’s to sit up straight, because if you lie down, you may well struggle to stay awake.

5. Body pains.

   Holding one position (e.g. the sitting up straight just mentioned) for too long can be painful, especially when you’re just starting out with meditation. (It may also be difficult for people who, like me, suffer from Sensory Processing Disorder, where constant pressure, however light, on one part of the body, can cause serious discomfort or even pain.)

   The good news is that, over time, your aches and pains will largely go away.

   You may be tempted to shift position, but the problem with that is, it only offers temporary relief before you have to restart the cycle again, It’s therefore best to try to remain still if you can.

   No matter how much it hurts, you will find the pain fades away and eventually moves to another location if you stay still, but you can expect this to be difficult to do at first.

   Itches fall into the same category – just leave them alone and observe them.

6. Boredom.

   Yes, meditation can be boring, especially if you’re used to significantly more stimulation, which most people are, even if they don’t consider themselves the “active” type.

   What you need to do is learn to sit still, with your boredom, and just observe it, because boredom can be more fascinating than you might think.

7. Rationalizing that quitting is a good idea.

   Common thoughts include things like, “This is a waste of time.”, “Why am I doing this?”, or “Is this all there is?”

   Again, just sit with your thoughts and notice them, and consider that every thought is as meaningless as the next.

   What you need to realize is that it’s your discomfort with stillness that’s bothering you.

   Over time, you’ll come to understand that many of the things you do in your life (e.g. watching, or, in some cases, blankly staring at, the TV, emotional eating) are to avoid this feeling.

8. Finding time.

   This excuse is hardly a valid excuse because it’s not that difficult to find the time if you truly want to practise your meditation.

   Easy options, for most people at least, are either to go to bed 20 minutes early and sit in the corner, or get up 20 minutes early and do the same.

   The truth is, after a little practice, you can meditate at your desk or on a bus.

   And remember, If you made time to watch TV, surf the Internet, spend time on social media, or play games on your phone, then you had time to meditate – you simply chose not to in favour of doing something else, so you should re-evaluate your priorities.

9. Desiring perfection.

   Perfection in meditation isn’t achievable, but you don’t need to be perfect.

   All you need to do is put in the time with your best effort, because that’s all that’s required.

   (You’ll find other more general articles about perfectionism here.)

10. Expecting more.

    Meditation rarely involves earth-shattering insights. This isn’t to say they won’t happen, of course, but it’s not the real reason people mediate – it’s a gradual process that can help bring understanding over time.

Conclusion

The problems above aren’t really problems per se – they’re simply misunderstandings of what normally occurs during a meditation session.

Just keep at it by making meditation a daily habit and trust that everything is as it should be, even though it may not seem so at the time.

And if you truly cannot manage 20 minutes per day, then start with just five, because what’s important is making meditation into a habit, something that you will, after time, do almost without thinking about it because it’s become automatic.

Finally, don’t forget to check out my other articles about meditation and related topics.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Bean
2. Mini Habits