Force myself to meditate…. This is something that I haven’t thought about for many years.
However, during the twenty-five-plus years that I have been meditating, I have at times missed sessions, struggled to find motivation, and sometimes even wanted to be anywhere else rather than meditating.
I remember, earlier on in the journey, finding the motivation to sit in silence wasn’t always easy. Because sometimes I just didn’t want to do it! So occasionally, I didn’t. And, hey, you know what? It wasn’t the end of the world.
Having said that, if I understood what I know now, I wouldn’t have skipped those sessions way back then…. I would have found a way to meditate regardless of how much I didn’t want to do it……
And if you’re reading this, you’re obviously having struggles of your own. So, read on and I’ll share some ways that may help you find the motivation to just do it….
How Can I Force Myself To Meditate?
Meditation is nothing more than an awareness of what you are currently experiencing. This means you don’t have to do anything except ‘experience’ what is happening within you….. without attachment. You cannot force this! However, you can force yourself to make time to meditate, to sit and meditate, to concentrate on a mantra, object, or music to aid your meditation, to build the habit of meditating regularly… but trying to force the actual ‘meditating’ is never going to work!
The Best Way To Force Yourself To Meditate Is…..
Think about this…. Why do we do anything in life?
Yeah I know, we have to work to get money to pay the bills and buy stuff we want. I know we used to do stuff because our mum said we had to do it, and we also do stuff because the consequences of not doing it suck…. like if we don’t empty the trashcan in the kitchen, it’s going to stink the whole house out!
So, we do things to avoid pain (like an angry mum or a stinky house) and also because we consider that we will be better off doing them than not doing them. Having money to pay the rent/mortgage is better than losing our house, and eating is considered to be better than starving!
The point is: If we can come up with a really good reason, or some reasons, why we want to meditate, and then keep reminding ourselves of the benefits we will receive by doing our practice regularly, then we will find it much easier to just do it…..
….. in other words, we won’t have to ‘FORCE’ ourselves to meditate because we understand that the benefits we get from meditating regularly far outweigh not doing it. And if we can connect to the ‘feelings’ of the benefits of practicing, especially when we don’t want to meditate, then we will realize that not meditating would be a silly choice!
So, seriously….. think about why you wanted to meditate in the first place. Write the reasons/benefits down, and read them before each of your sessions just to remind yourself of all that you have to gain by meditating.
And when you have convinced yourself that meditating is much more beneficial than not meditating, you will never have to force yourself to do it.
What Are Some Reasons To Choose To Meditate?
Your reasons will be unique, and you may only need one good reason to compel you to do your meditation even when you don’t feel like it. The benefits you gain are your reasons for doing it, and they may include;
1) Stress reduction, more relaxation, reduced tension, better sleep, pain relief
2) Overall improved health, reduced illness, quicker recovery, and healing
3) Improved ability to focus, better mental clarity, and improved optimism, memory, and motivation
4) Improved self-awareness resulting in greater happiness, calmness, peacefulness, confidence, and wellbeing
5) Increased energy, vitality, and stamina
6) Self-awareness also brings better relationships, more synchronicities, better opportunities, and the ability to achieve goals and dreams
7) A clearer connection to Source Energy, and a greater understanding of ourselves and our relation to the physical and non-physical worlds
Why Are You Needing To Force Yourself To Meditate Today?
– You don’t have enough time: What??? Five minutes is enough. You don’t even need to prepare anything. Just stop what you are doing, and right where you are close your eyes and become aware of the movement of your breath, or the sounds outside the room…..you don’t need to go to a special place and sit in a lotus position….
Just stopping and focusing your awareness on anything, without attachment, for a few minutes a few times a day is not asking a lot. You can do it!…. Soon, with practice, it will become really easy, and you will really look forward to doing it more often.
– Are you frustrated because you think you’re not doing it properly? There is no right and wrong with meditation. However, the worst thing you can do is get frustrated with yourself and give up! If you have questions, find the answers….
……. do a search online, ask a teacher, explore other methods, try different times, and locations…. find something that works best for you (and don’t listen to anyone who tells you that meditation has to be done a certain way to get specific results!)
– You just keep forgetting to do it! Sorry, not a viable excuse. Have you got a smartphone or a watch???? Set an alarm….. it’s not that hard, so stop making a big deal about it and just bloody do it!!!!! Your future self will be ever so grateful to you.
It’s Not the End of the World If You Miss a Meditation Session Occasionally!
Persuading myself that meditation was an important process for my ultimate benefit was not always easy. Sometimes, I went and did something else that I was wanting to do. And in hindsight, this was probably a good thing.
Why? Because if I sat down to meditate when my body and mind were telling me ‘not today,’ I would have had a session/experience which was less than satisfactory. And if this became a regular thing, it may have made it easy for me to give up on my practice.
So, my advice to you if you are struggling to do your meditation, is: First contemplate why you wanted to begin originally and why don’t want to do it now….. (this, in itself, is meditation.)
And second, don’t do it if you’re not ready to do it…. because, there will come a time when your soul’s desire comes through so strong, that you will be compelled to do it…. and now just may not be your time.
From an energy perspective, forcing yourself to do something and being drawn to something are two completely different vibrations. ‘Forcing’ is fighting against (negative) while being ‘drawn’, (or coming into alignment with our souls wishes) is the best way to experience anything.
Final Thoughts
Once you have directly experienced some benefits from meditating it becomes easy to form a regular habit. I mean, it’s a no-brainer that we all look forward to doing stuff we enjoy…. So we will never have to consider forcing ourselves to meditate again.
But until we get to the point where meditation is pleasurable all the time, we may struggle and sometimes think we need to force ourselves to do it.
However, forcing ourselves is never a good idea…. It’s basically ‘a conflict of interest’ within ourselves, and will backfire against us. The negativity may even become so great as to make us give up our practice.
However, if we can remember why we wanted to begin a meditation practice in the first place, this should provide us with the motivation we need to take the time and just do it.
I wish you well with your practice, and if you have any questions, send them to me in the comments section below and I’ll do my best to help keep you on track with your practice.
You may also like to read: Why Can’t I Relax During Meditation- 9 things you can do now to improve your experience.
