Do you ever feel like it’s all too much? Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Make Meditation a Habit

As summer winds down to a close, take a moment to explore why this time of year is loved by so many. Lighter schedules, more freedom and downtime, and relaxation with family and friends (or alone!) all come to mind.

This summer, we have explored how to Make Time for Fun, Make Reading a Habit, and Understanding What Adds Meaning to your Life. I would like to leave you with one more self-care habit before we transition to fall and how organization can support you in creating a life you don’t need a vacation from!

Without further adieu, why should you consider becoming a Meditator?

Getting Started

There are a number of benefits to exploring meditation.

Increasing self-awareness.
Building skills to manage stress.
Reduces anxiety.
Supports better sleep.
Improves your relationships.
Improved focus on the present.
Become less reactive.
Increase in imagination and creativity.
Helps control pain.
May lower blood pressure.

The key, as with starting all new things, is to form a habit first and then grow your practice.

I recommend starting with 1 minute a day.
- Pick what time you are going to meditate.
  - You can pick whatever time you want, but many people have found it easier to do it first thing in the morning, before the day gets busy.
  - If you pick a time that is not first thing in the morning, you are going to want to tie it to something else that is pretty consistent. It could be after lunch, after you brush your teeth in the evening, or in your car after you drive home from work, but before you go into the house.
- Decide exactly where you are going to do it.
  - You can meditate in bed, in your favorite chair, or buy a fancy meditation cushion and create a meditation corner.
- Decide if you are going to use a guided mediation or just set a timer and sit.
- Decide if you are going to do it every day or only on weekdays/workdays.
  - It may be beneficial to only do weekdays/workdays, if your weekend mornings are inconsistent. Whatever you choose, make sure you can 100% commit to it.
- Set an alarm to remind you to mediate at the time you chose.
  - Pro Tip: Make sure to label the alarm and have it repeat for each day of week you are committing to.
How to decide when to increase the length of your mediation.
- I think 30 days is a great place to start.
- If after 30 days, you are still feeling some resistance to meditate, I would stick with 1 minute, until that resistance recedes.
- What if after a few days, I want to do a longer mediation? I would caution against this. Remember, we are forming a habit and want to take motivation out of the equation. How many times have you committed to doing a 45-minute workout 4 days-a-week and by week two, never done it again?
How to sustainably increase the length of your mediation
- I would recommend increasing the length of your mediation slowly.
- Some common times you may want to consider:
  - 1 minute
  - 5 minutes
  - 12 minutes
  - 15 minutes
  - 20 minutes
- I don't think the goals needs to be 20 minutes or longer. There is research showing that shorter mediations provide a lot of the benefits.
- I would also recommend increasing and decreasing the times, based on how crazy life gets.
- The best thing you can do, is to go back to 1 minute, when life get's a bit away from you. That guarantees the habit remains in place,
An alternative to picking a length of time, is to commit to a mediation series on a mediation app. I know I have found this helpful! (See below for more information on mediation apps).
Lastly, you could join a mediation group or hire a meditation teacher. This would provide additional accountability and knowledge.

Additional Resources

If you are new to mediation, the first step may be understanding what meditation is and what it is not.

I highly recommend the book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, by Dan Harris. If you enjoy this, you may also want to check-out, 10% Happier, by Dan Harris.

Learn more

There are many places to find guided meditations, many of which are free.

Below are few meditation apps you may want to consider:

10% Happier - I personally use this!
Headspace
Calm

If you are looking for guidance from a mediation teacher, you may want to look into:

MNDFL
Insight Mediation Society
Transcendental Mediation

Feeling Overwhelmed?

We understand how challenging and scary it can be to start something new. If you feel excited about implementing this strategy, but worry that it’s just too much to start on your own, the It’s All in the Planning Started Pak was designed for you!

Get Started

A Note from Happy Spaces

The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:

Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.

We understand how challenging it can be to implement new habits and systems. For additional support please go to HappySpacesBySarah.com.

Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®

Sincerely,

Sarah Weingarten

Meet Sarah

Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.

Make Meditation a Habit