I’m not going to hold back.
Ready?
Let’s go.
1. Not using a timer.
You have to use a timer. Otherwise, what are you even doing? The point of meditation is to sit for a certain amount of time.
If you don’t use a timer, it means you’re stopping whenever you feel like it. Meditation is about ignoring your feelings, not about letting them boss you around.
2. Acting as if “good meditators” shouldn’t get upset.
Getting angry or frustrated is not a sin. It’s just a normal part of being human. Meditation makes you more aware of your humanness, so you should expect more anger and frustration.
Don’t worry, all advanced meditators learn to bottle it up even more than normal. It becomes a religion of sorts. So, if you find yourself doing this, know that you’re not alone.
3. Paying attention to thoughts.
Meditation isn’t about thoughts. Get that thought out of your head.
It’s about sensory experience.
If you find yourself worrying about how many thoughts you’ve got going on, stop what you’re doing and pay attention to physical sensations.
4. Judging the quality of a sit based on anything other than its length.
Meditation isn’t about getting into a state. The idea isn’t to get into a good state or to get out of a bad state.
Meditation is about sitting and being with whatever happens.
If you can’t focus, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong. It just means you can’t focus.
5. Trying to be mindful in daily life.
Mindfulness in daily life will happen automatically. Stop trying to make it happen. You’re not ready for it.
You need to spend that time meditating, not trying to figure out how to stay calm when your boss is yelling at you.
—Michael
P.S. The No Problem meditation course will teach you how to meditate without making these mistakes.
Leave a Reply