Recognising the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual importance of meditation, many of us try to meditate at home. However, when you live in the city, creating the ideal atmosphere at home can be frustrating, if not impossible. We have to deal with excessive noise, little space, and the potential for unending distractions. It’s bad enough when we have only our thoughts to distract us, but worse when the outside world also seems to conspire to undermine our practice. Regardless of the source, it’s important to recognise that getting distracted is normal. In fact, it’s the raw material of meditation: we focus our awareness on some aspect of the present moment and return our attention to it whenever the mind wanders. It’s a relatively simple process, but not easy. If it were, there’d be no need to meditate!
To address these challenges, here are a few tips to help you structure your home meditation experience a little better:
Create a pleasant, uncluttered space. Depending on the size of your home, maybe you’re limited to claiming a small corner of the bedroom or, if you’re lucky, you have a whole room to yourself. Either way, size doesn’t matter. It’s mainly important that your space be relatively clean and tidy. You don’t want to meditate while staring at a pile of dirty laundry. You also don’t need to be too concerned with decorating your space. Flowers, candles, or images can be inviting and supportive, but they’re not required. In formal zazen meditation, people meditate while staring at a blank wall—not too inspiring, but it works.
Establish a consistent time, ritual, or both for your home meditation. To best support your practice, it helps to meditate routinely at a particular time of day. Most people choose the morning, because it’s generally quieter and our minds haven’t quite gotten going yet. However, you can choose to meditate whenever is most convenient for you. Additionally, establish a small ritual to help you transition into the meditative state. Perhaps ring a bell, recite your reasons for meditating, or brew a cup of tea that steeps while you sit.
Keep your meditation cushion, mat, or other supplies clean and protected. You don’t want to leave your meditation cushion on the sofa, where something might get spilled on it. Try putting your meditation supplies in a special corner or in the closet. Keeping them covered and protected from dirt and dust also helps.
Minimise external distractions. You can’t control some things, like oversensitive car alarms, but you can limit some distractions and lessen the impact of others. For example, if your pet is too curious about your meditation, offer a few treats in another room just before you begin. If other people in your house are disruptive, talk to them beforehand, or arrange to meditate while they’re gone. Also consider wearing earplugs or earphones if the noise around you is too distracting.
Roll with disruptions. In any meditation session, you’re bound to get distracted by stuff around you, bodily sensations, or thoughts going through your mind. So when you find that your mind has wandered, just return your attention to the subject of the meditation.
Notice what’s happening and your reaction to it. Accept that it’s your reality right now, and keep returning your awareness to the meditation.
To address these challenges, here are a few tips to help you structure your home meditation experience a little better:
Create a pleasant, uncluttered space. Depending on the size of your home, maybe you’re limited to claiming a small corner of the bedroom or, if you’re lucky, you have a whole room to yourself. Either way, size doesn’t matter. It’s mainly important that your space be relatively clean and tidy. You don’t want to meditate while staring at a pile of dirty laundry. You also don’t need to be too concerned with decorating your space. Flowers, candles, or images can be inviting and supportive, but they’re not required. In formal zazen meditation, people meditate while staring at a blank wall—not too inspiring, but it works.
Establish a consistent time, ritual, or both for your home meditation. To best support your practice, it helps to meditate routinely at a particular time of day. Most people choose the morning, because it’s generally quieter and our minds haven’t quite gotten going yet. However, you can choose to meditate whenever is most convenient for you. Additionally, establish a small ritual to help you transition into the meditative state. Perhaps ring a bell, recite your reasons for meditating, or brew a cup of tea that steeps while you sit.
Keep your meditation cushion, mat, or other supplies clean and protected. You don’t want to leave your meditation cushion on the sofa, where something might get spilled on it. Try putting your meditation supplies in a special corner or in the closet. Keeping them covered and protected from dirt and dust also helps.
Minimise external distractions. You can’t control some things, like oversensitive car alarms, but you can limit some distractions and lessen the impact of others. For example, if your pet is too curious about your meditation, offer a few treats in another room just before you begin. If other people in your house are disruptive, talk to them beforehand, or arrange to meditate while they’re gone. Also consider wearing earplugs or earphones if the noise around you is too distracting.
Roll with disruptions. In any meditation session, you’re bound to get distracted by stuff around you, bodily sensations, or thoughts going through your mind. So when you find that your mind has wandered, just return your attention to the subject of the meditation.
Notice what’s happening and your reaction to it. Accept that it’s your reality right now, and keep returning your awareness to the meditation.
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