When I first started meditating I struggled with finding the time to fit my practice in. I compared myself to other mothers and parents a lot. Maybe the mothers who meditated regularly had more resources than I did, or a different temperament or maybe their kids required less than mine or maybe their kids were older, blah blah blah. The truth was that I actually did have the time but sometimes it felt easier to watch tv, or look at my phone than to close my eyes to meditate.
Here are some tips I have learned along the way while figuring out how to sustain a regular meditation practice.
- Meditate while your kids are engaged and occupied with a safe activity. Depending on the day and my kids moods I either set a timer for quiet reading time or turn a tv show on for them to watch.
- If you're a morning person, set your alarm for 30 mins before your kids wake. This allows for some undisturbed, guilt free meditation time before they wake up.
- If you are not an early riser, that’s ok. Do your routine, drop the kids off at school THEN have your first activity be a meditation. This also works if you commute on public transport.
- If the kids are at home with you all day, then see tip #1. The main thing is that you have a meditation in at some point in the morning.
- Let go of having completely quiet and uninterrupted meditations. It might feel more gratifying to be undisturbed but this ideal isn’t always possible with little ones. A broken meditation is better than no meditation.
- There is a natural break in your day when things pause for a little bit. This is the perfect time to fit in a meditation. If you haven’t noticed this break before, try to look for one this week and see if you find one.
- Remember that it’s OK to skip a meditation or two. Meditation is not about perfection, it’s more about acceptance.
Hope this helps!
