Learning a meditation habit

I almost wrote the title as ‘Perfecting my meditation habit,” but that is counter to the lessons of meditation and to the recent lessons learned from my altMBA program. It’s not about doing it perfectly. There is no perfect. And so I edited myself.

As I form a new habit with meditation, I want it to stick. To that end, I want to actively address my challenges.

Challenge 1: falling asleep. Today, Andy talked about what to do if you regularly fall asleep while meditating, which I do. I know this happens mostly because I’ve only been able to make time to meditate at night after my son goes to sleep. After waking up at 5:30am to work out and a full day at work or of weekend play, I’m pooped out. Frankly, even if I don’t get up early for the gym, I still fall asleep.

Resolution: make time in the morning. I’m able to do this some days. Today, I meditated in the car in my office parking lot before heading in to work. It wasn’t ideal. I didn’t fall asleep and didn’t feel as if I was about to.

Additionally, I will try Andy’s suggestion to count each breath individually instead of counting to 10. I never make it to 10 anyway.

Challenge 2: Persistant yawning leading to watery eyes and runny nose. Usually during the first few minutes and then it tapers off. It happens no matter what time of day I meditate. Some days, I can allow the water to stream down my face. It’s annoying. Other days, I can’t take it for a second and must wipe it off. It interrupts my focus completely.

Resolution: research in progress.

Challenge 3: noticing an idea or thought, recognizing it and and then letting it go by.This feels like the basis of meditation and was always my reason for saying things like “I don’t know how to meditate” and “I’ve never been able to do it.” Well, I am doing it, but I’d like to do it better.

Resolution: research and practice in progress.

Tips welcome.