Why is meditation so hard especially for people working in the office?
Why do we find meditation so difficult?
Isn’t it ironic that at times we find it all so boring and not motivated doing the work that we do in the office and we say to ourselves, “I wish I didn’t have to do anything. I wish I could just sit and not have to think about anything.”
And by the time we get so stressed out, we heard that meditation is good for us. So we schedule the time. We schedule the space to meditate. We get what we wish for! And yet, we find it so hard to simply sit still and not to think of anything even for a few minutes!
It shows us how little power and control we have over our mind.
Meditation is not a hard task. So why do we find it so hard to meditate?
When we look at how we live our daily life, especially for people who work in the office. Mondays to Fridays, we get up, go to work and sit at our desks. We then open our laptops, computers or whatever paperwork that we need to attend to.
The mind naturally, consciously and unconsciously goes into the work mode. The mind is so well trained and into a very deep habit of “working”.
When we go for our holidays, instead of taking a proper break, that is to give our mind the time and the space to switch off completely, we will read a book. We will switch on the TV or laptop and watch Netflix. Or we will have conversations with friends or people that we meet during holidays.
The mind is never utterly at rest even when we are supposedly taking a holiday.
The holiday per se is more about not doing the things that we do daily and the things we don’t usually have the time for. It is never about giving the mind the much needed space to take a break unless we are close to a nervous breakdown.
And we wonder why we find meditation so hard when we want and need its benefits.
Recently, someone emailed me and said that he has been trying to meditate but not much luck. Not surprisingly, he, too, works in the office.
He is a busy senior executive. Finding the time to meditate daily isn’t his challenge. His challenge is sitting still and not to engage with any thought even for a few minutes. Because of that, and after a few attempts, he stopped trying.
However, he has found his solace in running alone in the park. He feels he can take a load off his mind after each run.
Meditation works. But meditation doesn’t work in the same way for every one of us. We are all unique. We are all different.
Meditation isn’t about sitting in a chair or on the floor with our legs in a lotus position (cross -legged). Nor is it about having our eyes closed and looking zen. This is the form which we are so fixated to, not the essence which is what we need.
Meditation is about our own journey, however and whatever that works for us, to have the mind calmed down, to get into a space to get in touch with ourselves internally.
When we jump into meditation cold, making ourselves sit down and meditate when clearly it isn’t a natural habit of ours yet, we wonder why we find such a simple task so difficult.
I suggested to this gentleman that he made use of his run to help him cultivate the habit of meditation.
Instead of finishing the run then go home and shower, which usually is followed by opening the fridge for a beer, then remote control for TV or head out to meet friends for drinks or dinner, I asked him to stretch his legs, cool down after his run and immediately find somewhere quiet to sit down, have his eyes closed (to avoid external distractions and turn the focus inwards) and focus on his inhalation and exhalation just for a minute or two.
Physical exercise helps us release a lot of mental energy. That is one reason so many of us feel so good afterwards. And it is the perfect window to train the mind and cultivate the habit of meditation.
If he were to go home to shower then sit down to meditate, it would be very easy for him or any of us to slip into the habit of doing what we usually do. After all, we are creatures of habit.
Find your window of space, then cultivate the habit of meditation even just for one minute. When we start somewhere that works for us, not what works for the majority, slowly and gradually, we will find getting into meditation isn’t as hard as we think it is.
