Why I Meditate Daily

My body was aching, but it felt so damn good at the same time. My muscles were exhausted, but every step I took towards my apartment felt like a miniature victory. I had just gotten out of the gym, and I knew that the sensation in my muscles only meant that I was getting stronger. It felt amazing.

Later that week I was sitting alone. My eyes were closed, and slow, beautiful, music was playing in the background. I was feeling another sensation across my body, but I wasn’t coming from the gym. I was deep in meditation, and I could feel waves of euphoria flooding through my veins. A good friend of mine had been telling me about the value of meditation for weeks, but until I visited his site at holisticimprovement.com I had never taken him very seriously.

These two feelings I had were unique. They came from different sources. They did share a similarity, however. I had only been able to experience them because I had become committed to a word that most people abhor.

The only reason I was able to enjoy going to the gym was because I had planned it into my schedule every other day for the past 3 months. When I first started going regularly, I didn’t particularly enjoy it. Making a habit of it, however, I was able to vastly improve my physique while also learning to enjoy the process.

When I first started meditating, I didn’t feel many of the benefits. Thoughts kept flooding into my mind, and pushing them down was a difficult task. I would often get bored within minutes and waiting for the time to go by was unenjoyably. I put it into my daily schedule however, and now I am able to close my eyes and look forward to a couple minutes of deep relaxation every day.

Routine is what turns normal men and women into experts. The most knowledgeable scientists are, of course, the ones who read scientific articles every day. A woman interested in art becomes a great artist by painting every day. Dancers only become skilled by getting on the floor as often as possible.

Just do the math. Those who become experts in any field only do so because they work on their craft regularly. Sporadic bursts of energy will not get you anywhere.

Lets use the dancers as an example. Will the better dancer be the one who practices one hour per day or the dancer who practiced seven hours every Saturday? Even if practicing seven hours was reasonable in a day, the one who put in daily effort will learn faster than the one who practiced sporadically. He or she will be able to get in more practice time while also spreading out the learning so that it can be more easily absorbed.

The same facts hold true for artists who paint daily, scientists who read scholarly articles every day, individuals trying to improve their fitness, and me working to enjoy meditation.

Sporadic effort will not help you achieve your goals. Those things worth actually achieving are only completed by applying effort over long periods of time.