What I wish someone had told me about starting a meditation practice

There is an amazing amount of shit meditation advice for beginners floating around. I know this because I talk to people about meditation, and they tell me why they don’t like meditating, and their reasons indicate that they’ve been given dumb ideas about what meditation has to be. “I can’t stop myself from thinking.” Cool, you actually don’t have to. “I can’t make the time.” Being present for one full breath can be a powerful practice, if you remember to do it reasonably often. “I’m finding it really frustrating and stressful.” That's not how it's supposed to feel. Try a different technique? Thus, this post, containing most of the things I wish I’d been told before establishing a meditation practice. Here is a terrible set of beginner meditation instructions: “Sit up straight in a lotus pose, whether or not you like doing that. Do whatever you need to do to shut down your mind from wandering or changing. Suppress emotions, try to stop thoughts. Do everything you can to install a medit

There is an amazing amount of shit meditation advice for beginners floating around. I know this because I talk to people about meditation, and they tell me why they don’t like meditating, and their reasons indicate that they’ve been given dumb ideas about what meditation has to be. “I can’t stop myself from thinking.” Cool, you actually don’t have to. “I can’t make the time.” Being present for one full breath can be a powerful practice, if you remember to do it reasonably often. “I’m finding it really frustrating and stressful.” That's not how it's supposed to feel. Try a different technique?