3 Common Obstacles

For those of you new to meditation, I want to talk about some common obstacles. Number one, I think all of us experience resistance. So you may have made that big commitment, and the first few days maybe you're going to go well, and at some point you're probably going to experience resistance or procrastination. It's just part of it, because getting still and quiet and being willing to sit with yourself is not easy. So if at any point in the course this comes up for you, it's okay.

It happens, everyone goes through it, but I still want you to do it anyway. Come to your cushion, get on your mat, let's do it together, even if you're confronted with procrastination or feeling resistant. The other thing that can happen is a lot of physical discomfort. So I've really emphasized that you have plenty of prop support, lots of lift, align your spine, take care of your knees and hips, but nonetheless, you may find that after 10 minutes of sitting, especially if you're really, really new to this, aches and pains start creeping into your body. This is also part of the process.

Sometimes it's a matter of just sitting with it, but it may also be an indicator that you need to adjust your propage. So maybe you thought, you know, the big bolster was enough. Well, maybe you need the big bolster and a blanket on top. So if you really are struggling quite a bit with physical aches and pains early on when you begin to sit, then consider changing up and increasing your prop support. So just know that's something that happens to all of us. We feel it in the body.

The third thing I want to talk about that can come up when you commit to a daily meditation practice is, you know, a lot of emotional content arises, right? We can often be caught off guard by old things surfacing, you know, all sorts of emotional content, the mind very busy, frustration, maybe emotions. We don't really want to feel there's an urge to not go there. So I'll just say try to sit with it, be kind and gentle with yourself and allow for anything and everything to be a part of it. Meditation is not always, you know, rainbows and flowers.

All sorts of intensity can arise and that is part of the process. So be gentle and easy with yourself. Give yourself space, whatever comes up. So even though we all face these obstacles at some point in our meditation practice, we are doing this together and I'm so glad you've made this commitment. I'm really looking forward to it and be brave, stay strong and we'll do it together. Namaste.