Creating the Habit of Meditation Mini-Course Introduction
Welcome to the Creating the Habit of Meditation Mini-Course! The focus of this course is simply to help you form the habit of meditation.
It is not an in-depth course on any one form of meditation, and in fact we will be using a very simplified form of meditation that I’ve developed for myself, that I think is perfect for beginners. It’s based on Zen meditation but is less formal.
What’s included in this mini-course:
- Article: Meditation for Beginners
- Article: Meditation Frequently Asked Questions
- Video: How to Meditate
- Article: What to Notice as You Start Meditating
- Interview: Susan O’Connell, Zen priest and vice president of S.F. Zen Center
- Expert videos: What Meditation Is and Isn’t, from NY Times best-selling author Susan Piver.
- Expert article: The Chocolate-Covered Path to the Moment, from David Romanelli of Livin’ in the Moment.
- 1st Live webinar: Recorded webinar now available.
- 2nd Live webinar: Recorded webinar now available.
- Article: Dealing with Disruptions in Your Routine
- Article: Where to Go Next
- Meditation Habit Tracker – a spreadsheet for logging your meditation habit.
Our Daily Meditation Habit
During the month of February, we will be forming the daily habit of 5 minutes of meditation. Every single day, if at all possible.
Don’t worry — if you’re busy, you can still do this. All you need is 5 minutes. If you can’t find 5 minutes, just 3-4. Or just 2 minutes. Make the time!
We will start on Feb. 1 and do it every day for the month of February. Each day, after you do your habit, you will log your habit in the Meditation Habit Tracker.
By the end of the month, you’ll have a new habit.
Some first steps:
1. Pick a time to do your new habit. When will you do your 5 minutes of meditation? I recommend doing it in the morning, before you start working or checking email. Pick a trigger — something already in your morning routine that you do every single day, such as drink coffee, wake up, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, use the bathroom, etc.
2. Make a vow to do your habit every single day, immediately following your trigger. No excuses!
3. Go to the Meditation Habit Tracker, add your name to the row following the last name on the list, if you haven’t already. You’re now on the list, and won’t need to add your name again. Now, each day, you can go to the spreadsheet, and log 1 or 0 (1 if you did the habit, or 0 if you didn’t) for that day’s date, for your row only. If you forgot to log for a day or two, you can still fill in 1 or 0. But try to log daily, right after you meditate. (PLEASE: Only add your name to the spreadsheet, and thereafter only add a 1 or 0 to your row each day — do NOT sort the spreadsheet, or edit anything else on the spreadsheet.)
4. Read the Meditation for Beginners article, then watch the How to Meditate video.
If you have questions, you can submit them to be answered by Leo.
If you follow these steps, at the end of the month, you’ll have a new meditation habit!