Better at Meditation, and what does this have to do with Nsync?

It’s well known that being consistent with your meditation, even if it’s just for 20 minutes per day, can help reduce stress, anxiety and depression.

That’s great, but what if you try meditation and just get distracted too easily? You close your eyes and give it a try to OM it out, just trying to make it to that 20 minute goal line, but can’t even get 5 minutes into it before your brain starts thinking about lists, and chores, and trying to make “Bye Bye Bye” stop playing, on repeat, in your brain.

How do you get better at just keeping your attention for this tiny slice of your life?

It turns out that the answer to the question, is to just plow through with meditation. In this French study out of Normandy, subjects who participated in an 18 month meditation course (done at home, for 20 minutes per day) showed improved scores “reflecting attention regulation and socio-emotional capacities.”

Bonus 

The subjects were not only better at keeping their focus during meditation itself, but even after the study was complete. The effect was long lasting!

So don’t be frustrated by your brain, which acts like a 9 year old clamoring for attention all the time. Just do your daily 20-minute meditations anyway, and be consistent about them.

Here’s what you’re looking for

When annoying song lyrics or other interruptions happen in your brain, gently put them in time-out and go back to your meditation. Be patient with yourself, and just do it each time.

Over time, notice how long you last this time, until Nsync shows up to the party and you take up meditation time wondering why THAT’s taking up valuable brain space when you can’t even remember what you wore yesterday. What you’ll start to notice is that your meditation time will increase, and the 90’s boy bands will (gratefully) spend less time out of your mind, so they don’t make you you go out of your mind.

I know it sounds all META, but meditation turns out to be the training you need … to be better at meditation.