This week in the Meditation For Modern Living course we explored common reasons people struggle to meditate, they were:
Lack of motivation / time
Don't know how to
Worried about what will happen when they do (loss of control)
Find it hard to stay focused / get distracted
Procrastination
The environment isn't conducive
Not seeing immediate results
My response to all of these is to engage curiosity mode. Curiosity is open-minded and open-hearted, the opposite of being stuck in your dualistic and limited mind.
Curiosity invites us to drop pre-conceived ideas and view things with innocence, which is particularly helpful when you want to have a meditation practice and your mind is giving you reasons not to.
When we gently engage our inner openness, life starts to become an is-ness instead of a labelled "this or that". We see things for what they really are, rather than the stories we have created about them.
This curiosity helps us to feel more resourced, resilient and free, and stops us from staying stuck in life-limiting patterns.
Curiosity may seem to be the antithesis of staying safe (after all, it is said it killed the cat!), but it is an essential part of being in balance. All caution and no curiosity leads to a shrinking world, which is harmful for us all in the long run.
So be brave, pop your head around the corner and see if you can't find something wonderful to be curious about today!