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It is my Universe, after all.

Meditation is regularly recommended as a technique to decrease stress and improve your mental health. It’s a timeless concept with proven results - people have been meditating for generations as a way of dealing with stress and getting the body to relax. When done properly, it can be a powerful tool in our stress-busting arsenal. 

When done properly.

That is a very important phrase. Having said that, if you’re like me, you may be struggling to get the supposed benefits. Like Julia Roberts first day “Pray” struggle.

So you’ve tried meditating, but nothings happening. It’s hard to get through a short session without giving up and feeling even more stressed. I mean what’s the point?!?!

Why is this happening? WHY??????

For starters, it’s very common. I’m happy to report that when new to meditation, we should expect things to have a rocky start. Many things can impact the experience, but here are four reasons meditation might not be working - and how to fix it! 

#1 You’re not physically comfortable

Most meditation guides will tell you to sit comfortably before you begin meditating. For a lot of us, this means we sit on the floor with our legs crossed. Believe it or not, this isn’t a very comfortable position at all. You have to fight to keep yourself upright so you don’t hunch over and ruin your posture. 

So the pictures have been lying to us!!!

Not only that, but you might fidget a lot and keep shifting around slightly. These small movements distract from focusing on the meditation itself. Countering this is very easy; find a way to be physically comfortable while meditating. 

Some people prefer to lie down, which is a fantastic idea if you’re meditating before going to bed. You can lie there for a moment, meditate, and (hopefully) drift off to sleep.

We are allowed to doze off!!!

But if we meditate during the day, we should find a better seating position. We can sit with our back against something for support, or get a product that helps us sit with more comfort. Brands like Ungloo provide things such as portable meditation chairs or blocks you can sit/kneel on to take the tension out of your muscles. When we feel physically comfortable, meditation is much easier. 

#2 You’re not giving yourself enough time

Meditation shouldn’t be something you rush. We need to set aside a good 10-15 minutes of your day, possibly more. Already, lots of us have problems doing this. We want to meditate quickly for 5 minutes or less during the day.

I mean does the phrase “I don’t have time for this!” sound familiar? And yet, that seems counterproductive, right? Or… maybe, let’s applaud each other for making an effort to find time whenever we can. However, if we rush meditation, we’re not going to see the full results. 

Rushing keeps us on edge as you’re constantly semi-aware of the time. It’s lingering in the back of your mind,

Tik… ⏲️⏲️⏲️
Tik..⏲️⏲️⏲️⏲️
Tik.⏲️⏲️⏲️⏲️⏲️

Its impossible to focus and get any benefit out of the meditation experience. We need to meditate when we have free time.

STOP LAUGHING!!!

I know we are crazy busy people, so this means the best time to meditate is at night.

Be honest, do you really go to bed and immediately fall asleep? Most of us lie there on our phones for half an hour, scrolling through Twitter (or is it X these days?) until we finally close our eyes. Firstly, it’s bad to use your phone immediately before bed as it impacts your sleep. Secondly, you could easily fit in a meditation session during this period. 

Give yourself enough time to fully relax, and you will start seeing improvements in the results. 

#3 You’re not in a very peaceful environment

The third problem with our meditation sessions is the lack of peace around you.

AGAIN, STOP LAUGHING!!!

Is it possible to meditate on a bus with loads of people around you? Do you think we could lie down in a park with the sound of the world and kids ringing in your ears? Some meditation experts can do this, but most of us can’t. 

Why? Because the environment is distracting. We hear noises or people talking and we instinctively want to listen. It’s so hard to shut ourselves off from the world when we can hear it so loudly. The same goes for brightness - it’s tough to meditate when it’s really bright around you as the light makes your eyes want to open. 

We need to make our meditation environment as peaceful as possible. Again, this is why so many people do it at night - when it’s supposed to be quiet. We can also manufacture a peaceful environment by putting on headphones and an eye mask. With noise-canceling headphones, we can play white noise into our ears or relaxing sounds that mask any other noises around us. Suddenly, we’re in a little bubble all by ourselves. The eye mask is handy when it’s bright, keeping our eyes under darkness so they’re not as twitchy. Immediately, we find the situation changes and it’s easier to let go and relax. 

#4 Your mind is restless

We can deal with all three of the previous problems, but how can we handle a restless mind? When we keep jumping between thoughts, it’s really hard to meditate as it feels like our brain won’t switch off. 

Thankfully, some of the steps we’ve already taken will deal with some restless thoughts.

• eliminating external distractions, make it as peaceful as possible

• take time out of the equation

• focus on ourselves - take in the space. Close your eyes and imagine the details of the space and memorize your room. Focusing on the room gives our busy minds something to do. At the same time, we’re not focusing on all the other thoughts in our heads that are making us stressed.  

• take in the oxygen. Seriously. Deep breaths can calm us down and help us slip into the meditative state.

At the end of the day, meditation might not work for you after you’ve tried to fix these problems. That’s okay - it’s not for everyone. Still, it’s worth trying to fix the issues mentioned in this guide and giving it another go. I mean I haven’t given up and I can’t sit still for 15 seconds. You never know, this could be the secret to unlocking a stress-busting power that aids our mental health.