How On Earth Can You Stop People From Stealing Your Meditation Time?

How to stop others from stealing your meditation time…

… And it’s easier than you might think…

It can be a real challenge for many of us, when starting a meditation journey. I’m sure that some of you have experienced this already, because you are trying to fit your new habit in as something extra, in a day that already feels pretty full.

We start the day with the best of intentions, but suddenly it’s bedtime and we’re feeling too tired…

What steals our meditation time?

Well, we all have our own personal favourites.

If, for example, we have children or other people sharing our home, it can be something unexpected that needs doing. Or it might be a phone call that overruns; it might be dealing with our messages; it might be something that comes up at work – the list is as endless as our imagination will allow.

What to do if it happens regularly

If you notice that things are regularly interrupting your meditation space, then it really is time to take a look at your level of commitment to meditating… At risk of being shouted at, it is only 10 minutes a day you are asking yourself for.

Is it really so difficult to find 10 minutes for ourselves?

Yes? Then perhaps you’re running a bigger issue, which would benefit from being dealt with?

Are you still waiting to be convinced of the benefits of meditation?
Perhaps you need to change habits about how you say yes to things?
Perhaps it’s something about not feeling that you deserve time for the things you want to do?
Would you benefit from help from a wise friend on how you manage interruptions?
It could be worth looking at what you’re using the distractions to avoid?
Are your meditation excuses still getting in the way?

I’m curious: what are your top time wasters? I’d love to hear from you – via the comments.

Of course it is important to be flexible. But just imagine how much easier it would be to fit your meditation in, if you treated it like an appointment – not negotiable.

For example you wouldn’t cancel an optician’s appointment, unless you really had to, would you?

So how about treating your meditation time the same way?

When you have that mind-set towards your meditating time, it’s amazing how easy it is to brush away the interruptions that would otherwise have stopped you from you taking your 10 minutes.

Taking your meditation time seriously is the key to finding the time to do it.

Prioritising it over other things is essential, or you’ll find yourself regularly missing it and not benefiting from it. While you list it as an ‘optional’ part of your day or a ‘nice to have’ activity, it is destined to fall off the bottom of your ‘to do’ list. It is better to meditate for a shorter time, every day, than for a long time once in a blue moon.

Remember: when you are feeling calm and focused, when you have clarity and a smile on your face, the thing that was going to interrupt your meditation will be much easier to handle.

And many of the people who have completed my “How To Meditate” online programme have found that they enjoy their meditation space so much – and it helps them so much – that sometimes they even do it twice a day! There’s no pressure for this, but if you can find the time, the benefits are amazing.

Is it about needing to say “No”?

Maybe you could look at how you feel about saying no to people
Or perhaps you could have a new phrase: “Yes, when I have had my 10 minutes to meditate”?

Most things will all wait for 10 minutes if we’re really honest.

What’s the best time of day to meditate?

The key to success is to fit your meditation in at a time that works for you.

Traditionally, so we’re told, we should meditate around 4am – not a chance for most of us! The next ‘best’ time is shortly after waking up. But that’s all very well if you live in an ashram – not so practical if you have a busy morning schedule when getting up earlier wouldn’t work.

Personally, the only space I get is in the evening, just after the children have fallen asleep – or incredibly early in the morning, before the rest of the family wakes up. And I’ve arranged things to work around that, because I know how different my day feels if I don’t take that time to meditate.

So what can you do?

Forget what people tell you about what time you should meditate! The best time for you to meditate is the time that works for you and for your day.

It might help you to set yourself a reminder. Resources like the Fungie bell or your computer’s alarm / phone alarm can help remind you when your meditation time has arrived. Or you could use the reminder to practise five deep breaths, allowing your attention to rest on your breathing for a few moments.

Choosing a similar time each day, whenever that is, helps you to get into the routine.

Choosing the same place each day can help you get into the routine, too. Your mind and body quickly become anchored into the physical preparation for meditating, in a particular place, and this makes it easier to relax and feel calmer. It makes meditating easier and more effective.

Also, preparing in the same way sets off our unconscious mind’s auto-pilot response, taking us back to a resourceful state of mind, to make meditating easier. You can prepare yourself by, for example, remembering to close the door, lighting a candle, sitting down or putting a blanket around your shoulders. This type of physical preparation will trigger unconscious memories and automatically help you to relax, feel more calm and feel ready to meditate.

Tell those that might need you during your meditation time that you are not around; you are not available, but you will be back soon! Take the phone off the hook; don’t look at the messages just before you meditate, or they’ll be preying on your mind. This is your time and, believe me, those around you will eventually be grateful, because it will make a huge difference for you – and one day they will notice that difference.

I’m curious: what (or who!) typically steals your meditation time? And how do you handle it?

That’s enough for now I hope you enjoy your meditation today!

Affirmation

My happiness is worth ten minutes a day of my time.

Namaste,

Clare

P.S. Enjoyed this? It’s a bonus article from my online course: “The 28 Day Meditation Challenge” ~ Discover how 10 minutes a day could change your life.

Want To Discover How Meditating Could Grow Your Business Or Career? FREE Live Webinar With Clare Josa

Videos

We’ve all heard that meditation & mindfulness are good for you. But did you know they can help you to GROW your business? In fact, many of the world’s most successful people make it a non-negotiable part of their day. And no, you’re not too busy. If they can, you can! And it’s easy, when you know how.
In this FREE webinar, discover the secrets of how just 10 minutes a day could bring you more TIME, more MONEY, more CLIENTS and – above all – more HAPPINESS, better RELATIONSHIPS and a sense of INNER CALM and CONTENTMENT.

Want to dive in and make changes?

Here are some fabulous resources to help you on your journey:

How To Get Off The Emotional Rollercoaster

14 Day Master Your Emotions Kickstart

Ready to dive in and create the meditation habit?

And discover how 10 minutes a day can change your life?

Want To Stop Thinking Thoughts
That Make You Feel Miserable?

Join Me For The A-Z Of AUTHENTIC Positive ThinkingI would LOVE to share with you the exact techniques I use, each day, to master and balance my emotions. Are you ready to make that promise to yourself yet? It’s time to get off the emotional rollercoaster!Most people don’t get round to changing their lives. Make sure you’re not one of them. Join us for How To Meditate today.It’s a white-wash-free zone, as we go through the alphabet to gently – but firmly – retrain that pesky Monkey Mind to think thoughts that make you feel GREAT! A REAL life-changer. Join us for the A-Z of AUTHENTIC positive thinking today.

I’m curious: are you a reluctant meditator, who is still in the ‘should’ zone?
Or are you ROCKIN’ your business with a daily Zen-like habit?
How has meditation helped your business?
And what would you like to know about how to get it to work for you?
Please let me know, via the comments – I’d LOVE to hear from you!

And here are the bonus resources and articles I mentioned:

10 week online meditation course: How To Meditate
Bonus webinar: The 5 biggest questions I get asked about meditation: Watch it here
The 10 questions you should ask a potential meditation teacher! Read here
Are you wasting your time, trying to meditate? Read here
Is it finally time to dispel the #1 meditation myth? Read here
Bonus: Love chocolate? Discover 5 ways it can help you learn to meditate! Read here
Six secrets for training your family to help you meditate. Read here

Live Q&A With Clare Josa: Meditation & Mindfulness ~ 12th Feb at 20:30 UK Time

Videos

Live Q&A With Clare Josa: This month it’s all about MEDITATION & MINDFULNESS.
Answering the 5 top questions I get asked about it – and any extra you have.

Meditation? Mindfulness? Love it? Avoiding it like the plague? Vaguely curious? What are your excuses? Your questions?

Here are the Qs we covered:

I’m not sure where to start, with meditation and mindfulness
Whenever I go to meditate, I’m so tired, I fall asleep. What can I do?
How do I stop my mind whirring when I’m trying to meditate?
I don’t have enough time to meditate…
I know how to meditate, but how do I actually create the habit?
What’s my #1 piece of advice to someone who wants to meditate?

Want to dive in and make changes?

Here are some fabulous resources to help you on your journey:

How To Get Off The Emotional Rollercoaster

14 Day Master Your Emotions Kickstart

Ready to dive in and create the meditation habit?

And discover how 10 minutes a day can change your life?

Want To Stop Thinking Thoughts
That Make You Feel Miserable?

I would LOVE to hear your answers to the questions I asked in the webinar, via the comments.

And here are the bonus resources and articles I mentioned:

10 week online meditation course: How To Meditate

Bonus webinar: How to grow your business with meditation & mindfulness

Are you wasting your time, trying to meditate? Read here

Is it finally time to dispel the #1 meditation myth? Read here

Love chocolate? Discover 5 ways it can help you learn to meditate! Read here

Six secrets for training your family to help you meditate. Read here

Here’s How To Handle That Voice In Your Head – In The Next Five Minutes

Videos

Soul-Sized Wednesdays:

Had Enough Of That Critic On Your Shoulder Yet? Here’s How To Handle That Voice In Your Head – In The Next Five Minutes

Want more stuff like this?

Last chance to join us for “How To Meditate”

Final places left for this inspirational 10 week programme – and it takes just 10 minutes a day.

Is it time to finally teach your Monkey Mind who’s boss? Here’s where to register now:
www.ClareJosa.com/How-To-Meditate/

See you there?

And I’d love to hear from you via the comments:

which of these 4 techniques did you find most useful?
any surprises?
any resistance?
how might you remind yourself to play with these, the next time that Inner Critic on your shoulder goes crazy?

Want to catch each episode of Soul-Sized Wednesdays? Register FREE here.

With love, Namaste,

Is It FINALLY Time To Bust The #1 Meditation Myth?

How To Change Your Life

As a professional meditation teacher, I have lost count of the number of times people have thrown the #1 meditation myth back at me. And, if I’m being really honest, I’ve used it myself as an excuse not to meditate.

But regular meditation and mindfulness are so good for you – even just 10 minutes a day – that I thought I would dispel the #1 myth for you. That way you can either dive in and get meditating – or work on some new excuses to throw at me 😉

The #1 Meditation Myth: “But I can’t shut up my mind!”

There are different ways of saying it:

I don’t have an off switch.
My mind is too chattering.
My mind multi-tasks.
How on earth can I meditate, if I can’t make my mind go quiet?
As soon as I sit still, my mind takes over.

Well, it’s a myth. And it’s an excuse we often use, to get out of ‘having to’ meditate. But:

You don’t have to shut up your mind and stop thinking to be able to meditate.

You don’t have to be able to shut up your mind, to meditate.

Many expert meditators can’t do that yet. Some people find it easy. But the fact is that most of us have got monkey minds or grasshopper minds, leaping from one thing to the next. And there’s more to meditation than an empty mind.

You don’t have to make your mind go silent to be able to benefit from meditation.

If that’s what you’re aiming for, you’re likely to be disappointed. Just think about how many decades your mind has been taught to chatter. Yes, you can quieten your thoughts and slow things down with simple techniques that we’ll be covering during the next four weeks. But if you’re aiming for total ‘mind-silence’, then you’re setting yourself an extremely high standard to reach.

One of the keys to meditating well – or enjoying mindfulness practice – is to accept your mind. It’s about setting yourself free from being attached to your thoughts, so you are better placed to choose thoughts that create inner peace and happiness, rather than stress and anger. You don’t need to shut up your mind, to be able to meditate.

In fact:

Meditation is one of the processes that allows you to quieten your mind, so it is really the other way round!

Myth busted?

Strange though it may seem, having a monkey mind that chatters can actually be a bonus when you are first starting meditation, because you will quickly notice how 10 minutes a day of meditation can help quieten your mind. It takes dedication and it takes practice, just like any skill, but you will see results, even in the first few weeks.So how on earth are you supposed to meditate with your mind racing? Well, there are three keys to meditation.

The first one is relaxation.
You can’t meditate if you’re feeling exhausted and stressed. It’s a simple fact that when we are tired and stressed we are running on adrenalin – and meditation is about creating a sense of calm.
You can’t do that if you’re in your ‘fight or flight’ stress mode. That’s why you’ll notice that, at the beginning of each meditation audio, there is a sequence that allows you to settle in the moment; to settle in your body and to start to relax.
It is critical that you let go and do that.
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The second key is acceptance.
Your mind will wander: it will think about the shopping; it will think about the ironing; it will think about the school run; it will think about anything it can, because it is used to doing that.
That’s the job that it has had for so many years.
Don’t judge it; don’t dive into a story complaining to it about it getting in the way of your meditation, because suddenly your 10 minutes will be over. And you’re likely to feel that you wasted your time.
Don’t give up if your mind wanders. Just gently bring yourself back to whatever it is that you are focusing on in that day’s meditation.
Learning to accept the monkey mind is one of the most amazing ways to de-stress and calm down. It makes a huge difference to your meditation journey. It takes practice, but it is achievable.
The same thing goes for aches and pains, noises and interruptions. If you practise meditation daily, you will be learning how to accept them and not let them get in the way.
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The third key to meditation is concentration and focus.
You’ll be learning how to concentrate and focus on just one thing at a time, to deepen your meditation.
In our multi-tasking life that can feel like a real challenge – and our conscious mind might give us all sorts of reasons why we can’t do it. The key is to choose whether or not you want to buy into those reasons – or whether you want to allow the process of practising meditation to help you make changes in your life.

For those of you on my How To Meditate course, over the 10 weeks we don’t just look at how to meditate, we also dive in and deal with:

how to handle your thoughts getting in the way
how to calm and quieten your mind
how to allow your mind to relax
and how to accept those thoughts

So you see, meditation is not about switching off your monkey mind. But if that’s what you want to do, it teaches you how.

Meditation is about learning to get your mind to work with you – gently training it – and that can be fun.

So I’m curious: what are you favourite meditation excuses?
Which myths are you feeding, to avoid 10 minutes a day of potentially life-changing silent sitting?
And what would I have to say to convince you to let go, trust and give it a try?
I’d love to hear from you via the comments!

With love, Namaste,

P.S. If you’d like to learn how to meditate, how about joining us for “How To Meditate“?
And if you’d love to know how to grow your business or transform your career with meditation, here’s a free webinar for you. xx Clare

Voted Best Cake Ever By The Kids: Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Victoria Sponge

Nourishing Recipes

One of the things I have missed the most since I went gluten-free and sugar-free is Victoria Sponge cake. I’m talking the lightness of the vanilla sponge, the deliciousness of the jam and the lashings of cream…

But sugar turns me into a grumpy witch, and wheat makes me balloon at least two dress sizes, so saying no to the delicacies in the cake shops and kids’ parties is fairly easy, as soon as I consider the consequences.

My ‘bubba’ turned 10 recently and I ended up baking 3 cakes in one week – one for school, one for home and one for his party. All of them were sugar-free and gluten-free, and with this much experimenting going on in my kitchen, I decided it was time to try out the Victoria sponge cake. I chose to make it as the ‘home cake’, in case it was a disaster (then I could feed it to the dog and cats!) and because it’s secretly my favourite.

And I was over the moon when, not only did the recipe idea work, but my kids voted it the “best cake ever”.

So I’m sharing it with you in the hope it might inspire you to try it out – and hopefully fall in love with it.[image_with_animation image_url=”18683″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In”]

Ingredients for Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Victoria Sponge Cake

Makes enough for 10 ‘polite’ people 🙂
P.S. I apologise that it’s not vegan and dairy-free, too. I guess I had to draw the line somewhere for my experimenting. And, of course, this much butter, honey and cream means this is an occasional treat, rather than a daily splurge. But then I know I don’t really need to tell you that, do I? 😉 xx Clare

8 oz butter (yes, butter, not margarine – unless you know of a healthy margarine) – at room temperature – i.e. softened but not liquid
6 oz runny honey
8 oz gluten-free flour – you can either use a sugar-free blend (DO check the ingredients!) or I used a mix of buckwheat, rice & quinoa flour plus 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum – or you can use Doves Farm Gluten-Free flour plus 1 level teaspoon baking powder.
5 medium eggs – separated into separate bowls for the yolk from white
1 level teaspoon baking powder (check it’s gluten-free)
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod – or equivalent of vanilla essence (again look out for sugar on the ingredients)
5-6 tablespoons sugar-free jam – I used Meridian organic blackcurrant spread
250 ml double cream for whipping (we’re blessed to have raw cream from our local farm shop!)

Instructions For #BestCakeEver Victoria Sponge

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Line the base two 8 inch sandwich cake tins (i.e. round and about 1 inch high) with greaseproof paper & pre-heat your oven to 180C or equivalent