I meditate every weekday morning before Bikram Yoga class. Twenty minutes of quiet and stillness, preparing me for another 90 minutes of the same. It’s peaceful and keeps me calm. It even helps with my tinnitus. I love my weekday morning ritual.
But weekend mornings are different. I sleep later. The kids are home. There’s breakfast to savor and coffee to enjoy. The newspaper is waiting to be read. Lovely morning rituals, but different. My schedule is thrown off. Sometimes I forget to meditate.
I usually remember later, once we are dressed and out and about enjoying the day. But only sometimes will I find the time later in the day to meditate. Even if I set a reminder on my phone, I often choose to ignore it. It feels inconvenient, like an imposition rather than a joy. It’s the weekend, and I get distracted by other things. Meditation takes a backseat.
This happens on vacation too — anytime my schedule is different — although on vacation I have had some success maintaining my practice. I tend to reverse my schedule and save 10 minutes for it at the end of the day, right before going to sleep. This is less than my typical 20 minutes, but if reducing the time allows me to maintain my consistency, I think it is worth it. This 10-minute-before-bed meditation becomes a different ritual than my norm, but a ritual none the less. And I enjoy it.
Is skipping a day or two of meditation on the weekend such a bad thing? A Google search tells me it is not unusual for people to skip a meditation day now and then, but I know that the regularity with which I skip on weekends is not good. Often by the end of the day Sunday I feel my patience wearing thin. My voice takes on more of an edge. I think to myself, “I really should have meditated this weekend.” Yet the cycle repeats again the following week.
Meditation is hard, and finding the time to meditate can sometimes be half the battle. But it is worth the effort. I will keep trying to find a way to incorporate it into my life, no matter what my schedule.
Readers, do you skip days in your meditation practice?
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