The 5 Biggest Myths About Meditation

1. Its relaxing.

This is a dangerous myth because people expect meditation to be like slipping into a hot tub. When they experience discomfort they think its not working or theyre not doing it right and they give up. In fact, its often not relaxing, at least not initially. In the beginning meditation is like exercise; if it doesnt hurt youre not doing it right. This puts off a lot of people right from the start. Theyve taken the odd Yoga class where you lie on the floor, close your eyes and let your poor body rest. Everybody loves this. Youve been moving for an hour, your limbs are stretched every which way and you relish the opportunity to let gravity take your muscles and let them drop. Conventional sitting meditation may become like this over time but it probably wont be right off the bat. When you sit down and face a wall or close your eyes and theres nothing between you and the timer but your incessantly jabbering monkey mind its anything but relaxing. Horrifying and sobering are two more appropriate words that come to mind. Relaxing it aint.

2. You need time to meditate.

You dont need time to set aside time to meditate. You can meditate for 5 minutes, 2 minutes, in your car, walking or chopping onions. It isnt a specialized activity which you have to do in a room with specialized equipment. Cut out 15 minutes of TV time and theres your meditation block.

3. Bad stuff comes up.

Actually this isnt a myth. Bad feelings or experiences may surface when you sit quietly and meditate. But, as my mother always used to say, better an empty house than a bad tenant. The bad stuff doesnt materialize because your mind is quiet. Its there when your mind is busy, too. You just cant hear it. So hear it. Listen to it. Acknowledge it and let it go.

4. Itll slow me down. I need my edge.

Meditation actually hones your edge. If your boss is hyper, your workday is manic and your default mode is just south of Chaos you need to give your autonomic nervous system a rest every once in a while. Meditation will help with this. When you return to work mode youll still ramp up to speed pretty quickly but chances are youll be a little more focused and centered.

5. Meditation is Boring

Whats boring is back to back re-runs of Cops every night. Why Because they have nothing whatsoever to do with your life. Theyre pure escapism. Anything that comes up in, or because of, meditation is about you. Which means itll be helpful, interesting and instructive. How better to spend your time than to learn something about yourself and immediately put it to use in your life

One Myth that is true about meditation is that its habit-forming. Once you let it into your life youll have a hard time doing without it.