Slow down.
Don’t try to sit longer than you can. If 1 minute is where you start, enjoy and savor that one minute. You’ll be able to build up from there. If you try to push through and sit longer than you are ready for, you may find too much coming up. And not want to sit to meditate for the next day.
Try lots of different ways of meditating.
If mindfulness meditation doesn’t work, try concentration. If those don’t work, try a walking meditation, or chanting, or eating mindfully. Listen to audio tapes if it helps to have someone else’s voice guiding you.
Know where your internal edges are.
Don’t push yourself beyond your limits. Don’t force yourself to do anything. If your agitation level gets high then shift and do something else. Remember you can wash dishes with mindfulness or pet your cat. You can watch your mind in myriad ways.
Trust yourself.
Just because some one else is saying this is a good way to meditate only follow their prescription if it works for you. Remember what Rumi said, “There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
