Most of us lead complex and overly busy lives, with too much to do and not enough time. The world we live in is complex, uncertain, and full of challenges and concerns. And we are connected to all of this by our “always-on” smartphones, social media and 24-hour news. It’s interesting that secular mindfulness appeared into the mainstream in this context. Although the practice is useful for individuals, groups, and potentially, society, it’s not a universal panacea. Many things need to be solved in the world before we can live in balance.

Practising mindfulness is neither easy nor obvious. For a start, most of us were not explicitly taught what thoughts or emotions are as we develop. So, we reach adulthood assuming that we are our thoughts and emotions. Through repetition, we also lay down habit patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour; some that serve us well and others that limit and deplete us. It’s unfortunate and a little ironic that our brain adapts to and serves us what we pay attention to; what it thinks we like. So, for example, the more we worry, the more worrying thoughts the brain provides. When we cultivate mindfulness, we begin to rewire the habitual pathways in our brains that no longer serve us and begin to transform our relationship with our experience. 

So, it’s no surprise that everyone experiences real barriers at times, especially when we are starting out on this journey. Before we start on exploring some of the barriers to mindfulness practice, it’s useful to remind ourselves why we’re doing this in the first place. Focusing on the work context, some of the benefits include improved attention and focus, clarity of thought and decision-making, the capacity to be more resilient under stress, emotional awareness and stability, and better relationships. All these benefits are relevant to our personal lives as well. 

With mindfulness, it’s useful to distinguish between formal practice, like a ten-minute breathing exercise and informal practice, like listening one-mindfully when someone is speaking. The formal practice supports the informal. By starting the day with a meditation we’re setting ourselves up for the rest of the day by making it a lot easier to bring awareness, peace, and calm to the present moment.    

For formal practice the barriers can be separated into before and during.

Before practice: 

• Too busy – lack of time and competing priorities
• Memory and commitment – forgetting to do the practice
• Procrastination – I’ll do it later

During practice

• Caught up in agitation and mental chatter, including self-critical or judgemental thoughts
• Having fixed expectations on what we should be experiencing
• Dullness, drifting in thought, tiredness, or falling asleep

Some helpful ways to overcome barriers include:

• Establishing a regular time slot and sticking to it – after a shower in the morning, after breakfast, etc.
• Setting a clear intention to find peace and calm and remain alert during the meditation
• If you experience dullness or heaviness, take a few longer deeper breaths to bring in some energy, and remind yourself of the intention for the practice
• Sit in a quiet place where you’ll be undisturbed and comfortable
• Being kind to yourself, accepting that it’s okay to sometimes drift off in thought
• If there are strong emotions around, use the practice to acknowledge them, hear what they are telling you, find where they resonate in your body, and begin to relax and release tightness and tension in that area

Whatever barriers you are facing today, it’s important to persevere with kindness and openness. Like playing the piano, things get better with practice. And if you don’t manage to practise today, then maybe that’s just how things are for you right now, so let it be. Accepting and befriending whatever is happening for you is working in the right direction.

Suggested weekly practices

• If you are not already doing this, set the intention and create the conditions to establish a regular daily meditation practice.
• Watching out for dullness and sleepiness during meditation. Take some deeper breaths, sit in a balanced and upright posture if you can and remind yourself of your intention for the practice.
• Remember to find ways to embed the informal practice into your day. For instance, taking regular breaks and bringing yourself into awareness, noticing your body, and listening to the soundscape around you.

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Guided practice
Find somewhere undisturbed and sit in a comfortable, dignified, and upright posture, where you can remain alert and aware.
There are two guided practices for this session. You can close your eyes, or lower your gaze while the meditations play.

• Play the first settling practice, then read through the session content, which you can print off if that helps.
• Then play the second audio to explore and experience why we practise mindfulness in the first place.