I understand how difficult it can be to incorporate a regular meditation practice into your life. I teach a meditation and mindfulness program at Google called Search Inside Yourself. Many of the people in the class find it difficult to meditate regularly. My suggestion, which seemed to work – treat meditation much like brushing your teeth. I don’t get up each morning and ask myself – “Do I want to brush my teeth this morning.” I just do it. Meditation practice is the same way for me.

Try this right now. Wherever you are, take a few deep breaths. With your eyes slightly open and looking down, bring your attention to your body. Notice any places (such as your shoulders, neck, back, legs, feet) where you may be holding or feeling tension. Try briefly tightening and relaxing these places.

Pay attention to your posture: sit up straight, with your stomach gently pushed out and shoulders back, and your back slightly arched. As you check in with your body, pay attention to your breath. Yes, you are breathing! Now breathe fully, letting your lungs fill completely; then, breathe out, slowly and fully.

As you pay attention to your body and your breath, let your awareness expand to the sounds around you. Notice the smells. As thoughts and concerns and worries arise, return your attention to your breath and body. Notice you are alive! Appreciate this. Just be aware and curious about whatever arises. Continue observing your breath, your body, your thoughts, and yourself, with nothing else to do or accomplish. When you are done, take a few moments to gradually reorient to the rest of your day.

During meditation, as you begin to focus on your breath and your body, you may notice your heart beating more slowly, the very act of your breathing becoming a focus, and that your breathing happens without your having to do anything. Your breathing may deepen and lighten at the same time. If your mind speeds up and you find yourself flooded with thoughts, that’s okay. If you feel more relaxed and notice that your mind more or less slows down, that’s okay, too. Unlike almost any other place in our lives, there is no right or wrong here, and this is perhaps the key. Meditation is stepping outside of our judging, comparing, evaluating world, and that is why it is so valuable and pleasurable. After all, we are human beings, not merely human doings.