What should I do if I’m getting bored with meditation?

The more you meditate, you might start to recognize how much thinking's going on in your head and it's not uncommon to hit times when you feel stuck, bored, or even like your mindfulness is getting worse.

When people first start meditating there's often an initial honeymoon phase when we start to have a sense for the benefits of mindfulness and we seem to be making progress. As you keep going, it can seem for a while that we're stuck or even going backwards. This isn't at all unusual and it's not that different than practicing for a sport, an instrument, art or your favorite hobby.

Sometimes as we meditate and see more clearly how much mental activity's going on, we can cause ourselves more suffering by judging ourselves for what's happening. As much as possible, when you notice you've gotten distracted, see if you can let go of any story like, "I'm terrible at this" or "I'll never be able to do this," and simply come back to the breath or whatever focus you've chosen. Don't forget to be nice to yourself as you refocus! Thoughts and mental activity aren't a 'problem' to be solved, we're just working on learning about our experience, with kindness and non-judgment.

If you feel like you've hit a plateau or you're feeling bored with your practice not into meditating, try some simple, short meditations with as much gentleness and self-compassion as you can. Browse the Singles section of the app for something that looks interesting or maybe just fun - or try meditating as you walk up the stairs or put your jacket on.

If you're interested in specific strategies for working with distraction when you meditate, you might like to check out Sharon Salzberg's courses Focus I and Focus II.