8 Ways to Stick to Your Meditation Routine

The meditation habit

Meditation has become one of those buzzwords: We know it's good for us, but it can be hard to follow. And yet, as with most good habits, the more you practice, the more benefits you reap.

Payal Khurana knows this firsthand. The 33-year-old start-up entrepreneur in Gainesville, Florida, started meditating about 16 years ago. She was going through a rough patch, and a friend suggested she try it. Now it's part of her everyday routine: She does it first thing every morning for 10 to 30 minutes, right after she brushes her teeth and drinks a cup of water.

Sticking to it

Khurana still wavers in her daily practice, though, and even after all these years, she sometimes finds it hard to stick to her routine. "I feel the dread before I sit, but after five minutes, I remember why I do it," she says. A self-described highly sensitive and emotional person, Khurana says meditating keeps her balanced. "When I am committed to my practice, I can examine things that bother me from an observer perspective without attachment to the emotions," she says. "Meditation helps me the most. I can run from it, but something always reels me in."

A few years ago, in an effort to deepen her commitment, Khurana started a monthlong course called Finding Mindfulness, which teaches people how to meditate -- and mostly, how to stick with it. Here's advice from Khurana and other meditation experts on how to stay the course:

Meditate in a group.

Meditating in a group makes you accountable to other people, says Charles Francis, co-founder of the Mindfulness Meditation Group in Raleigh, North Carolina. "When we're responsible for other people, it's hard to blow that off," he says. Groups can also foster a sense of competition or positive peer pressure, adds Bhushan Deodhar, director of the Art of Living Foundation in the District of Columbia, an organization that provides meditation courses. Deodhar adds that weekly in-person group meditations are best, along with online group meditations through social networking sites like WhatsApp.

Find meditation in non-traditional activities.

"I'm a big believer that we don't have to just be sitting in lotus position to be meditating," Khurana says. Meditating could mean taking a walk or washing dishes -- any activity that induces mindful relaxation. For Khurana's fiance, that means ironing. "He spends a good hour and a half ironing one shirt," she says. "That's his meditation practice." She, meanwhile, has found herself engaging in meditation even while kickboxing. "If you punch without focus, that's when you hurt yourself."

Establish and follow a routine.

Meditate in the same place every day, Deodhar says. "Assign a particular spot in your house for meditation. Create that sense of reverence" that you might find at a church or temple. And prepare your body for the experience: Many people meditate first thing in the morning, when their body is clean post-shower -- and their stomachs should also be empty, he adds. Light stretches or yoga can also be helpful to release stagnant energy in the body. Turn your phone off or onto airplane mode, and keep pets in the other room (animals are very sensitive and often pick up on energy generated during meditation, which makes them more prone to want to be near you, Deodhar explains, but meditation is your time).

Start small.

Meditating once or twice a day for 20 minutes is a good goal, Deodhar says, but take baby steps to get there. Even five minutes can be enough. Francis asks his students to write a goal statement, like meditating for 30 minutes every day or every other day. "Don't be overly ambitious," he says. But at the same time, give meditation a chance, he adds. List your priorities and decide what's improving your life and what's not, and swap in meditation for something that isn't helping you.

Don't judge yourself.

The mind's natural tendency is to wander, and when that happens, "let go of self-judgment," Khurana says, adding, "I am very compassionate with myself." Instead, try to return to an anchored thought, like the breath. "Focus on breathing in a very strict way," Francis says. Count your breaths one to five, and then focus on the importance of breath, he adds. "Without breath, there is no life. When you have distracting thoughts, gently bring your mind back to that thought." Many beginners use guided meditations or mantras for this purpose.

Make a time-bound vow.

Many of us will commit to an exercise regimen for a certain amount of time, and meditation is no different. Deodhar recommends a 40-day commitment. "If you miss a day, start from scratch again. By the time you get to the 40 days, you start to feel a big shift. Your performance and confidence improve. Your energy goes up." While the 40-day marker is generally when people start to see notable improvements, Deodhar says two or three 40-day challenges -- or one 90-day challenge -- is the threshold that really turns meditation into a habit.

Have a meditation coach or mentor.

Just as meditating in groups makes you more accountable for meditation practice, a teacher or mentor can provide guidance and answer questions, which are bound to come up at the start of a meditation practice. "[Meditation] may seem simple, but when it comes to managing your mind, it is not simple," Deodhar says. Khurana gives her students daily challenges, such as short guided meditations or instructions to abstain from social media or engage in writing for set periods of time. The last week of her course is dedicated to personalizing the integration of meditation into daily lives, and she follows up with participants months later. "I get texts from people all the time telling me about their mindful moments," she says.

Attend meditation retreats.

Most meditation retreats last a weekend or up to 10 days and revolve around many hours a day spent meditating. That may seem daunting to a novice meditator, but practitioners often say retreats are where they became serious about their practice. "People can undergo a significant transformation in just a few days," Francis says. "It gives them enthusiasm and energy to keep going throughout the year, and they are the ones most likely to go back to a routine." Deodhar says after he did an advanced meditation retreat for five days, he felt a big shift in his dedication to his daily practice. "It became effortless," he says, adding that as an entrepreneur, meditation keeps his hectic lifestyle grounded. "People give the excuse that meditation takes too much time, but it actually makes more time."

Kristine Crane is a freelance Health + Wellness reporter at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.