I promised you a tapping exercise to address resistance to meditation and I’m a girl who keeps her promises, except those made to herself when I promise I’m going to meditate. Guess how many times I meditated since I posted the article about the benefits of meditation. That’s right! Zero! I had better get started tapping to discover what the problem(s) actually might be.
The first excuse that popped into my head was “It takes too long.” I’m going to use that as my problem statement or MPI (most pressing issue) and I would rate that as an 8 on my 10-point SUD scale. (Very true)
Setup (karate chop point) – Even though I can’t meditate because it takes too long, I deeply and completely love and accept myself right now. Even though I can’t meditate because it takes to long and I already feel like there are not enough hours in the day, I deeply and completely love and accept myself right now and am open to new wisdom. Even though I can’t meditate because it takes too long, I love myself and accept myself, even with my excuses, and am open to seeing this in a different way.
Eyebrow…I can’t meditate
Side of Eye…It takes too long
Under the Eye…I don’t have enough time
Under the Nose…For all of the things I need to do
Chin…Or the things I want to do
Collarbone…This resistance to meditation
Under the Arm…It takes too long
Top of Head…I can’t meditate
Eyebrow…I can’t quit going to work
Side of Eye…And I really can’t go without my sleep
Under the Eye…My exercising is important too
Under the Nose…Nobody would tell me to quit exercising
Chin…I guess I can’t meditate
Collarbone…I wonder if there is a different way to look at this?
Under the Arm…I don’t think so
Top of Head…But what if there is?
Eyebrow…The article in Science Daily said that the benefits show up after just one meditation session
Side of Eye…If that is true it could make everything else I do easier
Under the Eye…And more effective
Under the Nose…Creating even more time for meditation
Chin…But it feels like I will have to give something up
Collarbone…And probably something I enjoy
Under the Arm…Or can already see the benefit of doing
Top of Head…I DO NOT want to give anything up
Eyebrow…If time is really my issue
Side of Eye…I wonder if there is some other way
Under the Eye…I really do believe that meditation is beneficial
Under the Nose…And I feel like a hypocrite
Chin…I’ve been recommending meditation to other people for years
Collarbone…I ususally tell them that they don’t have to do it for a long time
Under the Arm…And that they can start with just 5 minutes if that is all the time they can spare
Top of Head…If I’m really honest, I probably could find 5 minutes
Eyebrow…I could probably dedicate 5 minutes at work
Side of Eye…Which is my least favorite portion of my day
Under the Eye…And when I need it most
Under the Nose…I’d probably have to set a reminder on my phone
Chin…Because there is always work to fill that time
Collarbone…If I don’t set a high priority reminder.
Under the Arm..I don’t have time to meditate
Top of Head…Truthfully, yes I do.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out gently. When I say that problem statement again the intensity is down to about a 3 or 4. That’s a lot better but I know I haven’t cleared the whole issue because my certainty that I will meditate tomorrow at work is still pretty low. That means that my resistance to meditation must have several different aspects (factors) that create the problem. If I were to take a wild guess, some of the aspects that still need work are my belief that I’m not very good at it (from past experience), my anxiety that I will not be able to put all of my other stressors aside for even 5 minutes without more stress building up, and some internal dialogue that somehow I must be inadequate because I need meditation. Those thoughts came up in the background while doing the previous tapping and should keep me busy for a while.
I hope you tapped along and found it useful. I’d love to hear about your experiences with the tapping. Let me know what happened for you or how you motivate yourself to meditate.
Happy Tapping!