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I’m not a habit-driven person. I get up at a distinct time each morning. Sometimes I head to the gym, while other days I’m going to yoga. Even my working hours are varied. Depending on the day, you’ll find me typing away after dinner or arriving first at completely happy hour.

So, it’s not a surprise that in relation to setting a meditation routine, I’ve failed. Like, really failed. After I’ve attempted to carve out 10 minutes within the morning for meditation (whether it’s screaming, silent, or in song), I ended up skipping it. (I’ll admit that what often drives me to yoga class after a sleepless night is the late cancellation fee.) But I’ve never honed in on my inability to put aside the time to set with myself.

A Reframing 

I’ve all the time considered meditation to require 10 (long) minutes. I’m undecided where the arbitrary time got here from, nevertheless it stuck. Sure, 10 minutes might feel like nothing within the scope of the 24-hour day. But, during my rushed mornings and afternoons and evenings, 10 minutes means time to empty the dishwasher, reply to five emails, or take heed to “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version).” So I sacrifice my meditation practice for these other tasks or interests. But, recently, I’ve reconsidered my approach to meditation—and what it requires. 

Neeti Narula, a YJ contributor, often posts her morning meditation practice to her Instagram. In her Reels, she discusses the challenges of creating the time to come back to her mat. This surprised me. I’d assumed that Neeti, an completed yoga teacher, had no trouble finding the time for mindful practices. In my head, that was a problem that only non-yoga teachers handled. The “lackluster” practitioner I discover myself as. But that wasn’t the case.

“There are mornings where I’m up against the clock, knowing the children might wake at any moment, and sometimes that makes me query whether I should even try and practice,” she writes in a recent post. She goes on to talk to the worth inherent in setting a while aside for tuning into her mind and body. It’s something I’ve experienced, too, once I’ve been, well, forced to search out the time.

In a recent meditation class hosted by Balance’s meditation coach, Ofosu Jones-Quartey, he revealed his own struggles to maintain a consistent meditation routine. As he led us through the practice, he reminded us that wandering thoughts were okay. Self-deprecation was not. I left questioning myself and my very own relationship to the practice. Why was I so hung up on an arbitrary number? Was there a distinct approach to approach it?

“For me, the progress is the commitment,” Neeti writes in a recent post. “I’ve never been a morning person, but I really like the best way starting my day through connecting with myself has shaped my life. All of it began with a spot on my rug, a 2-minute timer on my iPhone, and my breath.”

I’m taking my lead from Neeti. As an alternative of serious about it as a 10-minute obligation to envision off my list, I’m reframing it as a 2-minute break to breathe. All I actually have to do is inhale and exhale for two minutes. That I can do.

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