1. I'm just so busy, I can't seem to find the time.
2. I just have to get through this ____ & then I will be able to concentrate on meditating.
3. It's not like I'm so busy - I just don't seem to prioritize the time.
4. I keep falling asleep because I'm so tired.
5. I can't seem to get into a routine with it.

Do you hear yourself in there?

I hear those self-diagnosed excuses practically every day from people. And I tell them it's time to re-evalute why you WANT to meditate. Is it because you think you should? Do you really want to? Are you sufficiently inspired? How could you be, if you haven't really 'gotten the bug' yet.

Meditation is a practice - similar to exercise. Going to the gym or going for a run only once, is not going to make much of a change. But committing to a consistent program will make a difference, especially over time.

Where exercise is masculine self-care - discipline and physical - meditation is feminine self-care - a timeless time of nurturing and evolving your lower self.  Meditation is not as measured as a masculine experience, and therefore is often misunderstood.

But over time you FEEL the benefits of meditation, and others FEEL the benefits when they are with you. Your mental clarity, your emotional stability, your ability to be calmer, more present, more emotionally intelligent, more creative, more loving - these are the 'measurements' that meditation delivers on.

My husband commits himself to a "killer workout" 6 days a week. He looks forward to it every day. Even plans his day around his workout time with his buddies. And because he sees the benefits, he's continually motivated to workout again and again.

I commit to an awesome meditation practice 7 days a week. I look forward to it all day, waiting for the moment I can slip away from my "day" and enter into that seductive experience. Because I feel the benefits, I am continually inspired to 'work in' again and again.

The parallels are there - but so are the differences. To start the internal benefits, try stacking your 10-minute meditation along side something else you are currently doing every day. It can be something as routine as brushing your teeth, or going to your yoga class. Just make a point of doing your meditation practice just before, or right after, your own routine. It will add to your already existing routine until it too becomes automatic. No one ever said they never prioritized their teeth, or they were too busy for it. (Okay, I'm sure a few people have said it.)

And what if you are stacking your meditation practice with something you don't do every SINGLE day? Then on the days you don't, at least LISTEN to your meditation. Listen in the car, listen as you are getting dressed, over breakfast...you pick the 'stacking', but even if you just listen to the meditation instead of 'doing' it, it will have benefits. A walk to a run kind of comparison. For those 'other' days only, of course.