The “Actually True” Guide to Meditation
We know meditation doesn’t have to be so serious, in fact it tends to be more effective when you add a little playfulness into your practices, and into your daily life. Playfulness ranks quite high as we calibrate along the emotional scale. For now, have a smile at these common myths, what the fun facts really are, and a light-hearted look at what you might try instead.
Myth #1: “You must empty your mind of all thoughts”
The Fun Fact: Your mind produces thoughts like your body produces saliva – it’s just doing its job! Trying to empty your mind of thoughts is like trying to smooth out the ocean. Instead of fighting thoughts, we’re learning to surf them.
Try This Instead: Welcome thoughts like party guests – they can come and go as they please. No bouncer needed.
Myth #2: “You’re doing it wrong if you can’t sit still”
The Fun Fact: Your body is alive! It pulses, itches, twitches, and sometimes needs to wiggle. Even experienced meditators get fidgety. Movement isn’t the enemy of meditation – it’s just another thing to be aware of.
Try This Instead: Create a “comfort menu” for your meditation. Sit, stand, lie down, walk, dance – if you’re aware, you’re meditating.
Myth #3: “You need to meditate for at least 20 minutes for it to ‘work'”
The Fun Fact: Your brain doesn’t have a minimum time requirement for benefits. Even a single conscious breath counts. Some of the most powerful meditation moments happen in just a few seconds.
Try This Instead: Start with “micro-meditations” – 30 seconds here, a minute there. Let them naturally expand as you get curious about staying longer.
Myth #4: “Meditation should make you feel peaceful”
The Fun Fact: Meditation makes you more aware of whatever’s already there – peace, chaos, joy, irritation, all of it. Sometimes it feels like a spa day, sometimes it feels like spring cleaning your basement.
Try This Instead: Think of meditation as tuning into your personal reality TV show. Every episode is different, and that’s what makes it interesting.
Myth #5: “You need a quiet, special place to meditate”
The Fun Fact: Life rarely gives us perfect conditions. Some of the best meditation happens in grocery store lines, traffic jams, and while the kids are playing loudly in the next room.
Try This Instead: Practice finding tiny pockets of awareness wherever you are. Make “anywhere meditation” your superpower.
Myth #6: “If you’re not improving, you’re doing it wrong”
The Fun Fact: Meditation isn’t like learning the piano – there’s no recital at the end. Some days you’ll feel like a zen master, others like a caffeinated octopus. Both are perfect.
Try This Instead: Keep a “Whatever Happens” journal. Notice how your experience changes without trying to make it “better.”
Myth #7: “Meditation means following strict rules”
The Fun Fact: The only “rule” of meditation is awareness. Everything else is just suggestions from people who found something that worked for them.
Try This Instead: Be a meditation scientist. Experiment with different approaches and create your own style.
Myth #8: “You should feel different/better right away”
The Fun Fact: Sometimes meditation feels amazing immediately. Sometimes it feels like nothing’s happening. Both experiences are valid and valuable.
Try This Instead: Think of meditation like planting a garden. Some days you’ll see flowers, other days you’re just watering soil. Trust the process.
Myth #9: “Your mind should get quieter over time”
The Fun Fact: Sometimes regular meditation makes your mind seem busier because you’re finally paying attention to what’s already there. It’s like turning on the lights in a room – you see more dust, not less.
Try This Instead: Celebrate noticing the mind’s activity. Every moment of awareness is meditation working perfectly.
Myth #10: “Meditation is serious spiritual work”
The Fun Fact: The most profound insights often come when we lighten up. Playfulness opens doors that seriousness keeps firmly shut.
Try This Instead: Bring a sense of adventure and humour to your practice. What happens if you meditate with a slight smile? What if you treat your wandering mind like a playful puppy instead of a problem to fix?
The Playful Truth: What Meditation Is Really Like
• It’s more like watching clouds than climbing a mountain.
• Success isn’t measured by how few thoughts you have.
• There’s no meditation police checking your technique.
• Your unique way of meditating is exactly right for you.
• The “bad” meditation sessions are often the most valuable.
• You’re not doing it wrong – you’re just discovering how your mind works.
Something to Remember: If you’re noticing anything – your breath, your thoughts, the fact that you’re not noticing anything, or even that you think you’re doing it wrong – congratulations! That’s meditation. Everything else is just extra decoration.
A Final Note on Resistance: (Especially for Abraham Hicks fans) Resistance in meditation isn’t a sign of failure – it’s valuable feedback. Like a GPS recalculating your route, resistance simply shows you where you might be trying too hard. The path of least resistance might look very different from traditional meditation instructions, and that’s perfectly fine. Noticing resistance as soon as it surfaces is one of the keys to pivoting back into alignment again and helps stabilize vibration where we prefer it to be.
You Might Like To Read: How Raising Your Vibration: Makes You Feel Better Now.
See How These Meditations Fit Your Style: Meditations that Calibrate you along the Emotional Scale are our specialty. They help make lasting shifts in vibration instead of trying to rush into feeling some superior spiritual state. We have a host of Reading Meditations suitable for any situation to quickly browse through whenever we notice a dip in our emotions. These effectively bring us back into alignment gently and sustainably. Saving them to a folder on our phone makes them instantly accessible any time anywhere, even if it means taking a bathroom break to find our flow quickly again.
