When You’re Too Busy to Meditate

When you feel too busy to meditate, Vinny Ferraro suggests reframing your idea of meditation.

Vinny Ferraro11 December 2019
Photo by Dewang Gupta.

Question: I feel stretched thin. I have a full-time job and young children to look after. Plus, I always try get enough sleep and exercise, stay informed, and be an active citizen. I can’t seem to find enough time to meditate.

Vinny Ferraro: How can we possibly meet all of the demands of modern life? We can’t do everything, and we can’t do much without some downtime. Otherwise, our heads can feel like they’re spinning as fast as the world around us.

So, how do we prioritize spiritual practice within our schedules? And can we find other places in our lives where we practice just being?

It may help to redefine what meditation practice looks like. I understand the practice as one of arrival, a kind of homecoming if you will. In this way, it can be a great relief from the fragmented awareness of multitasking. Ask yourself: Are there moments in my day when I could check in with myself?  You might find there are opportunities throughout your day wherein you could offer your undivided attention. How many times a day can I step out of my story and into direct experience? If lunch is part of your daily schedule, could you incorporate an eating practice? Close your eyes, turn your awareness inward. Slow it all down.

This embodiment, this kind presence, offers us different gifts than a formal sitting practice does. It helps us give our lives back to ourselves.

Vinny Ferraro

Vinny Ferraro is on the senior faculty of Mindful Schools and has been leading a weekly group in San Francisco for the last fourteen years.