{"id":2196,"date":"2012-03-13T07:31:27","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T11:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=2196"},"modified":"2012-03-13T07:31:27","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T11:31:27","slug":"obstacles-to-meditation-practice-a-time-to-sit-is-a-time-to-procrastinate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2012\/03\/obstacles-to-meditation-practice-a-time-to-sit-is-a-time-to-procrastinate.html","title":{"rendered":"Obstacles to Meditation Practice: A Time to Sit is a Time to Procrastinate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’m thinking about the obstacles to practice and invite you to do the same. What gets in the way? What keeps you from the cushion. What pulls you off the cushion? What makes you forget you have a cushion to go to in the first place?<\/p>\n

This entry begins a series exploring the obstacles to meditation practice. Please comment with your observations. We will then explore the solutions to these obstacles in future entries.<\/p>\n

We know from years of research and our own personal experiences that meditation is beneficial. Yet, it can often be difficult to get ourselves on the cushion and to stay on it. We don’t have the time, inclination, or energy. We don’t remember. We don’t prioritize. Does your Storytelling Mind talk you of practicing? Does it bargain with you? What gets in the way of meditation?<\/p>\n

A cursory reflection reveals the following list of potential obstacles:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Time Management<\/li>\n
  2. Discomfort, Pain, and Intensity<\/li>\n
  3. Agendas, Expectation, and Striving<\/li>\n
  4. Self-Sabotage<\/li>\n
  5. Five Hindrances as taught by the Buddha (Sensual desire,\u00a0Anger or ill-will,\u00a0Sloth-torpor or boredom,\u00a0Restlessness-worry,\u00a0Doubt)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Are you going to practice today? I know that I will be because I have invited people to practice with me. We will support each other simply through presence in the same room at the same time. If no one showed up and I had to sit alone, I’d be more prone to obstacles. I might want to take a nap, a walk, or catch up on phone calls, paperwork, or reading. I thank the Exquisite Mind Studio meditation community for keeping me on the cushion!<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’m thinking about the obstacles to practice and invite you to do the same. What gets in the way? What keeps you from the cushion. What pulls you off the cushion? What makes you forget you have a cushion to go to in the first place? This entry begins a series exploring the obstacles to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,8,9],"tags":[410,122,21,409,411,412],"class_list":["post-2196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-mindful-living","category-mindfulnesss","tag-five-hindrances","tag-meditation","tag-mindfulness","tag-obstacles-to-practice","tag-self-sabotage","tag-time-management"],"yoast_head":"\nObstacles to Meditation Practice: A Time to Sit is a Time to Procrastinate - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2012\/03\/obstacles-to-meditation-practice-a-time-to-sit-is-a-time-to-procrastinate.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obstacles to Meditation Practice: A Time to Sit is a Time to Procrastinate - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’m thinking about the obstacles to practice and invite you to do the same. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2196"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2317,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions\/2317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}