Let’s take a look at the idea of a meditation life style to see how and why we can use the practice to get a variety of different outcomes. When putting together a strategy for a successful meditation practice it is important to know where you will get the most out of your efforts. The first thing to do will be to ask yourself the question: What do I want to get from the training? Once this has been established you will be able to set a plan to most effectively help you reach your goals. This is important because there are many directions and approaches to the training.

The most important aspect of the training is to increase your health. No matter what your end goal this will be part of your foundation. When training for the health benefits we can take it a step further and decide exactly what this means to us.

Do you want to be healthy enough to walk five miles or do you want to be able to run through a brick wall? Training programs will vary a great deal from person to person in order to help them reach the level of practice they desire as well as developing a successful meditation practice that will fit in to their individual life style.

Whatever the goal, it is best to start slowly and grow into your end vision at a pace that is healthy and good for your mental and physical well-being. One of the keys to progress is to be consistent. Do your training every day even if it is only for twenty minutes. You may not notice changes day to day, but be persistent and you will accomplish milestones you never thought were possible.

A Shaolin Saying about developing a successful meditation practice

“Spiritual practice must be uninterrupted
We may be anxious because we see very little happening on a daily basis
But we must be patient to see what the accumulation of our efforts yield
Self-cultivation is a steady gradual process
To stop prematurely would be more disastrous than to never have started at all”

In order to see good results it takes a lot of hard work this is why the practice is called “Kung Fu” in the Chinese culture. Often people hear of the incredible abilities of different tai chi, meditation or qigong masters and write it off thinking that those people are just lucky or born with something special.

In a one aspect this is true because so many people are lazy and the few that are willing to put in the hard work are special and very rare. Most of us who have the determination and desire can accomplish incredible abilities with the right guidance and consistent effort will lead us to developing the perfect successful meditation practice.

The general outline for those interested in increasing there health is to find balance. We want to gradually increase strength, endurance, focus, foundation/root, relaxation, happiness, harmony, humility and understanding of ourselves. In order to do this you will need to understand the foundation of the practice this will allow you to focus on the areas you need to become more balanced.

Think about it like this pipe. The pipe reflects your bodies, awareness, relaxation, understanding, focus, root, harmony, and health. If there is a bottle neck anywhere you will be out of balance and this could be detrimental to your over all physical and mental health.

Even if you were given the energy of a 10 year old, but your you were so physically tight that it could not flow through the body in harmony creating blockages and did not have the focus to store the energy it could eventually kill you.

This is an extreme unrealistic example, but you get the idea. So to train for health the main goal is to find balance. In order to do this you will need to be clear of where you are in all of these areas so you can see where your pipe is the smallest. If you focus your training on the areas that are already exhausting the others you can sometimes do harm instead of good. If you are not clear on what your strengths and weaknesses are you should look to find a good teacher to help guide you with your practice.

As you learn where your direction should be focused it is now time to find your own whip. It is no ones responsibility other than yours to reach your goals. What ever it is that makes you develop the habit and stay consistent you need to find that source of motivation to build a successful meditation practice.

One trick or strategy I have found to be successful with a large number of my students is to have them create a positive ritual or reward for there practice and being consistent. If every time you train you reward your self with either positive affirmations or maybe even a physical reward your subconscious will take note.

Eventually you will want to train because you know subconsciously that you will feel happy if you do. This could be something as simple as telling yourself “I am one step closer to my goal, I am stronger than I was yesterday and happy that I am on the positive track” or you could reward yourself with a treat or something that you don’t normally have that you can really appreciate.