Years ago, I was at a Buddhist talk where the teacher asked the students what they wanted more of in their life in the future. When it came to my turn to express my thoughts, I said “more mindfulness”. I remember that as I said it, it seemed like such an impossible hope! Little did I know that as the years went on, I would not only be able to incorporate more mindfulness in my life, I would also be able to help other people who were also searching for ways to cultivate their own mindfulness. Back then though, it seemed like a distant dream. I was working for a company that seemed to be to be more about profits than ethics. My life felt out of synch. I found connecting with my inner self very difficult. Sitting for even 5 minutes in meditation was therefore quitee depressing and I was able to find a thousand ways to avoid it! I wasn’t alone in this, because when I spoke to the other students I met at that center, they were experiencing many of the same problems. Mindfulness forBeginners The reason that I shared that with you is so that if you are reading this and don’t have much experience of meditation, or find it very difficult, please be reassured. Even though it is hard to start with, remember that we have to confront our lives in order to change them – and meditation provides the perfect tool to get in tune with your real self, enabling you to find your own path to true peace and happiness. Meditation IS difficult to start with. This is why it’s called a practice! We can’t expect ourselves to be good at it to start with, in the same way that an athlete can’t expect to sit on the couch for years then go and win an Olympic Gold! However if we practice mindfulness meditation regularly, it certainly gets so much easier! The next thing that we learn when we are able to practice regularly, is that the difficult thing then becomes how to transfer our peaceful, mindful state from the mat and into our everyday lives. It’s so easy to be infused with calmness andpace on the mat, but quite another thing to be present and filled with compassion OFF the mat! Through regular sitting though, that will become a bit easier! Don’t let excuses stop you from meditating. It’s too easy to feel that our house is too noisy or that we don’t have enough time. Remember that the precious moments of mindfulness that you allow yourself to have will bring so many benefits in the weeks and months to come! If you are new to mindfulness meditation and would like more guidance or would like to read some more articles on the subject, check out   Article by Mia Randall (MettaMia) – author of Mia Randall (MettaMia) is a regular meditator and passionate advocate of the health benefits of meditation. Mia has a degree in psychology and can often be found writing and blogging on the subjects of meditation and Buddhism. She writes to bring joy and inspiration to herself and others. Mia on Google+   Connect with Mia on Twitter here