Struggling to Maintain a Meditation Practice? You’re Not Alone Have you ever tried to establish a regular meditation practice—only to find it hard to sustain over time? You’re in good company. And the solution may be simpler than you think: don’t do it alone. Just as workout partners, classes, and accountability groups help people stick with exercise, community support can make all the difference in building a meditation habit. New habits require repetition, structure, and encouragement—and meditation is no exception. One of the biggest obstacles to consistency isn’t motivation or discipline—it’s lack of social reinforcement. Even if you’ve read about meditation’s benefits for stress reduction, emotional balance, immune function, and overall health—and even if you’ve felt those benefits yourself—it’s easy to lose momentum if the people around you are uninterested or dismissive. Over time, that quiet dis…

Sometimes the sensation creeps up on your or comes on suddenly: You have no energy to do anything. Work feels like a slog. You put off household chores like washing dishes or taking out the trash. In between, you settle for takeout because it requires minimal effort. Day after day, the sensation persists, and rather than attribute it to lifestyle habits, you conclude that you have a lack of willpower. According to psychologist Caterina Lino, "Overall, self-control appears to be a better predictor of academic achievement than intelligence. It is also a stronger determinant of effective leadership than charisma, and more important for marital satisfaction than empathy." Willpower and Your Brain Do you believe you lack willpower? The reality is, you probably have more than you know. The truth is, everyone has two parts in their brain that are often in conflict. There is an older, "primitive brain" governed by the pleasure principle; it wants what it wants right now. Another part…