I'm not a monk or anything

The lovely screamish asked me in the comments yesterday how I keep going with meditation on my own, and how I find the time and space. It's a lovely question, and I can see that the whole meditation thing might seem quite daunting from the point of view of someone considering taking a mindfulness course.

The very simple answer is that I don't. In an ideal world, I would spend an hour a day in complete solitude practising my meditation. I have two kids, a husband, a life. Are you kidding me? I know it's perfectly possible, but I'm not a morning person and so I'm not (yet) willing to get up an hour earlier for this.

During the course, you are asked told to meditate for about fifty minutes a day. This is very daunting, but in a way also quite liberating. For a lot of the students this is the first time they have ever taken an hour a day for themselves. To lie down and do nothing at that! You get CDs to guide you through. They keep the time for you, and walk you through every exercise. (Most people fall asleep the first few times.)

After the course, you are encouraged to keep up the meditation, but you can choose to do without. You are given so many techniques and different ways to look at things that your life changes beyond recognition anyway, even without meditating a lot.

I still meditate for an hour occasionally, but hardly ever. I will, however, take a minute whenever I need it. When I was teaching, I would take just ten seconds at the start of a lesson to sit at the desk very briefly and focus on my thoughts and feelings. This really calmed me down, and it had the surprising result of making the class much calmer as well.

I used to have the TV on while I ironed. Now I meditate. I also do "gym meditation", "gardening meditation", "cooking meditation", and so on. Most long, repetitive and physical jobs are suitable. You try to be in the moment, completely with the job. At the same time, you look at the emotions and thoughts which are passing in your mind. That's how I get my longer meditation sessions. I've been told that Buddhist monks also do work meditation for hours on end every day. Maybe I'm cheating, but it's working for me just now.

Another good place to get in a bit of meditation is in bed. A few minutes before or after sleeping, or if you can't sleep in the middle of the night. I always feel very naughty for doing this, as I know it will most likely send me back to sleep. If not, also fine because at least I'm not watching a repeat of Big Medicine (which is what I do when I'm not meditating).

To anyone interested in meditation or mindfulness, I would highly recommend taking a course. You are immersed in the practice for eight weeks, after which you have the tools to continue on the path. You will not have to go in a convent or give up anything you like.

(I seem to have done it again. I don't meditate every time I iron, garden, go to sleep etc. These are just potential meditating times. I just don't want to lie, even by giving the wrong impression. I want to convey that it's become part of my life, but it's not all I do, all the time. I will have weeks where I don't meditate at all, and then weeks where I'm completely going for it.)