The Door Was Never Locked
I tried to meditate in college and could not sit still. A couple of years later, in the back room of the Caravan of Dreams in the East Village, I walked out after 15 minutes. Everything I read said the same thing: quiet your mind, sit still, try harder. So I decided meditation was not for me.
For years that was the whole story. I was the person who could not do it. If you have ever thought the same about yourself, hear this from someone who once believed it completely: the problem was never you.
The day it finally opened was the day I stopped forcing stillness and came in through the body instead. Through movement, through breath, through the felt sense of being alive. The door that had been locked all those years was never actually locked. I had just been standing at the wrong one.
Most people who think they cannot meditate have only ever been shown one door, the one that says empty your mind and hold still. When that door will not open, they conclude the fault is theirs. It is not. There are other ways in.
Read the full piece on Effortless Meditation: https://effortlessmeditation.org/articles/the-door-was-never-locked/