I find myself often getting frustrated with my self when I get distracted, feel discomfort, and sometimes feel restless like I should he doing something else. How do you let these thoughts go and come back to the meditation to stay meditating for longer?

It’s the nature of the mind to be busy. Try to focus on the meditation, but more importantly, don’t be so hard on yourself when your mind wanders.

When I meditate I let and accept all mental distractions as they are part of developing one’s practise. Focus on hearing and feeling your breath. For deep focus I employ simple mantras. ‘I am that I am’

First i acknowledge that im getting distracted and remind myself that these are the reasons i always stay the same,that im meditating to bring a change. I SLOWLY BRING MY ATTENTION BACK TO MY THOUGHTS THAT IM FOCUSING ON AND I GIVE MYSELF CREDIT FOR NOT BEING DISTRACTED,THAT THIS TOO IS A SMALL STEP TOWARDS CHANGE.

I have found observing your thoughts and not reacting to them helps alot. Just let them be there, they will pass and when you dont react to them this makes meditating easier. Also try just focusing on your breath and anytime thoughts come in just let them be and go back to focusing on your breath. This has helped me tremendously.

I like to use an anchor of sorts. Maybe the sound of bells. Sometimes using my breathe also works as an anchor if I use a visual aid of my breathe circling in and out.

I struggle with this a lot as well, but something I’ve been trying to do is remind myself that meditation makes me better/more able to complete the other tasks in my life.

It’s super normal to get distracted in every task, sometimes whilst making dinner I’ll wander into another room for a moment, or check my phone midway through sending an email.

When I meditate I am training myself to get better at being present with those distractions, so I try not to feel bad about it and to remind myself that self-improvement will make every aspect of my life better.

A more functional thing, I normally try to get all the pressing tasks out of the way first. So if my brain really needs to do something, I will try to breathe deeply for a moment, find the task, and complete it. Like lifting weights or running a marathon, the body can only start with so much, so I try to make sure I find time at the end of other routines to meditate.

Also, also, I would recommend the practice ’morning pages’. You just sit down every morning and write three full pages by hand. I’ve found it super helpful to rid my mind of the pointless distracting thoughts, especially seeing them there