Did you have a honeymoon phase with your meditation practice? Mine lasted about three years.

From the very first session of my four-day course, I remember feeling awed by my newfound ability to settle my mind and body down, and witness the entire process. I looked forward to each meditation, and every day I walked around New York City feeling buoyed by this secret, magical practice that had expanded my inner world. There was no need to motivate or discipline myself to meditate; I couldn’t imagine missing a sitting.

As time went on, meditation remained the bedrock of my mental health, but the practice no longer thrilled me. I found other things beginning to compete with meditation: chats with my husband, emails, Instagram, my demanding toddler. On particularly exhausting days, it ironically felt like too much effort to close my eyes and be quiet.

Despite knowing unequivocally that meditation was a transformative and essential practice in my life, it became a challenge to actually do it, every single morning and evening.

It’s been over a decade since I learned to meditate, and I’ve finally found the key to keeping my practice steady: a commitment to showing up. Now that meditation is no longer a novelty or thrill, I often take it for granted. I have to choose — every single time — to sit down and do this thing that doesn’t feel particularly remarkable on any given day, but that I know remains the bedrock of my mental health and enables me to offer a more loving, open, and regulated version of myself to the world.

Whether or not you had a honeymoon phase with your practice (some people never have a visceral experience of “settling down” in meditation, and this doesn’t make it any less beneficial), sticking with it over the years will require a commitment to showing up. And although this may feel like a lot of work sometimes, it doesn’t have to be. Think about what “showing up” means in other contexts of life: Usually, when we “just show up” for something, we’re doing the bare minimum. We don’t prepare, we don’t give much thought to the endeavor, we simply show up. And in many cases, this is enough. Meditation is no exception.

The next time you find yourself lacking motivation to meditate, remember this: All you have to do is show up. Nothing more, nothing less. This means simply choosing to sit down and close your eyes. The meditation process will take care of itself.

For more support and inspiration, stay tuned for our next Knowledge Soundbite, releasing next week to Spring Members! We’ll show you exactly how to stay motivated and connected to your practice, long after the honeymoon phase is over. If you’re not a Spring Member yet, you can get access here.