Interval timers are pure gold for meditation!
Meditating in the mornings is easy. My mind is normally calm and it is easy to meditate for 30-40 minutes after waking up.
But once the day starts, my mind comes with all sorts of excuses to not meditate again!
The good news is that I have recently gotten myself to sit regularly throughout the day. My hack has been using an interval timer and setting it at 5 minutes with a gong sound that goes off every 5 minutes..
5 minutes is easy for me to commit to so now I find myself sitting more frequently.
But I am also sitting longer as well. After the first 5 minutes I usually want to put in another 5. And then another 5!
Also getting interesting feedback: I am noticing distinct shifts after 5 , 10, 15 , etc minutes. The hardest 5 minutes to get through is the first 5 minutes.
The gong is also a reminder to return to mindfulness if I slipped into the thought stream etc.
The lower commitment threshold has been sooooo helpful.
So if you are on the outside looking in, keep it small to start and yet open ended.
Gotta say that I have been enjoying a grounded, residual, heightened awareness throughout the day.
OK, going to go sit for a bit!