Melissa Wood-Tepperberg Offers Advice on Getting Into Meditation

The workout and wellness leader has some tips for those wishing to adopt the practice.

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg.Jason Koerner/Getty Images

Beginning a new wellness practice isn’t always easy. Both ensuring that it becomes a habit and that it is effective are difficult tasks, and ones that workout and wellness leader Melissa Wood-Tepperberg understands well.

When it comes to meditation, according to the 41-year-old, the beginning might not be the easiest. Maybe you’re falling asleep, or perhaps you’re not finding it as effective as you’d hoped. She would urge you to “stay with it,” a message Wood-Tepperberg shared in a recent Instagram reel.

“The truth is, if you’re falling asleep while meditating, it’s a really good sign to stay the course of meditation because ... your nervous system is completely burnt out, you’re exhausted [and] most definitely living in a fight or flight state,” she explained of the phenomenon.

Rather than giving up on meditation entirely, she suggested trying finding a dedicated spot in your home to practice (rather than your bed). She finds that people have a tendency to meditate in their beds, which more easily leads to falling asleep. But if you dedicate a separate spot to the practice, you’re far more likely to stay awake and finding meaning in it.

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Likewise, don’t let the early instances of the practice be indicative of how helpful it will become in the long run. “A lot of people say to me that they stop meditating because they didn’t notice a difference in the first couple of times,” she explained.

Don’t expect meditation to work immediately, Wood-Tepperberg noted. It’s a “workout for your mind,” she said. “When you start working out, you don’t normally notice a change in your muscles in the first, second or third day. It’s over ... time that you notice change. That is exactly what happens with a meditation practice.”

The MWH founder has a lot of praise for the practice, which, she admitted, has helped her “be more responsive and less reactive.”

If you’ve just picked up the practice or are considering doing so, heed her advice and find a dedicated meditation spot in your home. For more tips and advice pertaining to meditation and other practices, check out Wood-Tepperberg’s wellness platform.

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