My aptitude to being late is a running joke with my friends. I admit, I am late for most appointments and plans, and they get a great laugh out of my frantic hustle.

For me, the truly funny moment happened a number of years ago. I decided to sit in a meditation class on my walk home. I had to hustle to get to the class, and I was getting more and more anxious as the minutes ticked on and I still had a few blocks to go. I passed a neighbour on the street, and yelped in passing, ‘I can’t stop! I’m late to meditate. I’m so anxious that I won’t make it there in time!’

I was too stressed to meditate! How could I find inner peace when my mind and body were frazzled? Perhaps I was trying to squeeze too much into my afternoon. Perhaps if I had planned ahead, I could have carved out more time and commitment to my practice.

Many of us have had a similar experience; getting overly stressed about trying to fit in some ‘me’ time by respecting our practice. And even more of us cope with feelings of anxiety, worry, fatigue, and being completely overwhelmed on a daily basis.

A few tips that I thought of on that fateful day (lying in class, spending my ‘meditation’ time chuckling over the paradox of my stress and anxiety to get to zen);

1. Plan ahead- devote a space and time where you can commit to yourself. You deserve it as much, if not more, than all the other appointments and commitments you make and keep during your day. Carve it onto your day! Write it down in your planner, or set an appointment with reminder on your phone

2. Set reasonable goals- there is huge benefit to closing your eyes for 30 seconds and taking a few deep cleansing breaths, not to mention the benefit from sitting in silence for 10 minutes. Don’t push yourself too much, or the commitment becomes stressful

3. Remind yourself this is a practice of love- a quiet practice at the end of your day will make you feel better than melting into the couch, eating junk and watching junk. But it may take awhile to convince your brain of that! Be gentle with yourself, and praise yourself when you practice