I’ve maintained a 20 minutes twice-a-day meditation habit since 2006, including numerous retreats and even one where, for my teacher training, I meditated up for a month between six and 13 hours a day. But recently when I noticed my morning coffee was making me nauseous, I found it nearly impossible to surrender this seemingly innocuous, dearly loved, routine.

Something I hear frequently hear is “meditation won’t work for me". I get it. It’s hard to imagine how closing your eyes for 20 minutes while practicing a mental technique is a long-term solution for problems like insomnia, anxiety and a sense of overwhelm. Just last week, someone told me “no amount of meditation will help me get on a plane and fly without freaking out. No amount of meditation will prevent me from taking sleeping pills”