Developing a Meditation Habit with Chris McDonald
If you’re someone who’s dabbled with mindfulness practices, but struggled to create a real meditation habit, today’s episode is for you! My guest is Chris McDonald, and in this episode, we’re discussing the ins and outs of how to develop a meditation practice that sticks.
Episode Details:
Chris McDonald is a holistic therapist, which means she integrates practices like yoga and meditation into her mental health therapy work with clients. Through that work, she has gained a LOT of experience helping people to get started with meditation and overcome the obstacles that keep the practice from truly taking root.
Developing a meditation habit is a process that takes time, and in this conversation, you’ll hear from two experienced practitioners who can help you with some of the disconnects and hang-ups that keep you from benefiting from a regular practice.
You’ll hear about ways to support your meditation habit like:
- Gaining inspiration by practicing with more experienced meditators
- Trying different styles of meditation to find a practice that fits your needs
- Setting your intention and preparing yourself to follow through
- Setting up your space and choosing a time of day to meditate
- Tying meditation to other habits you already have
- Motivating yourself in a positive way with self-compassion (rather than guilt)
We also discuss some important frameworks and attitudes that influence how we approach meditation, including:
- How meditation is a process-oriented activity, rather than a goal-oriented activity
- Meditation as a “band-aid” on a bad day vs. meditation as a “preventative” practice that decreases your overall stress and reactivity
- And, how our brains change when we do practice meditation consistently.
Chris offers tons of realistic, practical tips that can help you figure out how to fit meditation into your life! This episode will leave you feeling motivated and much better prepared to develop or renew your own meditation habit.
Guest Bio:
Chris McDonald is a Holistic Licensed Therapist and owns a group online practice, “Path to Hope Counseling.” She is a 200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher, is Certified in Brainspotting and offers gentle yoga to clients in session, workshops, and private yoga sessions. She specializes in treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma and grief in young adults. Chris also offers Therapy for Therapists and is host of “The Holistic Counseling Podcast.” Her favorite holistic daily routines include yoga and meditation.
Links & Resources from this episode:
- Holistic Counseling Podcast – Ep. 20 The Inward Facing Journey, where Chris interviews her colleague Joe Gilbert about meditation. (She mentioned this one during our conversation!)
- We also touched on Walking Meditation as an option for times when seated forms of mindfulness don’t feel like the best fit. Listen to MTM Episode 15 – Walking Meditation as Moving Mindfulness for more on that topic.
You can learn more about Chris through her website and podcast at holisticcounselingpodcast.com, follow her on Instagram at
@holisticcounselingpodcast and find @holisticcpodcast on TikTok.
And…P.S. Addie was also honored to be a guest on Chris’s Holistic Counseling Podcast in Episode 98 The Mental Health Benefits of a Yin Yoga Practice!”
Did you know there is a Free Membership Tier of the Moved To Meditate Class Library? Learn more about the Class Library and sign up for your Free Library Card to access the five featured classes from the catalog each month.
