I have a hard time meditating, because there is always a distraction or noise or I’m so stressed out that I cant relax to focus. This leads me to not being able to do any rituals.
When It does get quiet I’m so tired, I fall asleep.
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Do you do your own meditations, or do you do guided ones? I’m pretty useless doing my own, but I like doing guided meditations. I have the Balance app on my phone and it’s really helped me.
You might find that doing guided meditations with your ear buds in will help filter the outside noises that you find distracting and help you to focus better in your meditation.
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Yes I try to do guided… constant distractions or fall asleep
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It’s OK to have these distractions. No one tells this, but even when it gets messed up, it is still working on your subconscious. These false starts add up in time. Just keep doing what you can.
I fall asleep to guided meditations all the time. Please don’t feel guilty because guilt only adds to the problem. This one point, you do have control over. Relax into it and let it happen. If you need the sleep, sleep. The subconscious still hears and does what it can from the inside out. You’re OK. It will come together with time.
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Thank you @georgia, this does help ease my anxiety and stress about it. I will continue doing what I can,
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Good. And remember, we got you, and you got this.
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I don’t go completely asleep but I certainly zone out and forget what I was meditating for. 
I like your comment that it still counts because I always feel like it does.
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Meditation, I totally understand, my mind whizzes and what started as a meditation ends up as a to do list of everything I’ve forgotten or could be using my time for instead of meditation. 
I’ve tried apps, music etc, my mind whizzes. So I’ve started doing Uti-Seta. This is a very simple system.
Sit outside.
Shoes off, toes in grass.
Lean against something, a rock, a tree
And close your eyes, and just chill.
Don’t listen to anything except nature (and the odd car drive past ).
If you fall asleep, that’s fine, Spirit will still talk to you through dreams.
If you want you can add 
to your drift, hold it in your hand or draw it on your inner left wrist, it connects you to the energy of water and helps you to relax and flow with spirit. But you don’t need to do this. You can also ask Freyia to help with your meditation as this is one of her runes if you want to call in a goddess.
And like @georgia said don’t feel guilty, it doesn’t matter and won’t affect your rituals or connection to spirit. You just be you, all things will come to you when you need them.
Skal 
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I used to struggle with meditation, to the point that I used to get frustrated and wonder what I could do to calm my ridiculously-hyperactive brain. Then I came across Mindfulness, which teaches that those thoughts and distractions are okay, you can thank them, put them in the car park and go back to focusing on your breathing, then continue. You can decide whether to come back to them later, or leave them in the car park until you’re ready. And honestly, for me, meditation and visualisation are so much easier since then - by accepting that distractions (like much of life) can’t be controlled, but I don’t have to focus on them or pay them any more attention than is necessary either. Like the others have said, don’t feel guilty, because that implies you’ve done something wrong, and you haven’t…you’re just working your way through a challenge, that’s all.
I used to encourage clients to make their own guided meditation, as so many had trouble finding one that they liked; sometimes, the only person who knows what you need to hear is you. After you write down what you want to hear in your meditation, choose your background music and put it on, press record on your phone and off you go! You will “mess it up” (i.e. stumble over your script for example) at least once, and you kind of want to do that - then you can hear what it sounds like, the music, your tone of voice, rhythm, etc…you can adjust it to your liking. If you decide to give it a go, have fun!
x Blessed Be x
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Yeah, I’m awful at meditation. I usually do Guided but here lately my meds have changed and they make me sleepier so what I’ve been doing is listening to Sleep music. You can find those on YouTube for anything from increasing your immune system, balancing your chakras, and cleansing you of negativity. While you sleep. So maybe that will help you!
Good luck!
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This is common for a lot of people, don’t worry! It’s especially common if you’re new to meditation or have trouble quieting your mind. I do, for sure, because I have ADHD and I’ve never found my mind to be a quiet place. My house is also always busy and noisy – I have a child, a partner, two dogs, and live on a pretty busy street in a 105 year old house that does a horrible job of keeping noise out 
One thing to remember is that meditation is a practice – it’s something you’re actively doing. Even if you’re sitting down to meditate and getting distracted, the very act of pulling your attention and focus back to the meditation is practicing meditation. It will likely get easier with time and practice, but you’re not “doing it wrong” at all.
You mentioned not being able to do any rituals because you can’t meditate. What sort of rituals are you trying to do that require a period of meditation ahead of time? Pinpointing what you’re doing can also help improvise and adjust the ritual to something that works better for your lifestyle!
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That’s what the Balance app does - it has you acknowledge thoughts that creep in, label them as “thinking” and then direct your focus back to your breathing or back to your body scan or whatever. Helps me a lot.
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My SO just came back from meditating (I talked about it so much that I passed the bug). She fell asleep and worried she had done it wrong. I read her your paragraph.
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Thank you @MeganB I do struggle with ADHD too and someone always needing me or wanting something from me. Find a quiet non distracting place they say… lol. You are all amazing. whether you try to meditate for 2 minutes or 5, the point is you are doing it and going back to it, even if you have to restart it 10 times… right?
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Right. I have meditated for years and I can do it with at least some distractions with no problem. When I first started, finding a time and quiet place to do it was important. Now, it comes quite easily. It took a while to get comfortable with it. Keep going back. That worked for me.
edit: I made that sound kinda pompous. I still get snapped out of it (sneezing really does it 
). I go back and clear my mind and start again. I know that clearing your mind is a challenge but just relaxing helps so much. After a while, the mindset is easier to get to. Meditation doesn’t have to be super successful. As others said, it is a journey.
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That’s encouraging @dan3 . thanks for the motivation
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I’m happy to hear this. Did it help?
That’s a way to look at it. A lot of the trickiness is in the definition.
I remember trying so hard to figure it out. Then one day, I was moving into a new weekend caretaking job. The bedside table had a doily under the lamp. I decided to try again, staring at the pattern of the folds in the doily. I heard my name being called, so I closed my eyes and turned toward the door. Most people would see a negative photographic image of what they were looking at, but I saw a rose. That made me realize I really could do it: I was just making it harder than it really was because I was following written words instead of relaxing into what I could experience.
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@Irena_Moonshower Just wanted to point out that it’s sometimes impossible to find a quiet place, especially if you have kids, special needs or not. That said, it is possible to get to the stage where distractions bother you less, or not at all. For example, if my daughter is conscious I have to listen out for anything alarming; at first it was a nightmare because the smallest sound and my eyes would fly open automatically. Now, I make sure she’s fine before I start meditating; as long as she’s clean and fed and has her water bottle, then she can babble away for 15 minutes or whatever while I do my thing, and I don’t really hear her babbling anymore. I still listen out of course, but my mind is more relaxed knowing the essentials are taken care of. But it took time to get to that stage, so be kind to yourself - you will get there when you’re ready, just keep going.
As others have said, it’s the practising that’s the key - it’s a process, a unique and personal quest to find your circle of solitude.
That reminds me of the moment I saw something which changed my perspective, not just on meditation but other things too. That the key to power is in serenity…or something along those lines - as georgia said, just relax into it and it will get easier, we’re all living proof of that.
x Blessed Be x
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I first started meditating in college. They held a group meditation once a week, and I fell asleep every time! It was peaceful, so I kept going until the end of the year. It was a lovely nap time!
I truly started to meditate around 2012 when I discovered the Calm app.
(I think you’d like this session from Calm. You can listen to it here. Sadly, Calm often isn’t as free as they say they are.)
It is okay to notice you are distracted, be patient with yourself, and come back again with kindness.
There are also different kinds of meditation. You can meditate while walking or practicing yoga, which is a moving meditation. You can also use Angelina Jolie’s method and embrace coloring (or any crafting, I imagine) to get into the meditation zone.
I have even discovered these excellent witchy books you can color as part of your ritual.
Also, even after years of meditation, I hardly ever meditate for more than 15 minutes.
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Wow that is amazing. I didn’t know it existed. Thank you so much.
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