Meditating Through Disillusionment: When the Practice Feels Pointless or Flat
Have you ever sat down to meditate and thought, “What’s the point?”
Maybe the peace you used to feel has gone. Maybe your thoughts are louder than ever. Or maybe you’re just going through the motions, wondering whether you’re wasting your time.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many long-time meditators – and even beginners – go through a phase where meditation feels flat, uninspired, or even pointless. It’s a deeply human part of the path.
So let’s talk about it.
The Quiet Crisis: When Meditation Stops Feeling “Good”
At the start, meditation often brings a sense of calm, insight or even bliss. You feel better after doing it. It seems to work.
But after a while – especially if you’ve been practising regularly – the spark might fade. The mind gets noisy again. The body resists. Or perhaps worse: nothing much seems to happen at all.
This can feel like failure. But here’s the truth no one talks about enough:
Disillusionment is not the end of the path — it’s a threshold.
It’s an invitation to go deeper.
Why the Practice Feels Pointless
Disillusionment arises when our expectations no longer match our experience. We start to feel bored, unmotivated, or spiritually dry. Here are a few common reasons why:
1. The novelty wears off
Like any habit, meditation can lose its initial shine. The early rewards fade, and we realise we’re not getting a dopamine hit every time we sit down.
2. We hit a plateau
You’ve made progress, you’re more aware — but now nothing seems to change. This stagnation can feel frustrating and pointless.
3. Old wounds surface
Meditation can stir up unresolved emotional material. When what arises feels heavy or painful, the temptation is to pull back.
4. You’re not sure why you’re doing it anymore
When life gets busy or uncertain, it’s easy to lose touch with your original intention. You may find yourself meditating out of habit, not heart.
The Gift of Disillusionment
Disillusionment isn’t just a roadblock — it’s a refinement.
You’re seeing through false ideas about what meditation “should” be. You’re outgrowing the belief that it always has to feel good, be relaxing, or offer instant transformation.
And this is powerful.
Because now the practice becomes more real. Less about chasing states. More about being with what is — even if that’s dull, messy, or confusing.
In spiritual traditions like Zen or the Christian desert fathers, this dry season is considered sacred. It’s a sign that you’re maturing on the path.
What to Do When Meditation Feels Flat
So how do you keep going when your practice feels hollow or lifeless?
Here are some gentle but effective ways to re-engage:
1. Come back to your ‘why’
What first drew you to meditation? Was it stress relief? Self-discovery? A yearning for peace?
Write it down. Reflect on how that motivation has changed — or deepened.
Let your current life season shape your intention anew.
2. Shift your approach
Sometimes what we need is not to quit, but to refresh how we practice.
Try meditating in nature. Walk instead of sit. Use sound, breath, or movement as your anchor. Explore loving-kindness or body-based practices. Light a candle. Change your posture.
A fresh environment or technique can break the monotony and awaken curiosity.
3. Allow the flatness
This might sound counterintuitive — but what if you just let it be flat?
What if this too is part of the practice?
Try sitting with the disillusionment itself. Notice where you feel it in your body. Name the thoughts that come. Stay with the texture of your “pointlessness” without needing to fix it.
You may discover a quiet truth underneath the noise.
4. Return to beginner’s mind
The longer we meditate, the easier it is to carry expectations: I should be calmer by now. I should have more insight. Why is my mind still racing?
Let go of all that. Return to the simplicity of just noticing.
Ask yourself: “What’s happening right now?”
Not what you want to happen — but what actually is.
This kind of presence can be a doorway back into aliveness.
5. Talk to a teacher or guide
Sometimes we need perspective. A good teacher, mentor or sangha (community) can normalise your experience, offer new practices, or simply remind you that you’re not alone.
You don’t need to carry your confusion in silence.
Staying on the Path, Even When It’s Foggy
Here’s something to remember:
Even when meditation feels flat, something is still happening.
Like seeds germinating in darkness, subtle shifts are occurring beneath the surface — the kind you’ll only notice with time.
Many great teachers have spoken of their own dry spells. The Buddha faced doubt. Christian mystics wrote of the “dark night.” Zen masters talk about the long, silent grind between insights.
You’re in good company.
Sometimes the real breakthrough comes after we stop trying so hard.
A Gentle Reframe
Instead of seeing disillusionment as a problem to fix, try holding it as a sacred phase. A deep breath in the middle of your journey.
Ask yourself:
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What if nothing’s wrong here?
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What if this is where the practice gets honest?
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What if this flatness is teaching me to love the ordinary?
Final Thoughts: Keep Showing Up
You don’t need to force inspiration. You don’t need to pretend to feel spiritual.
You just need to keep showing up — even if it’s just for five minutes, eyes half-closed, feeling like nothing’s happening.
That willingness to stay — that quiet courage — is the heart of real meditation.
Keep trusting it.
Even in the fog.
Even when it feels pointless.
Because the path isn’t always bright and clear — but it’s always worth walking.
If your meditation practice is feeling dry or directionless, know that you’re not failing. You’re deepening. And sometimes, the deepest growth comes not from effort — but from staying tenderly present to what is.
If this post resonated with you, consider sharing it with a friend or journaling about your current experience. You might be surprised by what’s quietly unfolding in you.
Bonus Resources
Why not treat yourself to a Meditation Retreat in the beautiful Devon Countryside?
This post may also interest you: Meditation and Movement: Finding Presence Through the Body
Best Wishes,
David.
© D. R. Durham, All rights reserved, 2025.
