What to Do When You Feel Stuck in Your Mindfulness Practice

At some point in practice, many of us wonder: Why does it feel like I’m not growing anymore? 

In this excerpt from our Community Gathering Q&A, a student opens up about reaching a plateau after years of mindfulness and healing work.

Sean Fargo offers a compassionate reframing that feeling stuck is not failure, but often a sign that something deeper is asking for attention. Along the way, he shares practical ways to soften this stuckness — from grounding in nature, to seeking help and support, to practicing forgiveness and self-compassion.

This conversation reminds us that plateaus are not the end of the journey, but turning points that can open us into greater freedom, resilience, and wholeness.

Chapters

00:00 – Intro

01:32 – Updating the Blueprint

02:26 – Stuck Energy

03:30 – Asking for Support

04:40 – Grounding & Renewal Practices

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome friends. I'm Sean Fargo. In today's episode, we're going to explore a question that most mindfulness practitioners face at some point, which is, what should I do when it feels like I've hit a plateau in my mindfulness meditation practice? I've had several of these over the last 20, 25 years, and it can be a little confusing and uninspiring at some times. One of our students brought this up during a live QA call inside our mindfulness teacher certification. And together we explored how so-called plateaus are not a sign of failure, but a natural part of the practice. And often an invitation to deepen and enhance our presence in new ways. So with that, here's the exchange from our live session.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

I have practicing mindfulness for maybe five years, and since then I have a lot of improvements in my life.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

One thing that's been helpful for me in times where I felt stuck is to get a sense of my blueprint for life. In other words, to sense into how I've been relating to life and how it should be. And maybe that blueprint, that framework, the structure of how I think life should be for myself isn't working anymore. And to find a very empowering new blueprint. What was I focusing on in the five years or more in which life was unstuck? Sometimes our view or blueprint needs an upgrade or an update. Sometimes to fit with reality, sometimes to meet a new chapter or to close an old one. Sometimes, aside from blueprints, to sense into the layers of energy in the body. And noticing if there's a layer of grief, deep sadness, or not wanting to let go of something that's ending, moving, dying, and to honor that grief, or a deep layer of fear, or both. But sensing internally into the physical body and sensing into the layers of the heart and the belly can uncover what is actually stuck, stuck energy, stuck emotion, and to meet those energies and sensations with gentle awareness, acknowledging them, breathing with allowing them to get bigger or to change or to do whatever they want, allowing them to communicate. I think these days, a lot of us are not asking for help. Sometimes, if I'm stuck, I feel like I need to do this by myself. And, you know, so can we consider asking for support from family, ancestors, great-great-great grandmothers and grandfathers, kids, Mother Earth, God, coaches, all of the above, divine wisdom, divine love, chat GPT. So asking for lots of help can be very helpful. You know, prayer. Sometimes fasting, you know, I'm not a doctor, but for a lot of people, fasting for two days, five days can help reset everything, including spirit. Putting our hands and our feet on the earth, like in the soil, on the grass, grounding. A lot of times, like certain energies will be released through the body into the earth, which can happily absorb that energy. Gardening, you know, connecting our hands and our feet with the earth, sweating, hydrating. I periodically do adrenal gland cleansing. There's like adrenal kits that you can get online that can help your adrenal glands find balance. We might be stuck in a fight or flight or freeze. We might be stuck in depression. We might be stuck in resentment. There's so many things we can get stuck into. Oftentimes, it's like, well, is there someone who I need to forgive? And if I could forgive them even just a little bit, what might that feel like? If I could forgive myself, even just a little bit, what might that feel like? If I need to ask for forgiveness, even just a little bit, what might that feel like? Sometimes we're stuck in shame, in which case a little bit of self-compassion practice can help us realize that we're not bad, we're not unworthy. What's coming up for you, Santiago? Is any of this resonating at all?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Of course, yeah, I feel so all your words are resonated with me. And it put me a little bit sentimental because obviously it's something inside that is stuck. And thank you for for your words. I'm gonna search inside me and what can I find. Thank you so much, really.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Thank you, Santiago. I wish you well. Thank you so much for listening to this conversation that we had. You know, plateaus in our meditation practice can be seen as a reminder that this path isn't about constant quote-unquote progress, but it's about returning again and again to the nuance and the layers of this very moment with curiosity and gentle care. If you'd like to bring your questions to calls like this and uh talk about your journey and your challenges, be honored to support you and provide mentorship whenever you need it. Uh, we offer this as a part of our mindfulness meditation teacher certification to support your own deepening of your own mindfulness practice and to help you share these practices with others, either professionally or personally. You can find all the details at mindfulness exercises.com slash certify. This is an internationally accredited program really designed to help humanity really to live with more ease and well being. Thank you so much for listening today, and I look forward to connecting with you in the future. Thank you.