Welcome to the fourth and final gem.
Naturally,
There will be times when your practice wavers.
You may fall off and days may pass.
It'll feel harder and harder to get back into your flow.
Returning to your practice and making it to the cushion could feel like the elephant in the room that you choose to walk by every day instead of confronting head on.
I've been there.
And so this last piece of advice that I'll leave you with for now is if you happen to miss a day or three or four,
Do not beat yourself up.
For whatever reason,
We love to do this.
We go into this competition of who did it worse and fill ourselves with guilt and shame.
But when it comes to developing a practice,
It is very important to focus on the element of rejoicing.
Yes,
Celebrate.
You can acknowledge that you missed the day,
But then shift to rejoicing and celebrating that you returned to the cushion and that you remembered to go back to your practice.
Reset your intention,
Place your mind back on your why,
And set a goal that you can undoubtedly commit to.
Likewise,
In meditation,
When our mind gets distracted and moves off the object,
For instance,
Counting the breath,
The power lies in rejoicing that we've remembered.
I like to guide my students to smile or imagine patting themselves on the back when they have this realization and this moment of remembrance in meditation.
The same goes with remembering to return to our practice.
That moment of remembrance is a special subconscious act of the mind,
And we reinforce and habituate the remembrance with rejoicing.
This week,
As you meditate,
Try smiling during the moment when your mind wakes up and remembers the object of your meditation.
Reward yourself after each sit.
Maybe you have a calendar in your meditation space,
And you place a small sticker on that calendar day after each sit.
My meditation teacher has a system where he fills a jar with beans,
So he's able to visually see the days and the time that he's dedicated to his practice.
Find a way to associate your practice with joy.
I'd love to hear any ideas that you have to reinforce your practice and celebrate each sit.
Feel free to leave a comment and share what that practice is for you.
It's always such an honor to guide you all,
And until next time,
Be well.
