I think we all have a vague notion of what the value of a true commitment to a ‘personal practice’ might be. Today, I feel inspired to get specific on this topic, and hopefully leave you inspired to either begin or deepen your own practice. Recently, I have observed myself rising strong through numerous extra-ordinary challenges piling on top of each other, and what I know is that my commitment to a daily personal practice is what keeps pulling me through. I’m not saying it isn’t ever messy, deeply emotional, or confusing….but that’s exactly the sort of muck that my steady practice enables me to dissolve, traverse, embrace, transmute, or ultimately integrate.
What I mean by a personal practice is anything that you choose to engage with on a daily or near-daily basis, that serves to help you connect with your true essence, expand your awareness of that which is eternal and unwavering beneath the surface of life, and drop into your deeply intuitive nature. This, I believe, is the most essential aim of a personal practice.
I’d like to differentiate a personal practice from a set of healthy habits, which are also critically important and must be tended to with consistency. Healthy habits, such as eating natural whole foods (only when hungry), being active, spending loads of time outdoors, nurturing loving relationships, getting sufficient rest and sleep, etc., make us more resilient and help life to hum along at a healthier vibration.
By distinction, the personal practice I’m writing about today is the one that feeds the magic, mystery, and divine beauty we hunger for, back into everyday life. When life challenges us, we can attempt to muscle our way into rising strong through sheer will power, but in my experience that eventually leads to exhaustion and burn-out. When we are instead re-fueled by deep, daily re-connection to our true essence, sense of wonder, and divine knowing, new inspiration will carry us forward through whatever challenges we may face. Because life’s challenges are ongoing, and because we so easily get distracted from our natural, all-knowing essence, our personal practice needs to be a significant and consistent one.
There are no rules around the format or structure of such a personal practice! If you truly design it yourself, for you and you only, and allow it to grow and change as you grow and change, you will cherish your practice, and you will deeply miss it when you skip it. It is self-love! If you find yourself avoiding, or finding excuses to skip your practice, it’s time to refresh and reinvigorate it. Shake it up a bit and try something different.
There are several aspects of my personal practice, and on different days or different months or different years, I may incorporate different ones. I remain open to new ones, too. Currently, I sit in silent meditation first thing every morning for 30 minutes, and then I write in my journal. After that, I usually walk barefoot in the nature park behind my house. (I sometimes do this again, sort of in reverse, in the evening - walk, journal, meditate). I don’t eat my first meal until after my meditation, journaling, and quiet barefoot walk, and this deepens my practice since my vital energy is not usurped or distracted for digestion.
Occasionally, emotions arise during my meditation. I can usually trace them to a thought that occupied my mind just prior - a little story-line that invited the emotion to arise. Regardless, the way I meet the feelings is to simply allow them, observe the story behind them and let that thought go (I visualize it passing on, like a cloud being blown across the sky), and then watch the feelings begin to subside naturally as I gently return my attention to my breath.
Often, I notice my mind wanting to make lists, make plans, analyze something or other, design projects, etc. My mind really loves to do this!! And again, I notice this pattern and habit, allow it for a moment, accept it, and then visualize all those busy planning thoughts floating on by, like clouds drifting away across the sky, and then as I return my attention to my breath I feel the new spaciousness of my mind. Sometimes it is a little while before I notice that I have drifted deep into thought-stories.
My closed eyes often feel naturally drawn upward and inward toward the “third eye” in the center of my forehead during my meditations, and this somehow enhances a sense of calm spaciousness. I don’t have any fancy techniques, and I have not studied meditation extensively. I simply sit and focus on my breath, encourage it to be calm and minimal, and I watch the show as it flows on by, doing my best not to engage much with any of it. I’ve noticed that I have a habit of tightening my belly, which keeps my breath up in my chest…so I am frequently reminding my belly to soften and relax, and allow my breath to drop down deeper. I may take a couple of deep breaths at the start, but then I settle into a very soft, very minimal breath. This is when I am the most relaxed, and open. Thirty minutes usually seems to disappear very quickly.
The journaling part of my practice is also very dear to me. I have been a journaler since my teenage years. Writing my thoughts and feelings is, for me, like being with a close and very caring friend. I can just let my thoughts and feelings flow onto the page, with no censorship or edits. Usually I just write stream-of-consciousness style, and sometimes I use a prompt that inspires me. I like to write after meditating, as I find I am in a relaxed and open kind of frequency, and I often access helpful insights.
A quiet, reflective barefoot walk in nature after this really helps it all gel and integrate. I am ready to move my body, and I generally have an appetite for my first meal when I return home. I feel refreshed, connected, grounded, relaxed, present and ready to engage wholeheartedly with whatever the day may bring.
I am always curious to hear about other people’s personal practices, so please reach out and share yours with me! And if you don’t have one, I invite you to invent one for yourself and start to reap the profound benefits. Even a short practice, if consistent, will likely really help you to feel more grounded, and more connected with your inner self and naturally peaceful essence.