I get up every day and brush my teeth, it just happens without question. I have a whole life behind me to make it one of the most natural habits.  I miss it for a variety of good reasons if I don’t do it. Same can be true for meditation. I can approach meditation like I would brushing my teeth. Not waiting for the ‘right’ days or skipping when my mood is not right.  I notice the benefits when I  show up every day a little bit at a time no matter how I am. No matter my condition is the really important piece because being willing to show up for anything builds a capacity to meet life in a more meaningful way.

Staying connected to life feels better even when it means we feel things more intensely.  As Ken Wilber said, it bothers us less even though we feel it more.  The connection is the relief we are looking for and meditation gives us a reference early on in the day of what that experience is like.  Then we can notice how lost we can get  in all kinds of patterns and begin the most rewarding  project out there, waking up in the day we are in just as it is.

Practice tip: I think the best way to get back in one’s  practice is start really small but do it every day. Pick a time, carve out a space in your day, preferably before  you get going, i.e. after your shower, tea or whenever you can find consistent time.  Pick a min duration that is super easy for you. Might even be 2 min. Sit, breathe, notice, allow. Rinse and repeat. Let it grow from there, if you feel to do more continue but either way when you meet your minimum threshold, have mini celebration. Feel the feeling of having completed your sit. Let that build in an organic way. It has its own way, we don’t need to do anything other than pay attention.