The Dinacharya of Meditation

Let’s continue to talk about Dinacharya. This is the focus of my classes this month and it translates to daily practice/ritual. When I think about this practice we have, these daily rituals we have, one element that I teach is cultivating a mediation practice. Sometimes to start that meditation practice it’s just being aware of where your mind is when you’re allowing yourself to have a moment of calm and quiet. 

I think sometimes starting with the meditation practice can be overwhelming because when the body becomes quiet and calm, the body’s response from the brain is “AHHHHAAA!” Like a cat in a cage… and that’s ok. It’s part of the process. When I think of my own practice and my own journey to get to where I am with my meditation space, it’s going through those times when the mind wants to take over. For me, I just kept sitting down each day for meditation, over and over. Creating a practice that I was committed to. I had a sense of disciple to it. At the time I started, I had a partner that was as committed to it as I was. So that was helpful. I had the support within my relationship. Then once I cultivated my practice, I realized how much of an effect it had on other things in my life that I prioritized it and made sure it happened as much as I could. I love this quote:

“Obstacles in mediation are not the problem, they are the path to finding freedom amidst it all” ~ Jack Kornfield

There are times when I’ve put the meditation practice down completely. And even the asana practice, the physical postures, I just gave it some time and space to do other things. And I think that’s ok. It’s ok to have that as part of your journey. But also, knowing when you bump up against a wall or things that are more challenging in this quiet still place (thoughts, emotions, energies), they are part of the mediation journey. We don’t want to sit in them too long or let them effect our physical body too much, but then after that, can we just allow them to be part of our practice? 

“Meditation is not about spacing out or running away. In fact, it’s about being totally honest with ourselves.” ~ Kathleen McDonald

So there is a point you get to in the mediation practice where you can use it as a place to tune out the outside world, and sometimes the inside world. What is coming up in your mind are things that you need to look at. So just looking at the practice we have and asking ourselves if we are tuning out or tuning in to allow ourselves to be really honest with what comes up?

Meditation is a beautiful and powerful Dinacharya. Move through the obstacles our brains want to create and allow it to be a time where you can be totally honest with yourself.

Sending so many well wishes on your journey of meditation