Living a Retreat Lifestyle: The Components of a Daily Spiritual Practice
February 4, 2011 In recent years many practitioners of spiritual traditions seem to have lost a sense of daily practice. A spiritual path cannot bring its rewards if practiced just once a week, only on religious holidays or even just in retreat. To achieve the happiness we seek, we must mindfully recover a discipline that extends throughout our lives. Here are a few critical components that should be integrated into one’s lifestyle, regardless of one’s particular religious affiliations.
Get a good night’s sleep every night
Caring for your body and mind is a crucial part of your practice. Watching what you eat and drink and especially avoiding intoxicants are specifically mentioned in many religious texts. But you are also doing yourself and those around you a disservice by skimping on sleep and going through your day cranky and crabby. Every night, as part of your practice, get enough sleep so that you are properly restoring your mind and body. This will help you achieve a calmer, more controlled state of mind, less likely to be perturbed by the little irritations of daily life.
Lay in bed for a while, every morning, before getting up
Many of us feel our lives to be so busy and stressful that at the first moment of consciousness in the morning we jump out of bed and maniacally begin to run around getting ready for our day. Instead, wake up early enough to spend some time each morning in bed, setting a more peaceful and sane tone for the rest of your day.
Every morning luxuriate in that delicious semi-conscious state between waking and sleep, and begin your day thinking about what a total miracle your life is, how many things are going right, how many advantages you have. But also realize that this kind of life will not last forever. We all will die, and we don’t know when. Recalling our mortality helps us get our priorities straight. Start every day appreciative of your life – determine not to take this precious life for granted and to do what is really important with this rare opportunity.
Meditate every morning
A daily meditation practice of at least twenty or thirty minutes is an important component of any spiritual practice. Make it an essential part of your day.
Keep track of your moral life, all day long
A real spiritual practice also involves checking your morality periodically during the course of the day, preferably by keeping a journal or diary and consulting it every two or three hours.
Do something for someone else every day
Learning to live a selfless, other-directed life, diminishing our tendency to think only about ourselves, is another crucial part of any spiritual practice. Every day do at least one little act of kindness for someone else. Keep track of it and be happy that you are doing things like this in your life. This reinforces the tendency to do more altruistic acts in the future, thereby creating the real causes for our own happiness and well-being.
Exercise daily
It could be yoga, tai chi, dance, a morning run – but do some movement every day to get the inner energies flowing better. Be sure to do it with the right attitude and intention! Moving with thoughts of helping others in mind, rather than narcissistic or competitive motivations, transforms our daily exercise regimen into an important component of your spiritual life.
Do the “couch potato contemplation”
on the goal at the end of the day
At the end of your work day, instead of vegetating in front of the TV or reading a magazine, curl up in your favorite chair or sofa, shut your eyes, relax, and think about what it would be like to achieve the goal of your practice – complete and total happiness. What would it be like to have no problems, physical or mental? What would it feel like to have a heart that’s completely open and loving toward all beings? What would it be like to have no doubts about anything, no fears, no anxieties or worries? This is actually a crucial component of a spiritual practice. If you can’t conceptualize the goal, how do you expect to reach it? Every day spend some time visualizing your own future perfection, thereby creating some of the causes and conditions for realizing that perfection.
Spend some time studying a spiritual text every evening
Instead of watching TV or reading a trashy novel, end your day with the study of a text that is designed to make you a happier person. Any text that teaches you to be more compassionate and loving towards others and less selfish is a “sacred” text, because it’s designed to make you happier and live a better life. It’s nice to end the day like this, to have these kinds of thought swimming in your unconscious as you sleep.
Take a day off once a week
Taking a holiday or “sabbath” once a week is a time-honored spiritual practice. Having worked hard for six days, set aside a day for complete relaxation, restoration, and fun. Cultivating your spiritual life should be regarded like running a marathon, not a sprint. Protect your practice by keeping it fresh and avoiding burnout. Take your weekly holy day of rest, and then return the next day to your spiritual life refreshed and happy!