When Practicing Becomes Your Spiritual Practice
I know we’re all feeling on edge with the state of the world, from natural disasters to politics to staying healthy. Our days of enjoying a casual spiritual practice are over. We’re in the game now. All of the preventative medicine, meditation practices, decluttering, positive thinking, and other spiritual tools you’ve learned are for now.
My wife and I have been practicing daily for when our little girl decides to enter the world. Between birth classes and practicing on our own, we’ve clocked more hours than the actual event will entail.
Isn’t that true for any big moment - a marathon, a recital, a performance? The time we put into practicing is much longer than the actual event. What we forget is that the practice is part of the event. Similarly, the energy that goes into building a house is the energy of the house. The energy of tennis player’s practice sessions is the energy she has going into a match.
Most of life is practice for those few big days.
It’s no coincidence that I’m writing this right as the New Moon is in Virgo. Virgo rules our practices. Our everyday routines, habits, and day-to-day schedule. Most of us have had to adjust our everyday practices since COVID threw a wrench into just about everything we do on a day-to-day basis.
Now is a good time to reassess and make any adjustments you need to your practices.
Do you need to implement a breath work practice to ease anxiety? Do you need to add in more greens to your diet? Do you need five minutes each morning for prayer or contemplation? Do you need to invest in yoga props for your now-home-studio?
For our birth practices, we’ve come up with clever ways to make it fun and yet take the work serious. In doing so, it’s increased our team work and communication skills that will only make our relationship stronger for the long run, not just for the big day.
We’ve all been affected in different ways this year and have had to lean on different practices, from grief training to health protocols to budgeting.
What if 2020 has been all about the practice. What we’ve done leading up to now and what we now need to shift to uplevel our daily life, individually and collectively.
We’re in the game, but keep practicing, stay limber, and breathe for the remaining stormy days ahead in 2020. Remember that the event won’t last as long as the practice and the pay off will come with new life ahead 🌷