I've done sadhana (daily spiritual practice) every. single. day. for a year. I know that's something a lot of you want to do because I've seen a few people talking about it here recently. I don't know anyone who's as resistant to routine as me (and my husband). So if I can do it, anybody can do it.
Zaizen
I recently learned about this concept in Japan called Zaizen. It's the practice of getting a new habit started by doing it for literally one minute per day. Habits are actually really huge in our lives. The human brain loves habits.
After I read about zaizen I figured out that this is why I've been so successful in practicing yoga every day.
Work With Yourself, Not Against Yourself
When people decide to start working out or eating differently or doing yoga every day, they usually go all in. They work out for an hour every day for a week. And it's unsustainable, because it's too big of a change too fast.
I think being flexible is really important in life. And I think our spiritual practice is something that should be about listening to ourselves and giving ourselves what we need. That changes every day. There are some times in our lives when a lot of exercise feels good and is what we need. Yoga is so broad a technology that it can accommodate whatever you're needing in your life at any given time.
Just Three Minutes
In Kundalini yoga we have set meditation times.
3 minutes: Affects circulation (blood) and electromagnetic field.
11 minutes: Changes glandular system and nerves.
22 minutes: Balances and coordinates the three minds.
31 minutes: Affects all the cells and rhythms of the body and all layers of the mind’s projection.
62 minutes: Changes the gray matter of the brain. Integrates the subconscious “shadow mind” and the outer projection.
2 ½ hours: Holds the new pattern in the subconscious mind by the surrounding universal mind.
And then we commit to doing a specific meditation (or kriya) for a specific amount of time.
40 days: Change a habit.
90 days: Confirm the habit.
120 days: You are the new habit.
1,000 days: Mastery of the new habit.
So built in to the most basic fabric of the Kundalini technology is a formula to get you practicing every. single. day. Because if you commit to a kriya for forty days and you miss day 16, you have to start your forty day practice all the way back from day one tomorrow.
Between our understanding of Zaizen and these meditation times, we have a perfect formula for a daily practice.
Three minutes of intentional practice is extremely powerful. Do not underestimate it. In three minutes we can set extremely powerful intentions.
In one Kundalini Yoga Kriya, you get both.
Maximum benefit from minimum time spent.
Source
I've committed to Prosperity Meditation indefinitely until I come into alignment with prosperity and my life is prosperous. (I made a dtube video teaching you how to do this meditation )I absolutely committed myself to that. Do you see how powerful it is to do that? A three minute reminder every day. Three minutes of potent intention setting. It's not time that matters, but the quality of your time. Kundalini yoga is such an effective technology that in three minutes you can really get your energy moving, and this will make a giant difference in your life. Three minutes of chanting and focus and moving your energy is a lot in your life.
Now, sometimes I decide that the only thing I'm going to do in my practice today is that three minute meditation. But guess what? As soon as I get on that mat, habit kicks in. And I want to do those few other things that I know feel good to my body and tune me up for the day: stomach grinds, neck rolls, spinal flexes, spinal twists, stretching. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
Being in Alignment With Your Higher Self in Your Practice
But you see, by keeping your expectation for yourself minimal, you can build a practice that truly works for you. I think our practices should be flexible for our lives. And I think that in western society we are taught to really push against ourselves. We're taught there's value in that. So, make yourself ride that exercise bike for a half hour. Then if you push yourself for 35 minutes and go even farther beyond what you don't want to do, that's even better. But I think we need to reverse that. I think daily sadhana is taking care of ourselves. I think there's great value in listening to ourselves and hearing what we need.
Because, you guys, sometimes I hear an emotion that wants to come out of a certain part of my body, and for my practice that day I may end up lying on my mat holding a crystal and being with and expressing an old repressed emotion.
When we get on that mat, we open up to our higher selves. We tune in. I notice that as soon as I tune in I often have ideas flying at me for what to write on here. ("Quick, she's in alignment - send her all the answers!") When we're on that mat, we're quiet enough to be in alignment with our higher selves. And our higher selves don't inspire us to fight against ourselves. It inspires us to what we need.
In Conclusion
So, essentially what building a daily practice is about is not fighting against yourself. That's why people have such a hard time practicing every day. For more on this, please read another piece I wrote, Rigidity in Your Spiritual Practice.
You're not going to have any resistance to three minutes a day. We have a vast technology in Kundalini yoga. No matter what is going on in your life, we have a meditation for it.
So if you would like, you can comment below and tell me what's important for you to work on, and I will tell you a three minute meditation you can do for it.
If you use my formula, you will relish in your daily practice. It will feed your entire being and your soul. I promise. I hope this helps you. With a three minute meditation every. single. day., you will blossom.
Related Reading:
Daily Sadhana: Short and Passionate Versus Long and Dogged