Episode #59

[rva_jeremy]

Without meditation, I feel so lost and confused. I would say that I need it on everyday basis. Isn't it the same for you? I remember your wife mentioned that she noticed a difference in you if you had the time respectively didn't have the time for this routine and meditation in the morning. =) It does make one feel more in tune and balanced if one gets the time for this practice!

Yes. Definitely. 100%.

However, speaking only for myself as a perfectionist, there are times when I think it's better to forego meditation if you can't fit it into your life comfortably.  Examples:

• I'm hungover
  
• I have to get up earlier than usual for work
  
• I'm on vacation or travel of some kind and have nowhere to achieve isolation
  
• The dogs are going nuts for some reason
  

It goes both ways, though.  Lately I've been learning a lot about how to meditate in spite of this stuff, to work with the frustration, worry, or other distractions in my meditation.  It's a stretch, but sometimes I'm up for a challenge, a real opportunity to grow.

Generally speaking, I think one needs to have a great deal of compassion for oneself on this stuff.  Discipline is a fickle thing: it starts as a way to love the self through aspiring to a goal but can quickly turns into a way of enslaving the self through an arbitrary ideal.  Then the guilt, anger, etc. sets in.  This will hamper one's practice and make it a chore rather than an exercise in inquisitiveness, curiosity, and real care for oneself.

It really is about paying attention to oneself, I've found.  That's where the love comes in--to be able to slow down and take the particular condition of the self completely seriously and completely tenderly.  So all I'm saying is: go easy on yourself.  This is a very delicate practice.

Tell her I said HI! 

Will do!  Thanks for your thoughts, Lana -- it's really cool to hear about others' experiences with this practice.