Training the Heart & Mind

Supporting Your Home Practice

Week 4 & Beyond

Parting Notes:

  • It’s all directional. At times your practice may be more consistent, at others sporadic. At others, it might feel dry or rote. One of the keys is remembering your “why” and trusting that you’re on your way! (Because you are!) Do your best and forget the rest.

  • Any moment can be a mindful moment. Even this one! In whatever way works for you, you can pause and notice. You can anchor the attention on a sensory experience. You can regulate your nervous system with a full breath. You can awaken the two wings of mindfulness: mindful presence and compassion. How can either of those serve you now?

  • Unlike going to the gym and sending one V-grade harder, progress in mindfulness can feel difficult to measure. Some ways I’ve found helpful are to check in with myself and reflect: How has the practice impacted your day-to-day experience? Am I feeling more equanimous, peaceful, even-keeled over time? (Even if only for a moment, a day or a week).

Show Notes:

  • Ayurvedic Doctor Robert Svoboda “Figure out whatever is possessing you and deal with it.” (Not an exact quote). I’ve greatly appreciated his podcast, Living with Reality. Ayurveda the naturopathic sister science to yoga.

  • Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Additional Resources:

  • Tara Brach has a Wednesday late afternoon donation based online class and meditation

  • Spirit Rock has a Monday night Buddhist and Insight Meditation online offering

  • Meditate Together offers 30 minute group meditation sessions on Zoom every hour, 24 hours a day Monday-Friday. I volunteer for one session each Wednesday, and find it valuable to be able to sit in community pretty much anytime any-day. $5/month for full Zoom access with video, free if you to dial in via phone.

  • Insight Timer is a robust meditation app, including a customizable timer and a wide variety of guided meditations.

  • Seattle Buddhist Center offers in-person weekly meditations on Sunday night. I haven’t been before, but someone in class surfaced this resource during our closing class.

  • My temple, Ananda, offers in person and online meditations. We practice in the tradition of Paramhansa Yogananda, one of the people who helped bring yoga to the west in the 1920’s.

Week 3

Sharing Our Practice and Metta:

As a brief recap, this week we shifted the focus from our personal inner practice of meditation to include those in our communities and relationships. The main practice we focused on was that of lovingkindness, also called Metta.

We each have an inherent dignity, inner goodness, or Buddha-nature within. Through the course, we’ve practiced seeing it, connecting with it, abiding in it, feeling it. With Metta, we actively cultivate that felt sense of lovingkindness and share it with others through our meditation, our actions, our words.

Remember as you engage with Metta, to make sure you are feeling resourced and able to send these well wishes to others. We cannot draw from an empty well.

Suggested Practice:

  • Here is a short guided Metta practice for those who would find it helpful.

  • Keep the practice alive with a 5 or more minute meditation each day.

  • Sharing Metta/Lovingkindness

    • Send random people Metta while out in public. This is a fun practice, and one I find brings me joy!

    • “Go First” - experiment with seeing the goodness in others and lead your interactions with anyone with the attitude of lovingkindness. For this practice, it’s important to be unattached to the outcome and to not take anyone’s response as a reflection of you.

Week 2

Suggested Practice

  • Continue working towards a 5-10 minute daily meditation. Remember to choose a duration and time of day that suits you best!

  • Savoring practice: Choose something that you’d like to really appreciate while you are engaging with it. Some examples could be slowing down and noticing all the nuances of a meal, or taking a walk with the intention to pay attention to how nice the sun feels on your skin.

  • Reflect: What message of wisdom does your totem have for you?

“Show Notes” (References)

  • SN Goenka - Vipassana meditation teacher and founder of a meditation school with centers around the globe

  • Pema Chodron - When Things Fall Apart

  • Robert Wolff - Original Wisdom

  • Ram Dass - Here and Now Podcast, Episode 35

Week 1

You have my enthusiastic support on this first week of home practice!

Top Tips

  • Make the practice your own and choose a time of day that works best for you.

  • Stay consistent when possible. If you miss a day, remember, we only have today. Start anew, and let go of yesterday :)

  • Mindfulness is available anytime you remember to pay attention, on purpose, in the present, without judgment. This can be as simple as a single breath or just noticing a critical thought. In this way, you can take the practice with you anywhere, anytime.

Suggested Practice

  • 5-10 minutes of formal practice each day. A 10 minute guided practice is available for download here.

  • One way to play with mindfulness is to break up our habits. Select one “pattern interruptor” to play with. Examples below. Feel free to make up your own!

    • Eat or brush your teeth with the unfamiliar hand.

    • Select a routine, like picking up the phone, or walking through a door. Add on one of the following:

      • 2 steps, 1 breath: Simply pick up one foot, then the other, and take a delicious, conscious breath.

      • Three P’s: Pause and notice. Process your experience. Proceed with a mindfully chosen course of action or thought.