My Current Almost Daily Meditation Ritual

I meditate, but not daily, and these days my meditation practice looks and sounds more like a ritual than a meditation. I do what I’m called to do. My intuition leads the way in terms of my spiritual practices. This means that my meditation practice isn’t “normal” but it’s exactly what I need it to be.

My Current.

My meditation practice has evolved over the years. When I first began, I struggled to clear my mind. Then I learned that I didn’t have to clear my mind and I didn’t have to struggle. I learned to observe my thoughts in meditation without getting attached to them.

Thoughts pass through my awareness like clouds, moving through the sky. I don’t hold on to the thoughts which could then create tension and resistance. They just pass through, and my attention remains with my meditation.

When my attention does waiver during meditation, I can hear the words of Jack Kornfield, and I “bring the puppy back.” But after years of meditating, it’s become easy and natural. The early struggles are replaced with a feeling of home and centeredness in meditation.

My current meditation practice is just that, my current one. My meditation practice has evolved over the years. I used to sit cross legged with my hands in a mudra. Now though, my old knees don’t appreciate the cross-legged position, so now I meditate seated in a chair. Sometimes I lounge in an upholstered chair, or on the sofa, but most often I am sitting at my desk.

More on that later but for now, just know that our spiritual practices change and evolve as we do. Allow your intuition to guide your practices. Allow it to take where you didn’t know you wanted to go.

Almost Daily.

I don’t meditate daily. Our spiritual practices are supposed to be fun, enriching, and supportive. We should want to meditate and not have to force ourselves to meditate. When our practices are not fun, enriching, or supportive, it’s time for a change.

When I wake up, I have to want to meditate, or I don’t meditate. I don’t force it. It’s either additive to my day or it’s not part of my day. Forcing it doesn’t work for me.

So, my practice is almost daily. There are only a few days a month that I don’t meditate. When I’m not feeling well, I give myself permission to skip meditation. When I feel resistance, I allow it to be without judgement. Again, I don’t force any spiritual practice. As much as I can, I go with the flow and allow my intuition to guide me.  

Meditation Ritual.

Over the years I have allowed my meditation practice to evolve and change along with me. At first, I sat cross legged with a straight back and hands in a mudra. It was challenging at first, but then my body became stronger, and the position became easier.

When I attended online mindful meditation training in 2020, I learned to meditate seated at my desk in front of my computer. I listened to the training and meditated while sitting upright in my desk chair. It sounds odd, but it worked for me.  

In mindfulness training, I learned to quiet my mind and “bring the puppy back”. That style of meditation taught me to allow emotions to come up in meditation. I became emotionally intimate with myself, and I learned to honor my emotional needs while in meditation.

In 2021, during my meditation teacher training, I learned to be free in my meditation. I learned that listening to music, being out in nature, or being in awe is a form of meditation. I learned that sitting cross legged silencing our minds for hours was meditation for monks, not modern people with busy lives. I learned that we create our meditation, so I did.

My current meditation is more of a ritual. Before meditation, I will light a candle and cleanse the house with sage and sometimes palo santo. I most often sit at my desk listening to, or chanting with, chakra chanting while I hold crystal in my hands. Most days I also add expressions of gratitude that tie into each chakra.

When the world seems extra challenging, after meditation I listen to Thich Nath Hanh read the Great Bell Chant. It’s a reminder that there are good things in the world and that we are all one.

It’s a whole little ritual that starts my day. It’s what brings me the peace and strength to get through my days. It’s my current almost daily meditation ritual.

I hope your meditation enriches you, but if not, I hope you follow your intuition to what does.

Today’s picture is mine.  

Be well,

Nikki