Dear Friends,
Tara Brach’s website has several suggestions on maintaining a daily practice, and she includes these tips that are likely relevant to most of us:
- If you miss practice for a day, a week, or a month, simply begin again.
- Don’t judge your practice — rather, accept what unfolds and trust your capacity to awaken and be free
(you can read the full list towards the bottom of this page: https://www.tarabrach.com/howtomeditate/)
So perhaps, you may have missed a few days, or you may have hit some tough spots in your practice. That’s not a problem. But I know it can feel like a problem.
That’s where I find a forgiveness practice can be helpful.
Tara Brach has a section in her book True Refuge, which has been adapted on her website, that discusses self-forgiveness, and includes a practice.
https://www.tarabrach.com/self-forgiveness-and-making-amends/
Practice link at the bottom of that page, or here:
https://www.tarabrach.com/guided-meditation-guided-forgiveness-practice-2/
Tara says “A forgiving heart is a heart that can let go of the armoring that sustains separation.”
If you want something for your fridge or wall, the SIMC website has a link to a forgiveness practice in text form:
http://www.saskatooninsight.com/New_Site/Resources_files/Forgiveness.pdf
One more tip from Tara’s list is:
- Sign up for a retreat—one day, a weekend, or longer. The experience will deepen your practice and nourish spiritual awakening.
Next Sunday, January 31, there is a day-long retreat here in Saskatoon! Jeanne is leading a retreat on “Resting in the Heart of Kindness and Compassion”. Full details are on the SIMC website: https://saskatooninsight.com/wp/upcoming-events/
I hope to see you there.
With best wishes,
Andrea G