The skills you learn in your meditation practice - relaxing the body, becoming aware of the breath, resting the mind - are valuable not only during the actual time you are sitting quietly and meditating. This was brought home to me when I watched a video of Martin Aylward, whose retreat centre in France was recommended to me by a dear friend.
He makes the point that in Eastern monastic traditions, people don't "work" in the conventional sense; normally they also abstain from sex, and they don't have much to do with money, either. This gives them all the time and space they need for their inward journey.
Most of us, though, need to follow synchronize our spiritual path with our daily lives: working, being involved in relationships, paying the bills. So don't think of your meditation practice as something you only do when you're sitting alone in silence. The very skills required for meditation, and the awareness and insights that arise from your formal practice, can transform your daily life.
He makes the point that in Eastern monastic traditions, people don't "work" in the conventional sense; normally they also abstain from sex, and they don't have much to do with money, either. This gives them all the time and space they need for their inward journey.
Most of us, though, need to follow synchronize our spiritual path with our daily lives: working, being involved in relationships, paying the bills. So don't think of your meditation practice as something you only do when you're sitting alone in silence. The very skills required for meditation, and the awareness and insights that arise from your formal practice, can transform your daily life.
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