Develop a BASIC Home CONTEMPLATIVE Practice

The very foundation for my daily physical, mental and spiritual wellness practice begins with my home contemplative practice. This is a basic routine, but can get very detailed as you incorporate more elements into your practice.

When you create a home practice, you set aside a period of time to allow yourself a moment to appreciate life and this amazing human experience. It is subtle and profound. You give yourself permission to just be. The benefits of this relaxed and reverent time are to your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

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Developing a basic home contemplative practice in 5 easy steps:

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1. Schedule your time: 15 -30 minutes a day - I enjoy early in the morning before the day gets going, but anytime works.

2. Find a special cozy seat - bring a sweater or a blanket (or both!) When we settle into our practice our bodies cool.

3. Light or turn on a candle - I recommend battery candles if you have pets/children - I know, I know we all love the real candles but they can distract our practice if we are worried about the pets jumping on them.

4. Meditate and/or prayer -

You can either meditate and/or pray guided with a tool such as the free app “Insight Timer”, just search for the type of meditation you would like, e.g., body scan, compassion, prayer, pre-meeting, manifesting, etc. Try different sorts teachers!

Or you can go more traditional:

• meditation - by focusing or your breath - breathing in/out - allowing any thoughts to float away from your mind.

• prayer - by aligning and connecting with your higher power in a way that is meaningful to you.

Remember, this is a practice. There are no mistakes. If you are doing the traditional meditation, please do not scold yourself if you have thoughts that come in, just say to yourself “thinking”, and then let it go, bringing your attention back to the breath.

5. Intention setting - as you wrap up your practice and before you head out into your day - contemplate this: what are a few words that you could use as your guiding mantra for today? e.g., Ease & Flow, Well-Being, Just Be.

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Repeat daily to tap into your inner zen.

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