Dedication to Your Practice

Nothing takes the place of daily, disciplined, surrendered meditation. Dedication is even more important than technique.
~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian from The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity Through
the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga.
www.ellengraceobrian.com

A daily meditation practice is the best thing that we can do for ourselves. Our practice influences everything else in our lives. It improves our physical and mental health, our relationships and our understanding of ourselves and those around us. Meditation also affects our ability to make wise choices. There is no aspect of our lives that our meditation practice doesn't affect. It doesn't matter what technique you use to quiet the mind, just the dedication, the discipline of getting to your meditation chair or cushion and using that technique is what works. Your dedication and discipline to bringing yourself back to your technique whenever you notice that you have become distracted is also important. This action is teaching us to become more aware and conscious of our thinking mind and what is happening there. In the spiritual text, the Bhagavad Gita, it says that no effort is wasted. Finally, let go of thinking that you should accomplish something during your time of meditation practice or let go of what you think your time of meditation should be like. Let go and let meditation reveal itself in whatever way it will happen. Just trust that it is healing, even if you aren't perceiving what you think the outcome should be. Surrender to the process. It is all good.