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# Daily Sadhana

Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

Sadhana means daily spiritual practice — not something you do when you have time, but the foundation upon which you build everything else. The best time to practice is first thing in the morning, ideally waking an hour before sunrise. At this hour the energy is quiet, as the world is still asleep. Settling into meditation during the 48 minutes surrounding sunrise lets you ride a moment when the energy is in transition — and your practice can have a far greater impact.

## Meditation

- Sit quietly for 5 minutes — your bed, a chair, a floor, anywhere
- Notice when the mind wanders and gently return to breath
- Do this every morning for one week

Start with five minutes. The mind will wander — that's what minds do. The practice is not emptying the mind but noticing when it has drifted and gently returning to the breath. Every return is a rep, and like any muscle, attention strengthens with use.

No app needed. No special cushion. A chair, a floor, a patch of grass — anywhere you can be still.

### Zen

The word zen traces back through the Chinese chan to the Sanskrit dhyāna, meaning meditation or deep absorption. The ancient sages studied this state with extraordinary care, and the depth of their insight is something our modern mind can only begin to appreciate. See Patanjali's Yoga Sutras if you'd like to go deeper.

#### Focus

The mind can rest on many different objects in meditation. We suggest starting with the breath, since it is a simple and direct link to your soul and to the universe — every breath is an exchange between your being and the greater oneness that holds it.

You can also choose another single point of focus to help the mind settle — a sound (mantra) or a form (yantra). In all, there are 112 techniques for focusing the mind, explored in the ancient text Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra.1

## Gratitude journal

- Before bed or first thing, write down 3 specific things you're grateful for
- Do this every day for one week and notice the shift

Not generic blessings — specific moments. The warmth of sunlight through a window. A conversation that landed. The taste of a ripe fruit.

Gratitude is the deliberate practice of noticing what is already good, which rewires the brain away from its negativity bias over time.

## Merit journal

The merit journal is a practice for reinforcing the virtues in our personality. It can be as simple as noting a smile you offered a stranger on the street or the time you spent truly listening to a friend's concern. By writing down the good you've done, you create a record to reflect upon — especially valuable in the moments before leaving the body at the end of life. Our character is the one thing we carry with us when we depart, so it is well worth the effort to reflect upon and cultivate it.

- Write an entry in your merit journal

## Improvements journal

This is the inner work few want to do: asking honestly where you are still reactive, and where your character could grow more harmonious and balanced.

Almost every emotion has its time and place. Sometimes it is good to rest or to feel impatient, and anger can be necessary to provoke action. In general, though, we can soften the distorted forms of these emotions (emotion is energy in motion) and cultivate their positive counterparts instead. Balance is the aim.

- Ask yourself: Where am I still carrying anger?
- Ask yourself: What am I afraid of?
- Ask yourself: How can I be more patient today?
- Replace one judgment with kindness today

To start, pick the one with the most impact, often anger. The goal is not to become perfect — it is to become less impulsive, more available, more unconditionally loving. Starting with yourself is key. Notice your thought patterns and how you speak to yourself. Do you scold yourself over a trivial mistake? How might you extend and deepen your patience toward yourself?

A simple evening practice

Sit quietly and replay the day. Notice any moment where you contracted — irritation, defensiveness, avoidance. Don't judge the reaction. Just see it. Tomorrow, you'll have another chance. If you like you can journal your reflections and over time you may see just by noticing them things have started to resolve.

After reviewing the key area you'd like to work on you can use auto-hypnosis to improve it.

## Movement: energy and strength

The body needs two kinds of movement every day:

Energy practice — yoga, tai chi, qigong, or simple stretching with breath awareness. This moves prana (life force) through the channels of the body. Even ten minutes shifts the nervous system from fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest.

- Do 10 minutes of energy practice this morning (yoga, stretching, tai chi)
- Do 20 minutes of cardio or strength work today

Cardio and strength — walking briskly, running, bodyweight exercises, lifting. The body evolved to move against resistance. Without it, the mind stagnates too. Cardio comes in two intensities, and both are necessary: low intensity (such as energy practice or gardening) and high intensity (such as running, cycling, swimming, or tennis). High intensity is anything that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat.

Pair them. Energy practice in the morning to open; strength in the afternoon to ground.

## Visualization: morning and night

- Spend 2 minutes each morning visualizing the future you want — see it as real now
- Spend 2 minutes before sleep visualizing the same — feel the gratitude as if it arrived

This is the practice of orienting the subconscious toward what you are building, so that during the day, you recognize the doors when they appear.

Related: Finding Your Purpose — when sadhana meets direction.

What practice will you show up for tomorrow?

- Mark this sprout read

1. The Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra, a 7th–8th century Kashmir Shaivism text, presents 112 dhāraṇās (meditation techniques) as a dialogue between Bhairava and the goddess Bhairavi, who together personify the interplay between consciousness and energy. Wikipedia ↩

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