[spiritual discipline] joy sadhana

1. Caveat

I do not blog publicly about my health.

2. Accountability

Success: Woke up, got up, and got dressed to go to midday services at Grace and Holy Trinity.

Complete failure Thing I am looking forward to doing better tomorrow: Waking up, getting up, and getting dressed in time to go to morning Mass. Or at the very least in time to see my girlfriend off.

3. Joy sadhana is a daily practice in the observation of joy. It is also called gleee!



Initially described by my friend Sachi thusly:

Sadhana is a practice done with 'higher intent' (this is often used with yoga or meditation, but can really be *anything* done with that intention). So... Joy Sadhana is a daily practice in the observation of joy.

The idea is to end my day by writing a list (not comprehensive, and in no particular order) of 5 good things about the day, and 3 things I did well. The things can be as small and random as necessary. I am doing this to ward off depression and destructive thoughts like "I did NOTHING today" or "NOTHING good happened today," no matter what the overall trend of the day was like.

And Sachi on sadhana:

It's about discipline, and a daily practice... but the higher-intent bit is important. It's not like (for example) "oh, I'm going to exercise every day", but "I am going to exercise every day as a spiritual practice."

(I will have to remember that this summer. I am not saying I'm great at sticking to spiritual practices? But I am much much better at that than anything that sounds like "homework.")

I adopted the practice as a Lenten discipline in 2005 and have been on and off the gleee!wagon ever since (currently off). One of the best things about joy sadhana has been seeing so many of my friends adopt and adapt the practice, which is suitable for people of any or no religion -- though I practice it as a Christian spiritual discipline and a reminder of God's daily and constant presence in my life.

My instructions for gleee!ing, adapted slightly for this format:

1. Choose a gleeeverse -- a quotation, a verse from scripture, a piece of a poem -- anything that makes you mindful. (This is optional.)
2. Every evening (or every evening that you can, or at midday if you need cheered up) mindfully consider the day so far and list five things that have given you pleasure. They can be anything. Large or small. Things like, "I'm still breathing," or "the nice person who let me in on the freeway" or "only two weeks till Christmas."
3. List three things you did well. These can also be large or small -- waking up, eating breakfast, not doing the very bad thing you were tempted to do, those are all accomplishments.
4. List two things you are looking forward to about tomorrow. They might be things you hope to accomplish, or goals you set for yourself, or just exciting events -- anything that you're looking forward to, that means you're facing tomorrow with joy, not trepidation.

The practice can be adapted however you see fit to align with your own beliefs about joy and intention -- this is just how I do it and how I see my friends doing it. :)

I have a gleeeverse for every season; my Ordinary Time gleeeverse is Philippians 4:4-8 (with especial emphasis on v. 4 and v. 8) (this may sound familiar since we looked it up yesterday before worship):

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, siblings, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things. [NIV alt, emphasis mine]

Joy sadhana is not about happiness in the way that "health" does not mean "never being sick." Joy sadhana is about joy; it is about "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding," the abiding peace (did you see what I did there?) that underlies all of life and all of existence.

The Biggest Damn Hill in the World

That might be a slight exaggeration... but half way up it felt as if it was 12 ft. straight in the air. Let me explain about my evening. My parents, children, Pastor and friend went to Shakespeare in the Park this evening (I went too even though I foolishly left myself off that list). This is a free event in my town and rather a fun evening.. they have been doing it for 17 years and this year was The Merry Wives of Windsor which we all tried to read (or most of us) and none successfully. It is held in a park so there is no formal parking and you must sort of fend for yourself along streets and neighborhoods. This is all downtown so it can be a maze of one way streets which leads me to great confusion. We found a spot and it was roughly 3,000 miles away from the entrance of the park. Again, possibly a slight exaggeration. You see I wore flip flops.. and not the cushy kind but the ones that are simply a piece of sueded cardboard. The way down was not too bad... like I said it was 12 ft. going back up.. so going down was almost like sailing! My feet, my poor feet and the abuse I put them through. The play was funny with a touch of sweet which Mr. Shakespeare does so brilliantly and it was time to go home. In order to honor my promise to be honest I will say that on the way down that mosterous hill I was certain that my father would drive me to my car, if only I asked. Because he would worry about me.. because I am overweight.. and I would have the kids.. and it's dark.. and I am horrible with directions and downtown... and because he is my daddy..

So I asked and before my father could say 'yes of course' my lovely sister in Christ looked me in my face and told me to hoof it. My dear Pastor said... "wouldn't this be a good blog Niki?" She looked me in my face and ... DARED to hold me accountable... to say to me with her eyes and her subtle reminder that there is always opportunity to challenge ourselves in even the smallest of ways. (I love her dearly because she holds my feet to the fire when I need it most) My youngest grabbed my hand and said "I will be with you Mom - we will protect you" How lucky am I? We walked up the biggest damn hill in the world tonight.. and I huffed and I puffed and I will never wear flip flops to the park again, my feet are killing me... but people.. I walked that hill and it felt good.

OK so for this blog I am calling myself NikiWill... partially because it is a combo of my name but I also thought it would make for good inspiration. So for my first blog I am going to say what I will be doing

I will promise to be honest.

I will work hard on honoring myself enough to eat in a better way.

I will pay attention to my moods and motivations and how they affect my eating habits.

I will love myself more.

I will move more.

I will pay closer attentions to the messages that God sends me all the time.

I will pray more.

I know that every step I take on this "lovin' myself" path will help me step into my glory.