Do you want to integrate a spiritual practice into your life, but you can’t seem to find a way to do it on a regular basis?  Recently a new friend of mine told me she was teaching Tai Chi Chih, which is a qi gong or energy practice.  I had heard pluses and minuses about it, but I decided to try it out and I liked it a lot.  What I re-discovered, however, is how hard it is to build a spiritual practice into my life!  I already do sitting meditation, and I asked myself if I wanted to start using a new practice on a regular basis?  I realized I needed to ask myself certain questions, and I thought you might find them helpful questions to ask yourself if you want to build a spiritual practice into your daily life…

 

Why do I like this practice?

For me, it was important to begin my appraisal simply:  why do I appreciate and enjoy the practice?  I realized there were a number of reasons:  (1) I liked movement meditation, the flow, grace and beauty of it; (2) I appreciated the feeling of energy and how I could feel it moving through my body, particularly through my hands; (3) I realized that I enjoyed the contrast of having my current stillness meditation and a movement meditation.  Although it is a simple and gentle practice, it also provided a level of yin and yang with my sitting practice, or balance to my spiritual life; and (4) it was another way to feel connected to the universal energy, reminding me that I am part of the cosmic fabric of life.  I definitely liked this practice!

 

Why don’t I like this practice?

At first, I couldn’t think of anything I didn’t like about it, although I realized that there were certain movements I liked more than others.  I also realized that if I did a full-fledged practice, it took more time than I wanted.  If I were willing to set limits to the practice, however, I realized that I enjoyed it much more.  I decided to leave all the movements in, but instead of doing nine repetitions, I only do six, or even three repetitions (which is an acceptable way to practice).  As I reduced the time I spent, I found a new appreciation for all the movements, so that judgment of any one movement went away.

 

What kind of priority did I want to give it in my life?

I knew tai chi chih was important to me as a way to expand my connection with spirit and to broaden the range of my overall practices.  On a scale of 1-10, I intuitively felt it was a “7,” which put it fairly high in importance.  It means that I’d rather practice than watch t.v. or even read for those 20 minutes.

 

How do I make it part of my daily routine?

I began to walk in the evenings and do my tai chi chih afterward, but in the summertime, I found that it was still pretty warm and humid outside here in Florida for walking.  (At least that was my excuse!)  So if I didn’t walk, I didn’t do tai chi chih.  Rather than give up the practice, I’m experimenting with different times of the day.  Soon my husband and I will be caretaking an adorable little poodle for several months.  Since she needs to be walked at some time of the day, I’ll see how walking her might be followed by tai chi chih.  My tai chi chih teacher also suggests that I do the practice before I meditate, which sounds like a great approach.  Rather than give up the practice because it’s a bit of a challenge to fit into my routine, I’ll see what seems to work best.  I may even practice it at different times on different days; being creative about integrating it is the key to success for me.

 

How to find support to practice?

Fortunately my friend/teacher provides much support.  She even offers a free practice session for students on Thursday nights.  Since I already commit Tuesday nights to offering a meditation group in my home, I will want to decide whether another night’s commitment will support or interfere with my time that I like to spend with my husband in the evenings and the time I devote to spirit.  Finding a group to practice with is a wonderful way to become grounded in a practice, knowing that others are following your same path.

 

The key is—don’t give up!  Integrating a spiritual practice into your life is a way to deepen your connection to spirit and to life itself.