Practice

A common theme keeps emerging for me:  It's regular practice that makes mindfulness valuable.  "Frequency of practice, far more than duration, primarily determines boosters' impact," writes Schoeberlin (p.91).  Boosters, she explains, are simply little breaks during the day to practice mindfulness.  In the classroom it might be 30 seconds of silence as a break during a discussion or asking students to stand up for a stretch break (Schoeberlin).  These simple activities that some teachers have always guided their students with serve as a boost to one's mindfulness.  They redirect our attention back to ourselves - mind, body, spirit.  Simple, really.

I heard the same advice about regularity of practice, not primarily duration, a couple weeks ago at a workshop on Men, Zen, and Nature.  If daily meditation of twenty minutes is a goal I'm not achieving, then work with what I can do - and maybe that's just five minutes each day.  The point was the same as Schoeberlin's:  Practice regularly.  Don't worry about how long you're doing it.

I think that's particularly valuable advice for beginners like me.  It's encouraging to be affirmed that guiding myself and students in exercises are transformative to the extent that we observe them on a regular basis.  Keep doing it and let those brain synapses strengthen.  What we practice grows stronger, and science supports that, too.

So this is a call to persistence and regularity.  Just keep doing the good stuff.  And when you don't, start by being aware.