I always do a bit of chanting to begin and end. And some pranayama to help focus the mind.

I have implemented my own prayers and Christian prayers. They have proven very helpful for my state of mind.

When I sleep in, it's easier to skip my morning meditation. I normally end up going for a walk reciting mantra (Hanuman Chalisa).

I feel my sadhana is quite established nowadays. But it was not easy to make it a habit.

Most days it works as "Mind Hygiene."

Whatever I need to process comes up. It's like my mind is "throwing up" all sorts of yucky stuff until its done. It's a good day when I can let those stuff go. I guess the importance of doing it every day is so stuff/emotions don't "accumulate".

Sometimes I get the "being one with divinity" feeling, which is nice.

Sometimes it's just me showing up and nothing really happens. Still counts! hehe :)

Om Shanti

—Rukmini

But the truth is—many days, I don’t have those items. Life gets messy. The kids need something, I’m tending to caregiving or other responsibilities, or the moment simply unfolds differently than planned. And still, I sit. I’ve learned not to let the absence of ritual objects be a reason not to show up. I create the time—every morning—because I know what this practice offers me. I shape my days around it, not the other way around.

If I don’t have my tools, I turn to sound—chanting or mantra—to help settle my mind. The vibration of sound brings me back into resonance, and it doesn’t require anything external.

Over time, I’ve come to understand that even when all the props and comforts fall away, I still need this sacred time—for myself, with myself. This is where I meet the truest version of who I am.

With over a decade of practice behind me, what I didn’t know for years was that this devotion had a name: sadhana. It wasn’t until I came to Integral Yoga that I learned the language to describe something I had already been living. Now my practice has expanded to include extended pranayama, qigong, asana, and, of course, meditation. But underneath all of it is the same quiet commitment.

The Yoga Sutras remind us in Pada 1, Sutra 14 that...

“Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break, and in all earnestness.”
This sutra speaks directly to what I’ve experienced. I’ve never struggled with discipline—when I commit to something, I follow through. The challenge for me has been learning when to soften. When to allow rest. When to recognize that missing a day isn’t failure. It’s just life.

Looking back, I can see how hard I used to be on myself. That pressure to always do more or be more—probably rooted in childhood, where I never quite felt “enough” in my parents’ eyes. It’s taken time to unlearn that. To realize that grace is part of the practice too. That my practice doesn’t disappear when I miss a sit. It lives in me, whether I’m on the cushion or not.

So if you’re in a moment where you can’t do the full thing—if the candle’s missing, the room is noisy, or the time just isn’t there—I encourage you:
Pause.
Take a deep inhale.
Exhale slowly.
Meet yourself wherever you are.

That is sadhana.

Love & Oms

Anjali

Through daily sadhana, I've been able to identify my own hang-ups and move through them. I believe that through this sacred commitment, I have been able to identify and break through generational trauma. It's why I think it's necessary for those who wish to serve others.

-Mia

Its a small space(10,X7) it does not have a door. It does not contain a candle or a cushion, incense or a singing bowl.

It contains three bookcases, a desk, acupuncture ear charts; a Muslim prayer mat; a string of flags with chakras names, symbol and affirmation written on each ;my collection of Black dolls; Native American blanket; an African carving of a fertility symbol; my I Ching coins, books and a carved African oracle casting board; a sea shell from Trinidad; a large drawing

( I did )on a wooden panel of a female Black Angel holding a Black male child close to her; a beekeepers bonnet and last years vision board.

These things remind me of the journey of my life , the roads I have walked down ; the places I have been; the places I have yet to go.

Feeling grateful and blessed to have this time to sit and contemplate and spy on my self and understand the vehicle my spirit is housed in. And to understand how and if all the journeys I have taken have fulfilled my purpose on this plane; if it has not what do I still need to do.

;

• Makeda