Want to feel balanced? Learn how to start each day with a sadhana!

I’m sure you have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  It is the meal that helps you set the tone for the rest of the day.  Similarly, having a sadhana practice is critical to maintaining your balance throughout the day.  Just like breakfast helps steer your cravings throughout the day, your morning sadhana helps you set your mental and emotional trajectory for the day.

What is a sadhana?

I like to collect words from other languages which neatly sum up what in one word what would take a full sentence to explain in English. Sadhana is one of those words.  In this single word is held not only a set of experiences and activities but also an emotional state.

Sadhana is Sanskrit for a daily spiritual practice.  First, take a deep breath.  I know that spiritual can be a triggering word for many people.  In yogic teachings, the divine resides in all of us.  The way I view sadhana is as a practice which helps me connect to the Truth at my core.  Capital “T” Truth – that which is left when the cloudy lenses of assumptions and beliefs are removed.  You can read more about beliefs vs. truth here. 

My sadhana practice begins before I even open my eyes in the morning and ends with a nourishing breakfast each day.  Over time I have refined my practice to be exactly what I need to fill my cup and set my intentions to carry throughout the day.

How to build a sadhana

Just as we are each unique, each of us will have a unique sadhana.  Your first step is to determine how much time each morning you can devote to this practice.  From ten minutes to several hours, your sadhana will depend on both your needs and your schedule.  If you are having trouble finding at least ten minutes in the morning, try conducting a personal energy audit or learning how to productively procrastinate to help you reclaim time in your life.

Once you know how much time you can devote to your sadhana each day, the next step is to determine what activities leave you feeling nourished, restored, and inspired to tackle your day.  Just a few options include: journaling, meditation, pranayama (breathwork), reading, taking a walk, drinking your coffee/tea in quiet contemplation, asana (yoga poses), and sitting outside in nature.

The goal is to select activities which lead you inward, allowing you the space to go deep and connect to your authentic self (beneath the cloudy lenses of assumptions and beliefs) and emerge with the fortitude and clarity you need to take on the day.

Pick activities which fit into the time you have available without feeling rushed.  For example, if you only have ten minutes but a walk around your neighborhood takes 15 minutes, it is better to pick another activity rather than trying to speed walk (which will result in the exact opposite of what we are going for).  And if you have 20 minutes for your sadhana but find you can only sit in meditation for ten minutes, then maybe you combine that with ten minutes of journaling each morning.

Your sadhana is not set in stone

This practice is a living process.  Your sadhana may look different on weekends vs. weekdays.  And it may change as the seasons change and outdoor activities become more or less desirable.  You will also find that what you need when you first create a sadhana will not necessarily be what you need several months later.

If at any point you feel that the nourishing and restoring power of your sadhana has decreased, it is time to reevaluate the practice.  Perhaps you no longer need guided meditation but would prefer silent meditation (or vice versa).  Maybe you would get more out of journaling than reading.  Be willing to adapt and experiment to ensure you have a practice that works for you!

What does my sadhana practice look like?  

I have built a life where I have a sadhana which is approximately two hours.  There are days I need to shorten this because of appointments or other commitments, however, I always feel like my mental, emotional, and energetic tank runs out faster on those days.

My practice starts in the morning before I even open my eyes.  I silently repeat a mantra while visualizing it coming into being.  Currently I am working with a healing mantra (you can get an extended version as a guided meditation here).  I spend a minute or two visualizing the mantra until it feels like things could not be any other way.

Once I get up, I use the bathroom, get myself a cup of tea, make the bed and roll out my yoga mat.  I do somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour of asana (yoga poses).  Currently this is followed by 15 minutes of silent meditation (in the past I have also done guided meditation, pranayama (breathwork), and chanted mantra).  Then I pull cards from a few decks to help with inspiration for my day, and read the daily passage out of Eknath Easwaran’s Words to Live By while finishing off my cup of tea.  

I mark the end of my practice with a nourishing breakfast (try this recipe for make-ahead chickpea pancakes) which helps me create a transition between my sadhana and my daily schedule.

What my sadhana looked like when I was working a 9-5 job

If you just read that last section and thought – there is no possible way that I have that kind of time or energy to devote to a practice each morning, I hear you!  It took me YEARS before I was ready to devote that much time and energy to the practice.  Here is what my sadhana looked like when I was working for someone else and was expected to be at work at a certain time each day.

I would visualize my affirmations for a minute or two before opening my eyes just as I do now.  (The affirmations have changed, but I find this such a valuable technique that it has stayed a constant in my sadhana over the years.)

Then I would get a shower and get dressed, trying to be as mindful as possible throughout the process (noting the feeling of the water on my body, the smell of the soap and shampoo, the texture of the clothing as I got dressed).  I would make the bed and then sit right down on it and do 3-7 minutes of guided meditation.

That was it.

You could start with a practice like this and add just five minutes a day to your schedule!  The nourishment I got from it didn’t tide me over nearly as long as my practice does now.  But it helped me get started, and it made a dramatic difference in my life over the days when I did nothing.

Ready, set, go!

If you are ready to find a healthy balance in your life, starting your morning with a sadhana practice could be just the thing!  Try sticking with the routine for a week and then evaluate how you feel.  I bet you will find that at least for the first part of your day you find you have a greater sense of balance and calm than you normally do!

Do you want to add a sadhana practice to your daily life but feel overwhelmed trying to figure out what would work for you?  I would love to help!  Set up a No Cost & No Commitment Discovery Call with me here and I can help you start laying the framework to build a life you love filled with healthy balance!