Search the Community

Hey, Just to post a reminder, the post has been changed to not only ask what best practices to do if low on time, but- 1. What practice/s would you advise to do as a priority if you're low on time? Practices that last 5 minutes, or 30 minutes, or 20 minutes, or 45 minutes. Somewhere around the 25 minutes mark as an average. 2. What practice/s would you advise to do day-to-day? (for example, conscious breathing, holding good posture, horse stance, soham/hamsa/hamso/hongsau [Yogic mantra to do all the time that correlate with in and out breath], self inquiry, mindfulness, etc). 3. What activities/elements/habits in life would you advise that a person avoids, for spiritual/psychological health? (for example, too much TV, sitting in front of the computer, eating in front of the TV, bad diet, unconscious communication [opposed to non-violent communication], dependent relationships. etc). 4. What activities/elements/habits in life would you advise that a person pursues/does, for spiritual/psychological health? (for example, some cardio exercise, organic/vegetarian/sattvic diet, gardening, walking in nature, dancing, etc). 5. What simple tips in general for spiritual/psychological health, in you opinion (for anything that doesn't fall under the above)? -also. A sort of spiritual/psychological dos and don'ts list, from people's personal experience. I thought that a general tips/hints in general thread would be more streamlined and beneficial than starting 4 threads around this stuff. For the habits, I know there are precepts out there, and yama and niyama, etc, BUT, the world is a lot different now, there are different distractions, so, I was looking to research into what was/were thought to be good precepts/habits to live by or avoid for spiritual/psychological health. For number 1: (It's obvious that, generally, the more time spent in practice (or doing some conscious/healthy activity at least, like walking, gardening, cooking, etc [opposed to spending too much time on social networking sites]) the better. Just like anything else. But, sometimes starting low and building up helps. I'm asking for people who're low on motivation and need something to help get started with/on; for those who are genuinely strapped for time (career, kids); for those who think they're strapped for time, but actually waste time in other areas; for those who are seriously ill and only able to do so much of anything a day, and so on and so fourth. Also, I know, and, it's worth noting that, there are many principles of all kinds of practice that you can employ throughout your entire waking life, and even sleeping life too (self inquiry, mindfulness (similar), posture, breathing, muscle contractions/relaxations, etc). What I'm asking is, what active/involving practice, or practices is/are best to do everyday, in your opinion, if you've got a short time.) Possibly/preferably in a succinct format like (and I'll start with, off the top of my head): 1. I think possibly something like 5mins of conscious deep breathing and 20mins of some decent kind of meditation (mindfulness of breath, mantra, mindfulness, etc). 2. Conscious deep breathing, mindfulness of your breath when/where you can, good posture. 3. Too much time in front of any screen, especially if it's viewing non spiritual/beneficial content, or doing something that is not constructive/positive. 4. 15 minutes cardio a day can be very beneficial, and 5 mins can wake you up much better than coffee. Conscious eating is good, and I find starts the day off well. Dancing to music that you love brings together exercise, music (possibly devotional), vibration, and all sorts of good things. 5. Journaling and keeping note of things in general that you have found correlate with spiritual/psychological improvement or deterioration. Anyway, I would be interested to hear your thoughts.