Slow and steady, patience and commitment, keep at it 
includes a lovely teaching by Ajahn Chah
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I love the Ajhan’s sense of humour - I reckon he could have been a stand-up comedian in another life. 
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I used to practice an hour or more daily but now formal sitting practice is a lot less and more working on defilements in my day to day life- also with some teaching in the Sunday Dhamma school at the local sri Lankan temple (Thames Buddhist vihara).
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I notice the same thing!
Ever since I started practicing, Life has thrown (or should I say Mara has) bigger obstacles in my way than before I started to walk on the path(or So I feel ). Illnesses, stress, circumstances that I feel have challenged my balanced state of mind (equanimity) to the point where I’m about to give in.
I think I’m able to realize/notice it only because the necessary awareness has been developed. ( can be done by following the 8 silas and anapana… ( first 10 day course really helped with that)
Now, having a balanced state of mind is what has helped deal with these duly noticed ups and downs in (What I feel is) the most beneficial way. Vipassana helps here…a lot!. Its like awareness and equanimity are the two pillars… or legs! both have to be strong and equal in proportions for the mind to be able to walk properly on the path.
Be happy!
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Here is a quote by a famous samurai that i think about in such situations
" One must go beyond the wound to win the fight"
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Not really relevant to routine, but my mindfulness meditation practice recently has been ānāpānasati despite my initial hesitation that it’s ultimately meant to be practiced in seclusion. I’ve found that doing some “body-scanning” to develop bodily awareness through the major layers of skin, flesh/tissue, and bone — has really helped in the way I’m currently working within the first tetrad. I’ve found some of the commentary on ānāpānasati to be quite helpful with some powerful metaphors regarding the body in relation to in-breathing and out-breathing — “permeating/pervading [like] water seeping into sand”, “like a sack being filled”, "Just as the bellows is full whether air is entering or exiting [the “mouth” of the bellows]; air entering and exiting the nose[/]mouth are the same way. ", “Contemplate the entire body… air travels throughout, just like holes to lotus roots or a fish net”, “also observes inhalations and exhalations throughout all hair pores and the nine apertures”. (All from “Dhyānasamādhi Sūtra” of Sarvāstivādin Kaśmir)
Just trying to “feel” the breath in different parts of the body just “feels right” to me. And when it gets quite subtle (mostly from lack of high-gear cognition and amount of time sitting still I think), I plan on trying to retain awareness of “in” & “out” at the upper-lip/tip-of-nostrils, and even experimenting with sensation at the bridge of the nose, inside the nasopharynx, and sensation between the eyebrows (without any third-eye metaphysics, please). I think these subtler locations in the body can perceive the mark/sign/nimitta of in-breathing and out-breathing.
I think all this awareness development/cultivation throughout the body is helpful for the relaxing/letting-go 4th step, you must be aware first of what it is you wish to release. I’ve tried to move into joy from relaxation but I can’t quite motivate it, probably just takes more practice…
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Great question 
For me routine has been vital. Historically most of my routines were related to defilements and bad habits like TV with breakfast, intoxication at night etc. Dhamma and sobriety have gone hand in hand together, and I’ve found routine around exercise and getting to meditation before any kind of distractions to be vital.
Each day I try to:
- Wake up and have coffee+toast while reading some Dhamma (currently working on @sujato’s “A History of Mindfulness”, but might otherwise read suttas, essays, etc.)
- Get outside for a workout (walking/hiking/strength training) while listening to a talk from DharmaSeed (there’s so much there!)
- Come back and do a 30 min meditation. Sometimes it’s just a freeform vipassana/anapanasati, other times I use guided meditations from DharmaSeed or a few that I like on the InsightTimer app.
- About every 3 days I “force myself” to do a long metta/divine abodes meditation where I mix up the “phrases” common in western Theravada and the “sending in directions” that (AFAICT) are more of an EBT thing.
- Every day, even when I’m not doing a full metta session, I end with 5-10 minutes of metta practice, building the divine abodes in myself and sending them out (took me awhile to get into this habit but it really pays off in my experience).
- Every day I finish my meditation, after the metta, by taking the three refuges as a chant, in pali, then english, then pali again.
- Finally, I try to do some stretching/yoga for my legs and shoulders, which makes tomorrow’s meditation more comfortable.
Some days I mess this up, and end up having other stuff happen before the meditation, like Facebook scrolling, TV, errands etc. This is pretty much always a bad thing, and detrimental to the value of my meditation. Having a chance to go on a 4 day retreat really drove this home for me. So much of the value of retreat is just having a mind clear of all the daily activity that makes me restless/worried (my main hindrance). If I can be strict with my routine, and do only those things that HELP my meditation, then my sittings are so much more valuable and worthwhile.
Thanks to others for the replies, they were very interesting 
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A bad thing? Didn’t know there were ‘bad things’ in respect to the Dhamma, but what do I know? Not much! Otherwise that is an awesome routine, and you are to be commended. As for my routine-and I have been meaning to confess this-but I have been feeling like a failure during my early morning 30 minute meditation. The voices…oh the voices! I have begged, pleaded, and tried to bargain with them.
“What time is it?” “Don’t worry about it!”
“What’s for supper” “Food, back to breathe”
“What’s So n So doing?” “Probably meditating, back to breathe”
“Who’s talking during meditation?” “ME”
"Whose ME? “You”
“HUH?”
And on and on and on… So is it the true meaning of neurosis when I talk to myself during breathing meditation?
Any suggestions would be useful. w/Metta!
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The five hindrances
Craving
Aversion
Restlessness
Doubt
couldn’t resist
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When sitting meditation is unproductive, I switch to walking meditation, hands clasped, barefoot around the neighborhood streets without eyeglasses. The need to avoid being run over and be careful about foot placement (it’s the street) sweeps away all non-essential voices. During some walking meditation I also listen to SC-Voice suttas. It’s worked so well, that I’m doing about 2 hours per day. The feet take a beating but the street is teaching me gentleness in walking. 
Please do be mindful of any dangers and walk inside as appropriate. Last night a kind woman on a bicycle asked if I was OK as she whizzed by. That was nice of her. Perhaps I should wear a flashing light or something…
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When I get assailed by ‘the voices’ in that my brain can’t switch off, I kindly welcome each thought.
I find that this response de-personalises the thoughts… no importance is given to their content etc… The first time I did it - I felt like I was cheating 
. But I think of ‘the anger eating monster’, and welcome the thoughts in - but without attaching, or going with them.
Metta
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Please don’t ever resist. I needed that!
Truly a great suggestion. I would love to be able to do this walking meditation as walking is one of my all time favorite things. Ten years ago I could walk four miles at a time. But alas my asthma [not miasma, though that gets to me too sometimes] is increasingly more debilitating. Based on your suggestion, I will try!
Thank you, but I do seem to get annoyed with the frequency of semi-conscious thoughts, and my apparent lack of discipline. Probably doesn’t help that I am of German descent. 
It feels like, “C’mon brain, I’m trying to MEDITATE HERE, DARN!’ I want some peace of mind, and I want it NOW!” 
Thank you all of your kind suggestions. In Peace! W/Metta
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As soon as we set a standard or expectation for our meditation we have slipped up. Very difficult to be free of those though. That is why it’s called a practice, we are always working at it 
It is great we have a nice support group here isn’t it!?
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Good day or morning depending on your time zone. Indeed RC, because I ,live in a rural area far from the maddening crowd, and farther from any Buddhist group, this is my sangha, full of compassion and wisdom. I am so very fortunate to be here connected to you all in this time and space. I have and continue to learn so much from this group think that my gratitude is supreme.
That is a valuable insight. The paradox being: How to meditate as a means to spiritual growth without expecting it?
Thanks for the kind thoughts. 
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A paradox indeed, Buddhism offers us a few of those!! I think that the acceptance of the experience, be it good or bad, is a foundational mindset for achievement in our meditation. Even if we think we failed at meditation, it is not easy to sit and take that time, or walk and take that time to meditate. Showing up is worthy of reward, even if that particular experience isn’t what we “expected.”
The path seems to open itself up a bit more when we disengage from our likes and dislikes as much as possible. You are doing great work, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.
I hope this helps
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AWWWWW, thanks, I appreciate that!
Of course it helps!
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@Mat hinted at how each of these relates directly to a one of the Five Hindrances which is also what your post made me think of.
Personally, I find it really useful when the hindrances come calling to specifically meditate on them. Let whatever you were trying to do (watching your breath, contemplating impermanence or whatever) take a break, and set your mind to identifying which of the hindrances is giving you problems.
- Sensual desire/“wanting”: Is there some thing or experience you are dreaming of?
- Ill will/“hating”: Are you dwelling on some frustrating thing or situation?
- Drowsiness: Are you just tired and wandering into dream land?
- Restlesness/remorse: Are you worrying/planning about something in the past/future?
- Doubt: Are you questioning the value of the practice itself (or of you as a person/meditator)?
Any time you’re “getting lost” it’s always at least one of these tendencies operating, in my experience, it’s usually a mix of two of them.
When you get lost, try taking the time to mentally list these hindrances and ask “is this one getting in my way?”, then once you know which are and aren’t your problem, take time to observe and understand them.
For me it’s usually Restlessness/Worry, so I ask myself:
- What is this worry, really?
- How does this worry arise?
- Is this worry permanent? (NO)
- How does this worry pass away?
- Is this worry myself, or mine? (NO)
- Can I accept this worry as part of nature? (YES)
- Can I let go of this worry, along with it’s subject? (YES)
This way I find myself 5 minutes later and the original thought, if it’s still there, has far less power over me, and in the meantime I was contemplating the dhamma rather than getting lost in the next distraction and the next etc. Time spent like this can be frustrating, but IMHO it’s exactly the “work” we are supposed to be doing as novice meditators (or experienced meditators having a tough day!)
Ideally you eventually need to use this less often, but from what I’ve read, it’s not so much that we stop “processing” the hindrances as they come up, but that we get really really good at this process, and can do it so fast that we stop needing to “pause” our planned meditation in order to address the hindrances that come up.
Oh yeah, also FWIW if I am just totally lost one day while doing something freeform like anapanasati, I switch to something more formulaic that will keep my mind on a rail, like metta meditation or reciting dhamma lists (3 characteristics, 4 noble truths, 8 fold path, 5 precepts, etc.)
If I can tell in advance that I’m going to be a hot mess, that’s when I go to my tried and true “lots of talking” guided meditations on InsightTimer. (This one about accepting and letting go is priceless)
Alright, that’s my thoughts on this subject!
Khanti and metta to all
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Love your suggestions, and I will use them. Great practical advice which I can definitely use.
I think much of my distraction or hindrance comes in the form of restlessness. I find that I am much too aware of time passing. Sometimes I hear a voice…okay one of my many voices saying, “Hurry up with this meditation. I got stuff to do.”
I also wonder for whatever it is worth about how and from where do these thoughts emerge of their own volition. How is it that I have so little control over their emergence. And of course I wonder impatiently, " When will these darn thoughts slow down? How many years must I meditate before they [MY thoughts] cease on command?"
So according to your suggestion do I ask:
Why am I so concerned about time?
Where does this time-worrying come from?
Why do thoughts about time nag me?
Is it that sort of thing?
Copied. Thanks for the suggestion. I promise to read it.
With Metta my Brothers
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