Routine
You don't have to be a monk to lead a monk like existence. So I attempt to keep a strict daily routine whether weekday or weekend. This allows me to center my life and have specific times to focus on specific things, allowing me to leg go of things when I don't need to focus on them.
| Time | Activity | Yoga |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30-8:30 | Morning | Hatha |
| 8:30-9:30 | Cleaning & Gardening | Bhakti |
| 9:30-10:00 | Meditation | Raja |
| 10:00-12 | Study & Work | Karma |
| 12:00 | Meditation | Raja |
| 12:30 | Lunch | Hatha |
| 1:00 | Gym/Walk | Hatha |
| 2:15-4:15 | Study & Work | Karma |
| 4:30-5 | Meditation | Raja |
| 5-6:30 | Cooking | Hatha |
| 6:30-9:00 | Evening | Bhakti |
| 9:00-11 | Study & Work | Karma |
| 11:00-7:30 | Sleep |
Some notes:
- When I am done with something? Take a break, read a book.
- If I have an external activity that affects what I need to do, just go to the next activity. Keep to the schedule for the most part except things like feeding the kid.
Preparation
Each time I move from one activity to another I should say a prayer. This can be a simple "Jai Shree Ram" or a longer prayer depending on the time available. But make the time between each activity an offering. By doing so each activity becomes a form of worship.
Japa
Every activity should have the japa being repeated as part of the background. This helps keep the mind focused on the divine and not wander. A routine needs to be mostly streamlined with specific activities so the mind can focus on the divine.
Continuous Improvement
In spiritual life as in business there needs to be a continuous improvement. Thankfully, the continuous improvements are pretty straightforward once you have a routine.
The areas for continuous improvement:
- Routine. Ensure each part of the day is optimized and any confusion about what to do is resolved. The point of a routine is to mostly remove choice, so that it becomes automatic, when his happens you can have your mind dwell on the divine.
- Yoga. The Raja Yoga path that I synthesized has the other Yogas as part of it so it is important to figure out where you have a weakness and work on that piece or Yoga.
- Sastras. A deep understanding of the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras and Hanuman Chalisa and breaking down and understanding the meaning is an important aspect of understanding the deeper meaning of the Sadhana.
Another way of thinking about it is that each routine is ascribed to a particular yoga and a particular yoga further can be ascribed to a specific shastra. So when improving a particular aspect there can be a long stream of improvements.