Practice: Times of Day

Last updated on: March 2, 2013 at 8:00 am by Sarah Twichell

Practice: Times of Day 2013-03-01T23:05:41-05:00 Sarah Twichell

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo by Moyan Brenn

Both traditions I am trained in have a way of acknowledging various points of the day: the beginning and the end, and also midday and dusk. The practice of bookending my day with a moment of connection is one that feels uncomplicatedly lovely to me. While these times could benefit from twenty or thirty minutes of practice, they also benefit from one or two minutes of acknowledgement.

The midday and dusk times, on the other hand, often come while I’m in the middle of something else, and so pulling away, even for a minute, can feel hard. When I do, sometimes I rush through, but when I am able to pause for long enough to feel connection in my belly, they inevitably help me realign my day with what’s truly important to me.

One simple way to engage this practice is just to look for something to say thank you for at each time. I don’t believe that forced gratitude is good for us, so I’d suggest staying away from the things you think you ought to be grateful for and instead acknowledging things you are able to appreciate in the moment you’re practicing. Tiny things are good choices: these soft sheets, this steaming cup of coffee. Big things are another one that’s often easy to connect to: gratitude for being alive, for friends or family, for shelter, warmth, and food.

I find the phrase “thank you” especially evocative and so prefer it to “I am grateful for,” although you may feel differently! If you have a devotional practice or set of beliefs about who you might be thanking, you can address your gratitude more specifically, but I also find that it works well to just say “thank you” without any specific idea about who you are thanking.

I’ve also used taking three deep breaths at each of these points as a very brief way to take a pause and acknowledge the cycle of the sun in the sky, and I’ve used specific prayers — ones that come from traditional sources and also ones I’ve written — at other times.

Do you acknowledge daily cycles? I’d love to hear about your practices!

Previous Post

February 27, 2013

Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight

Next Post

March 4, 2013 Practicing Together #6

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category about practice formal practice how to life as practice practicing together reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the correct sequence of the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, forbearance, faithfulness, self-control, gentleness Love, peace, joy, kindness, forbearance, faithfulness, goodness, self-control, gentleness Joy, love, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, forbearance, gentleness, self-control