discipline for freedom

We live in an age where discipline is often looked down upon as something which interferes with spontaneity and freedom - something old-fashioned and stifling to life. We tend to rebel against it. But the kind of discipline needed for daily practice of meditation or deep relaxation tends - far from stifling one's ability to be involved in the spontaneous business of life - actually to free it.

At first it may take a little effort to get up fifteen or twenty minutes earlier each morning and afternoon to practice a technique but you will find it is well worth it. The most common excuse is that you don't have time, but the reality is, is that practicing twice a day for fifteen to twenty minutes will give you time, not take it from you, for you will find that you do everything with greater efficiency and enjoyment, and that far less of your energy is wasted on fruitless activity. Studies show that every minute you spend in a deeply relaxed state yields a fourfold return in the energy you have in your outer life.