Being present is real work. Meditation and yoga are referred to as practices for a reason—they require repetition and commitment to a process. In one workshop, Dr. Liu Dong said of qigong, ‘The first half-hour or so of any practice session is usually just about pain.’ Similarly, a friend told me about his visit to a Burmese monastery where he hoped to study for three weeks. Hearing of this proposed time frame, a monk said, ‘It won’t be worth it for you. Generally the first five months here are full of suffering, and after that you begin to reap the benefits.’

Laura van Dernoot Lipsky in Trauma Stewardship

Reading this made me laugh. It’s too true. I was in pain every day the first four months of my stay at the meditation center until I had some insight into the mind and how “my” attitude was shaping my experience, and then everything changed…Had I tried to practice for less time than I did (6.5 mos total that visit), I wonder where it would have taken me? Surely not to such an integrated life practice.

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