January 16, 2026
The retreat never ends. It’s not about taking your practice out into the real world, but about bringing the real world into your practice.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Now almost a week after wrapping up the meditation retreat, I find myself with a new twice-daily habit: a fifteen minute meditation. It’s become a grounding practice for me, one that I look forward to with a sense of love every morning and every evening. My practice is simple: a timer (I use an app called Oak), a small meditation cushion, and silence.
This morning was a test as my daughter awoke at 4am with a bad dream, and slept in my bed until she stirred at just past 6am. That’s the time I usually sit, and I felt a bit anxious about whether I’d still be able to keep my practice. I started to think through possible scenarios. Could I delay the morning practice until after the school drop-offs? Just this once? But I felt like I must take my seat. For her. I walked to her side of the bed, held her in her sleepy warmth, and gently told her I would now meditate. To my surprise and relief, she nodded, got up and wandered peacefully back to her room. I told you she was an old soul. She knew.
The analogy that Jon and Will shared during the retreat was that of an orchestra player tuning her instrument. The point is not to tune it for the sake of tuning it, but so that she can play well for the performance. This is the practice of meditation. To find a way, to take the time, as if your life depended on it. Because it does, and it will. Over and over again. The serpentine stone bracelet I wear is now my reminder of that, and I gave it an intention during the retreat: awareness is peace through presence. And presence is all we truly have to give — to ourselves, and to each other, every day.