1/ I want to share a little about my personal experience with mindfulness meditation practice and why I've decided to recommit to daily practice -- something I consciously stopped prioritising some ~1-2 years ago.

Some years ago, during a particularly stressful part of my early 20s, I learned about mindfulness meditation and started doing it. I saw the benefits immediately, and kept it up for some time.

I would be inconsistent, but this was the early years when I was still just dipping my toes, so not a big deal. A few years later, I had another stressful period and this time really committed to my practice: 20-45 min sessions, 1-2 times/day, and I kept this up for 6+ months.

Around this time, I switched job roles and my work related demands calmed down significantly. And I started having "good reasons" why I now had these mindfulness skills comfortably under my belt, and could call on them as needed _without_ daily practice.

Now, there's *some* truth to that. It is a skill and framework you crystallise & can pull on as needed. But like any skill or life principle, they wither and wane with time. And much like exercise, the less you do it, the less able you are to conjure it up when you need to.

And conversely, practice will strengthen and deepen your ability. Through mindfulness practice, you can understand and find mental balance, health and happiness when you need it -- read: you always need those things.

These aren't abstract benefits -- I'm talking the ability to be patient with your loved ones when it's hard to be; to be empathetic with a teammate when you're only seeing it from a selfish perspective. Things that affect your ability to live *a good life you can be proud of*

So that's why I've started back on my daily practice. So can be a better, happier person each day, and be ready for life's toughest days. If anybody here would like any help getting started, just let me know, always happy to share what's worked and not worked for me.