Practice note · 20 September 2026
Practising in a city
I practised for years in Asia, where the day agrees with practice. Then I landed in Moscow, walked into the metro, and thought: a week of this would take the practice off almost any monk. A city does not forbid meditation. It removes the things that were quietly carrying it.
What the city actually takes
Not the technique. The conditions. In a quiet place the day leaves gaps, and practice fills them. A city fills every gap before you reach it: the commute, the noise, the messages, the small constant alertness that a crowd asks of you. Nothing is forbidden. There is simply nothing left over.
Something else happens that is harder to describe. Sitting in a city, I notice thoughts arriving that do not arrive elsewhere — coarser, more agitated, other people's. The mind picks up what surrounds it. It is worth knowing that this is the environment and not a failure of your practice.
One small place that is yours
Choose a corner and use only that corner. The same cushion, the same wall, the same hour. A practice with no place of its own is the first thing a day pushes out, and in a city the day pushes hard. The corner does more work than motivation does.
The time decides, not the conditions
Waiting for good conditions in a city means waiting forever. Fix the two times before the week starts and let the agreement, not the state of the evening, decide whether you sit. A short sitting that happens beats a long one you are saving for a calmer day that never comes.
Know your points
Know which places and which conversations leave you scattered, and be honest about how often you walk into them. Closing the door on the city for an evening is not avoidance; it is maintenance. Less input, on the days you feel the practice thinning.
Do not wait for Bali
It is easy to believe that the practice would be fine somewhere quieter. Sometimes that is true, and a retreat is worth travelling for. But a practice that only works where the conditions are perfect is not yet yours. The city is where it is tested, and where it becomes something you own.
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