Speaker: Mary Cobb. To cultivate, maintain and renew an intimate relationship with practice, it is helpful to return to the basic practice of shamatha to relax and settle the mind. Dry spells, arising from conditions both internal and external, are natural and inevitable aspects of being on the path. Learning to work with them is essential. One way to navigate such dry spells is to return to the basic practice of shamatha to cultivate calm abiding and to nurture an intimate relationship with the mind.