First, by seeing the moments of transition as just another moment. Usually we lose those moments because we are thinking about the ending of something, and we are starting to think about what comes next. So taking care of the desire in the mind can be very helpful at these times. It is important to understand that what makes us lose it is the anticipation of the next moment. Sometimes that's also from a certain amount of under-confidence and fear arising. So we can also try to note this fear and under-confidence arising in ourselves.
Realize that mindfulness has different faces. We may be just focussing on mindfulness of the body, or mindfulness of the breath or the footsteps at that moment, and that there are many foundations of mindfulness. We realize that we can shift our focus to another foundation of mindfulness. If we are going to have an interview, to shift our focus to mindfulness of speech, rather than mindfulness of our body. If we are concerned about the ending of a retreat, then we may need to look at the view we may have about our feelings. Sometimes people are afraid of losing a feeling that they had in their retreat, and therefore lose mindfulness, because they judge their practice on whether they have pleasant feelings, or depth of understanding, etc. So we have to shift our focus to the appropriate practice.
It's appropriate to practice more intense mindfulness and concentration during a retreat, but we need to shift our focus to another part of the practice when we are coming out of retreat. And that is mindfulness of speech, expressing more the Compassion and Lovingkindness towards others, not trying to protect something we think we are losing. Which often happens: "I want to protect my feelings, protect this sense of peace I have cultivated". But more shifting the focus, rather than going inward, to: "Okay, how can I start to go outward more effectively? How can I watch my speech more effectively? How can I express this Compassion and Lovingkindness more effectively?" Sometimes asking ourselves these questions will help the transitions to be a little bit smoother.
"What do I think the practice is?" Often we lose it because we have a limited idea of what we think the practice is. So, keeping it going often means a refocusing on appropriate types of practice for the situations we are going to be in. When we are coming out of retreat, focussing on the Paramis: "What can I do to develop this Parami in this situation?" Rather than being afraid of losing moment to moment body mindfulness in the intense way that we have had it.
Before meals: One has to try to be aware of the desire that is arising (or the aversion, one of the two, depending on what you feel about meals!). And see how we can let go of these desires or aversions, shifting the focus away from mindfulness of the body to mindfulness of the mental objects. Mindfulness is very broad. Sometimes we have an idea that we are losing our mindfulness because we are not mindful of the body, or mindful of the breath. But mindfulness is very broad: mindfulness of speech, mindfulness of our actions, mindfulness of our intentions.
And are you really losing it? That's another question to ask yourself. If you are becoming aware of some fear arising, well, that's an opportunity. It's doesn't mean you are losing it, it just means you are becoming aware of something you didn't see before. So there's an opportunity to be aware of the fear, and to be aware of trying to pick appropriate types of reflections, or confidence inspiring objects that will help us to get over the fear. I remember one time I was doing quite a long retreat, and this type of anxiety started to come up to me, "I'm going to lose this". And then I realized, that I wasn't focusing on what I could do in the next moment, and what was appropriate for that moment. So I thought, "Okay, I have been going inward all this time, now I have to start seeing how I can go outward in a more effective way". So I started to do a lot more Compassion/Lovingkindness meditation near the ending of the retreat. So that I could then bring it more into my speech with others, rather than focusing on what I was losing.
Confidence in oneself: We have talked a little bit about developing more confidence in ourselves in this retreat. Reflecting on Sympathetic Joy. As you know, at the ending of the retreat we give a Sympathetic Joy meditation. It is appropriately done near the ending of the retreat, to help in this transition. Taking Joy with our own efforts that we have done. Taking Joy with others efforts. Having Sympathetic Joy with others helps us to be more mindful of the transition, and focus more on the unselfish emotions and how we are cultivating them. So Mindfulness is very big, and the path is very broad. Sometimes we lose it because we are focusing too much on a small aspect of the path, and a small aspect of the practice. But every moment is an opportunity to develop part of the Noble Eightfold Path, or part of the Paramis, one of the Four Brahma Viharas, etc. We have a lot of tools. And understanding impermanence, that we can't hang on anyway.