daily word - spiritual exercises?

Athletes do exercises for physical conditioning for their craft. Students do exercises for their lessons. These are methods of learning and preparation and skill development. In these cases they are usually highly structured and focused. Do you think that your spiritual life would benefit from exercises? Different faith traditions approach this question from different perspectives and practices. Some are highly freestyle, and some have none at all. The cause and effect relationship of effort and benefit may not be as obvious for spiritual exercises as it is for calisthenics and academic study, but is this something you can neglect or leave to chance?