Allow this Moment to Unfold

Can you simply relax and allow this moment to unfold?   Can you let go of evaluation and judgment, and simply accept that this is what is happening?

wooden pier against mountains and sunset sky

Photo by Tobias Bjørkli on Pexels.com

Remember it is only our resistance to the present moment that causes us to feel any pain.

Acceptance creates the inner freedom and inner peace that we are all yearning for.

So take a deep breath… and then another.

Relax.

Be easy on yourself and others.

Trust your life and experience that has brought you to this moment.

Instead of wishing things to be different, focus on expressing the love that is within you.

Find gratitude every day.

Get out of your head and open your heart.

Namaste

More Than Ever – Find Your Middle Ground

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

These are such challenging and fast moving times aren’t they. I have been reluctant to post about COVID-19. There have been too many conversations about the threat of the unknown and constant updates in the media.

Last Thursday I stopped teaching classes in public and I lost the structure of my days. I told myself it’s like a “staycation”. What a great time to reconnect with Don and enjoy our lovely home and garden together.

I found myself getting addicted to the need to know what’s happening. I thought this would make me feel more in control, but the opposite happened. I began to feel adrift.

I felt more and more disconnected and anxious, the more I engaged.

Like a stick in a raging river, with no rudder or direction, I felt out of control and scared.

Then I realized, its okay to feel like this. This is the reality right now. When I accepted this, there was an inner shift. I realized that I needed to find my own middle ground. Not just to talk about it for others, but to make it so. Now more than ever.

Today I am now focused on making it so for myself, so I can support others.

There is a lot of inspiration out there. I will share what I come across, as well as delve into my archives to share posts that feel right for these times.

I have also started recording a yoga class from home on Vimeo. I hope you yogis here enjoy this first attempt. It ends abruptly as I ran out of disc space.

Take care of yourself and loved ones.

Take time to pause and reflect on whatever is coming up for you.

Now, more than ever, take time to find your middle ground.

Namaste

Haiku – conscious deceleration

Photo by Trace Hudson on Pexels.com

~

Stressing to be fit?

Consciously decelerate

Find your Middle Ground

“Conscious deceleration” is a term I came across in a report from The Future Laboratory which identifies macro trends and new directions in the Health and Wellness industry.

The bottom line is: We are being bombarded with new ways to achieve fitness goals and to be less anxious. A recent study by researchers at Yale and Oxford found that too much exercise is worse for mental well being than no exercise at all. People, especially Millennials, are getting burned out trying to avoid burn out. Everyone is getting more stressed out about how to de-stress!

The pendulum has swung too far and we are out of balance.

We must consciously slow down and create some calm in our every day. We need to take time to pause as a counter balance to the busyness and constant demand for our attention.

Having a regular practice of mindful breathing, yoga and meditation are ways to consciously decelerate and can become a haven in the world we live in.

Research is now being done about how music and vibrations can recreate the same calm state of mind as regular gentle yoga and meditation. You may want to experience crystal singing bowls at 432Hz or listen to binaural acoustics that induce a Theta mind state. Its already here and more in coming.

What was once rooted in the sacred past of yoga and meditation is now being developed using new technology to reduce stress and bring more peace into our lives.

May you Find Your Middle Ground in this new decade and beyond.

Namaste

A World in Balance

I am back from a wonderful time in Italy, and getting settled into the rhythm of life here. These words from Lao Tzu resonated with me.

Remain quiet.

Discover the harmony in your own being.

Embrace it.

If you can do this, you will gain everything,

and the world will become healthy again.

~ Lao Tsu

A world in balance, begins with finding it within ourselves.

Make time to pause and listen inwards.

Embrace the rhythmic harmony of each breath.

May you find your Middle Ground today.

Sorrow and Delight

Photo by Yogendra Singh on Pexels.com

“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”

~Kahlil Gibran

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the loss and sorrow. A part of us has been taught that this is somehow wrong, and we create stories to help us cope. We may get angry, resentful or vow never to put ourselves in that situation again. We resist these powerful feelings and try to escape them.

Yet it only takes a moment, a pause and perhaps a deep releasing sigh, to see that the source of this deep feeling is love.

Sorrow and love are interwoven because the two are always connected.

With our hearts open, there is yearning and longing. There is love here.

When we recognize that what we feel sad about, is really an opening of the heart, we can begin to smile in the knowing that we are alive and loving beings.
This is what makes us special.

The Mellow Glow

Photo by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels.com

Why fight against the fading glow of youth?
Why try to freeze a process that can’t be stopped?
You’re clinging too hard, that’s why you’re weary;
your face is lined with tension not with age.

And even if your form has altered a little
even if the surface is a little worn and chaffed
your being is rich and deep
nourished by experience and understanding
and another kind of light is shining from you now:
a full, mellow glow, like autumn sunshine,
that spreads further and touches deeper
than the flashing, dazzling glow of youth.

Why not let that glow shine through
instead of trying to rekindle a faded light?

Change brings decay if you resist it.
But if you accept it and flow with it,
it brings growth and renewal.

~ Steve Taylor, taken from “The Calm Center”

Let us embrace the full mellow glow that touches others deeply and ignites the light of our own Being.

Namaste

Haiku – power down

Photo by Serkan Göktay on Pexels.com

Power down. Switch off.

Slow down to the speed of Life.

Find your Middle Ground.

Find your Middle Ground is about stepping away from the busyness of our lives and our screens. More than ever we need to take time to pause and come to our senses.

When we are mindful of the present moment and simply allow it to be, we open a door to our natural state of being – accepting, loving, peaceful, kind and content. Most of us are so distracted and moving so fast that we get caught up in the world of “doing” or worrying about what we should be doing next.
Too much doing and thinking disconnects us from our sense of “being”and who we really are.

Inspiration – The Dark and the Light

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“The dark does not destroy the light;

it defines it.

Its our fear of the dark that casts our

joy into the shadows.”

Brene Brown

Take a moment to reflect on how this appears in your life.

Instead of wishing the dark away, how can you embrace it and shine through?

Peace is a Natural Mind State

This is a re-blog and a reminder for myself the morning. Peace is within us all. Take time to meditate today.

oooOooo

This is one of my favorite quotes about inner peace from Dr Thynn Thynn . Every time I read it or share it, it makes me see how simple peace of mind can be if we only learn how to access it.

“Peace is a natural mind-state in every one of us. Peace has been there since the day we were born and is going to be there until the day we die. It is our greatest gift; so why do we think we have no peace of mind?

Experiencing peace is like looking at our hands. Usually we see only the fingers – not the spaces in between them.

In a similar manner, when we look at the mind, we are aware of the active states, such as our running thoughts and the one thousand and one feelings that are associated with them, but we tend to overlook the intervals of peace between them.”

When we come to realize that peace of mind is already within us, our journey changes from searching for it, to one of letting go and being present. By letting go of what our thoughts are caught up with, and coming into the present moment, we connect to our inner being.

This is the secret place where peace resides.

I love the idea of shedding and revealing rather than striving for.

If you have a minute or two, why not slow down and join me here in a moment of mindfulness.

Take a moment to notice your hands and the spaces in between your fingers.

Close your eyes and now picture the space between each finger.

Allow your hands to soften.

Notice the warmth in your palms.

Let your hands rest on your thighs with the palms up.

Allow your breath to soften and lengthen.

Breathe ….

Relax your jaw and forehead.

Breathing gently ….

Notice the calm in between the thoughts that come up.

Remember that this is always within you. Its up to you how you choose to access it and bring it into your everyday life.

Haiku – close silence

Photo by Josh Willink on Pexels.com

~

Nurture, love and healing.

Being held in close silence.

In your middle ground.

I read an article about an older man who volunteers at a local hospital in the ward for premature babies. All he does is hold babies close to him in silence. Nothing more is needed.

I get it. This is what we all need.

Instead of pushing through and wanting the pain to be over, why not take the time to hold yourself with the same tenderness as you would a baby. Love is healing.We are all capable of giving so much love, yet forget to bring it home to ourselves.

The next time you hug someone else think of it as holding in close silence.💕

Tao Inspiration – Be as nature

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“Think of the dirt beneath your feet and the skies above.
Do they give any thought to death? Of course not.
What one does not have cannot be taken away.
Therefore the sage pays no mind to status or rank,
and so is always in the perfect position;
Is not drawn off by any one thing, and so remains amongst them all.
True self-fulfillment arises in the absence of the ego.”*

~ Lao Tzu

Words to inspire us on our journey.

Be as nature. Without attachment or fear. Pay no attention to status and find fulfillment in simply being a part of it all.

… and don’t listen to your ego, who will tell you otherwise!

Namaste

*Braun Jr., John; Tzu, Lao; von Bargen, Julian; Warkentin, David. Tao Te Ching (Kindle Locations 168-176). Kindle Edition.

Minds Like Crows

Enjoy this re-post from three years ago.

oooOOOooo

“Our minds are like crows. They pick up everything that glitters, no matter how uncomfortable our nests get with all that metal in them.” ~ Thomas Merton

I love this analogy. Its part of the human condition to keep picking up thoughts and not letting them go. Adding more and more until we find ourselves overwhelmed.

In yoga there is the term “monkey mind” for a mind that continues to jump from one thought to another. Whether monkeys or crows work for you, take a moment to reflect on how attached to you might be to your thinking.

Do you keep analyzing and adding more thoughts? Or perhaps jump from one to the next? How much are you adding to your mental clutter ?

When we take time to pause and be still, we become aware of our thinking. We realize we are not our thinking. As a witness to our thoughts, we become less attached to them.

With awareness comes detachment and the ability to let our thoughts go.

Don’t add to your inner clutter, find your middle ground.

Find Your Middle Ground

Life is a series of highs and lows. Be grateful in the highs. Be graceful in the lows. Find contentment in your Middle Ground

Category Archives for Peace of mind

Allow this Moment to Unfold

More Than Ever – Find Your Middle Ground