Tag Archives for mindfulness

When You Lose Heart

“The next time you lose heart and you can’t bear to experience what you’re feeling, you might recall this instruction: change the way you see it and lean in. 
Instead of blaming our discomfort on outer circumstances or on our own weakness, we can choose to stay present and awake to our experience, not rejecting it, not grasping it, not buying the stories that we relentlessly tell ourselves.
This is priceless advice that addresses the true cause of suffering — yours, mine, and that of all beings”.

~ Pema Chodron, Taking the Leap

letting go in yin yoga

Reading these wise words I think of poses in yoga, especially Yin, where we lean in to the physical and emotional discomfort and embrace the sensations and thoughts that come up.

Surprisingly it is the poses of surrender and letting go, rather than strength building that can be the most challenging for us.

Our practice on the mat is a great metaphor for life. We learn to be present with whatever comes up and use our breath to lean into it. Accepting where we are in that moment.

Breathe into whatever is occurring …. knowing it will pass.

Let there be no blame, just presence on our mat and in life.

Namaste

The Mellow Glow

astronomy dark dawn dusk

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

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.

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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.”

open hand

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.

Time to Bee

This has been an interesting week, time wise. Two of my watches and a wall clock stopped while I have been teaching yoga classes. I’m curious to know what some of you may think this might be about… Time will tell eh?

I also wanted to share my new purchase of a swatch watch. I’m grateful it’s still ticking away!

I chose the design of a flower and bees because it makes me smile. Every time I look to see what time it is, I smile and think of our hardworking bees emerging from their winter pause.

It gives me pause as well. To stop and appreciate, and to bee in the moment. 😉

It’s like a mini mindful moment during my day.

And so much better than picking up the iPhone and getting caught in the web of distraction.

 

Noticing Mondays

This is a re-blog from 2015, when I began to notice the tension when trying to get caught up with posts on Word Press.  We don’t need to be actively interacting, to know that we are a part of this community. Gratitude and love to you ❤️

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not being present
Noticing Monday morning and its regular gift of a slight contraction in my body and mind.
My ego alert with thoughts about getting a head start and how much to get through.
No, not work…

The blogs I follow expand with content on Monday mornings.
An avalanche of goodness awaits.
Leading to some feelings of overwhelm and not enough time.

So I take time to notice and pause…
Slowing down and breathing in order to be present for each one.
Letting go of thoughts to hurry through and get it behind me.
This is not a task, its about connection, listening and community.

These feelings are like an echo of how I lived most of my life.
Hurrying up to get things done and get ahead of the present.

Skipping forward towards some goal.

If only I knew then what I know now …
Thank you bloggers for this lesson on mindful presence today

Namaste

be present

In the Mirror of your Mind

silent observer

Free photo 112089727 © creative commons stock photos – Dreamstime.com

“In the mirror of your mind all kinds of pictures appear and disappear.
Knowing that they are entirely your own creations, watch them silently come and go.
Be alert, but not perturbed.
This attitude of silent observation is the very foundation of yoga. You see the picture, but you are not the picture.”

~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

The foundation of yoga is to become a silent observer without attachment to the world we create in our minds.

… and then remember not to hold our breath 😊

Namaste

Inspiration – Interbeing

“When we look deeply into a sheet of paper, we see that it’s full of everything in the cosmos: the sunshine, the trees, the clouds, the earth, the minerals, everything—except for one thing. It’s empty of one thing only: a separate self. The sheet of paper cannot be by itself alone. That is why the word inter-be can be more helpful than the word be. In fact, to be means to inter-be. The sheet of paper cannot be without the sunshine, cannot be without the forest. The sheet of paper has to inter-be with the sunshine, to inter-be with the forest.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh from Fear

When we look deeply enough, we can see everything.

Take a single leaf of romaine lettuce bought from the store. What do you see?

The seed, the earth, the minerals, the sunshine, the clouds, the rain.

Look deeper and we see the farmers; the merchants who sold it; the people who built the roads for the trucks; the people who built the trucks; the people who built the parts to the truck and the people who gathered the raw materials for those parts. Then there are the people who supported those people….

Then there’s the transport you take to get there. Who built it? Who made the clothes and shoes you wear to the store? Where did you get the money to purchase all that? And on and on and on.

All in a single leaf of romaine lettuce.

As Nhat Hanh describes, the only thing we *don’t* see is a separate self.

Everything truly is connected. Everything.

Here’s to embracing interbeing more and more in our day to day lives.