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Posts from the ‘Mindfulness’ Category

Aug 26

Spacious Radiance

“The ripple effect stemming from a single moment of love might be infinite in reach.”― Narissa Doumani, A Spacious Life: Memoir of a Meditator

“It starts with a single breath and the present moment, but where it takes you is into the vast radiance of your true nature, into a magical, spacious life.”― Narissa Doumani, A Spacious Life: Memoir of a Meditator

Spacious
Stillness
Attention
Reverence
Immersion
Emergence
Reflection
The beauty, width, density, depth of moments
And for the sense to recognize them while in them
Single breath
Fresh eyes
Vast radiance
Take the trip often, daily.

“The whole present moment was a celebration; it always had been; all I needed was fresh eyes to see it.”― Narissa Doumani, A Spacious Life: Memoir of a Meditator

Jul 22

Deep Breath, Rapt Attention

“The breath of the mind is attention”― Joseph Joubert, The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert: A Selection

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

Deep breath
Flow and ebb
Rapt attention
Beauty and gratitude rising to the forefront
In communion with this day, fullness of moments
The secret of life

“Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life.”― Gregory Maguire, A Lion Among Men

Jul 20

Center of Things

“The journey itself is my home.”― Matsuo Basho

“In Chinese lore, the fifth season is late summer, when the glare is gone and only the color of things as they are can reach us. It takes all the seasons to become this bare. All the turmoil to be worn of our edges. All the loss to hold on to nothing. All the seasons to wear our hands open. Landing here, I no longer want things. I only want moments. In the sun. In the rain. With you. When confused or sad, I only want to look to what is and tumble into joy. Together. Alone. I want to put down all I’ve been carrying and simply be.” – Mark Nepo, The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life

May this day be filled with moments
Of attention, wonder, joy, gratitude, laughter, peace, presence
Being awake and alive in the Center of Things
Light
Simply being.

“When drawn into the race of the surface world, we find ourselves running to and from. But when blessed to fall down, we are broken of the trance. When blessed to fall into the Center of Things, we and the life before us become clear.” – Mark Nepo, The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life

Jun 30

Constant Attention

“The heart that
breaks open can
contain the
whole universe.”
― Joanna Macy

“Desire demands only a constant attention to the unknown gravitational field which surrounds us and from which we can recharge ourselves every moment, as if breathing from the atmosphere of possibility itself. A life’s work is not a series of stepping-stones onto which we calmly place our feet, but more like an ocean crossing where there is no path, only a heading, a direction, which, of itself, is in conversation with the elements.”― David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity

To explore, get away, wander
To return, anchor, deepen
Ebb and flow
In and out
Exhale and inhale
The dance of being
The song of presence
The gift of gratitude
Porous heart
Open arms
Fresh eyes
Attune ears
Rapt attention
To the space, place, sacred, expansive ground of now.

“To name a place requires us to be in a place. It requires us to resist dreaming of where we should be and look around where we are.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

Jun 21

Beauty of Now

“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.” – Rumi

“Remember then that there is only one important time, and that time is now. The most important one is always the one you are with. And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side. This is why we are here.”― Jon J. Muth, The Three Questions

In slowing, ease and restoration.
In awareness, depth and dimension.
In quiet, reflection and discernment.
In reflection, abundance and clarity
In the present, gratitude for what already is, on the ground we stand.
Fullness and beauty of this day.

“A person in such a hurry seldom gets good results”― Jon J. Muth, Zen Socks

Jun 10

Beauty Bursting Everywhere, Notice

“Be melting snow.
Wash yourself of yourself.”
― Rumi, The Essential Rumi

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”― Rumi

Winter melting into spring, spilling into summer.
Frozen ground to softening.
Seeds unfolding into buds.
Breaking ground.
Bursting into bloom.
Exploding in color, dance, delight.
Enter each and every season that comes with curiosity, bewilderment.
The same transformed into new.
Rooted in attention and awareness.
Gratitude and grace.
Beauty bursting everywhere, notice.
This is life.
Right now.

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”― Rumi

May 10

A Part of the Silence

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”― Robert Lynd

“…a new day was starting, the things of the garden were not concerned with our troubles. A blackbird ran across the rose-garden to the lawns in swift, short rushes, stopping now and again to stab at the earth with his yellow beak. A thrush, too, went about his business, and two stout, little wagtails, following one another, and a little cluster of twittering sparrows. A gull poised himself high in the air, silent and alone, and then spread his wings wide and swooped beyond the lawns to the woods and the Happy Valley. These things continued, our worries and anxieties had no power to alter them.”― Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

May nothing come of this day
Nothing produced
Done
Completed
Checked off
Taken care of
Wide open fields
Slow walks with nowhere to go
Blank canvas to fill with presence and delight
Wandering
Exploring
Quietly observing
Doing can wait
Being more than enough
Become part of the silence
Where nothing transforms into everything

“All trees and birds
sky and stars
bosoms and bangles
were seeing everything.”― Suman Pokhrel

Mar 28

Making Bread

“You miss the living because you are waiting for perfect, and so you let goodness and blessings pass you right on by.”― Emily P. Freeman, Graceful (For Young Women): Letting Go of Your Try-Hard Life

“I don’t want to live my life in such a hurry that I’m always closing the fridge door with my foot and scribbling out birthday cards in my car at the last minute. I want to make bread, or at least find the time to toast it.”― Emily P. Freeman, Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World

Fun
Play
Laughter
Connection
Joy
Delight
Gratitude
Generosity
Kindness
Praise
Reverence
Awe
Empathy
Compassion
Yielding
Inviting
Pausing
Slowing
Kneeling
Wonder
Smiling
Kneading
The ingredients for the bread of life
Make bread
Toast it too

“To name a place requires us to be in a place. It requires us to resist dreaming of where we should be and look around where we are.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

Feb 20

New Delight Room

“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”― Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank

“This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.” – Rumi

 Make room for new delight.
This day, not some day.
This day, new delight.

“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.”― Viktor Emil Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Jan 28

Commas, Semi-Colons, Periods

“Serendipity was my tour guide, assisted by caprice”― Pico Iyer

“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.”― Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere

In the story you write each day
How you think about things, others, circumstances, past, present, future
Approaches, entrances, exits, starts, in-betweens, stalls, detours, distractions
Autopilot, rushed, reacting, myopic
Fixed or growth mindset
Scatter commas, semi-colons and periods throughout to gentle drift, margins, white space, sweet music, connection, grounding, joy, delight, beauty
To change and shift the narrative, broaden the view
Choose, guide, guard, open, expand, awe, invite, wonder
You have your pen, write
Slow. Attention. Stillness.
Listen. Reflect. Respond.

“A comma . . . catches the gentle drift of the mind in thought, turning in on itself and back on itself, reversing, redoubling, and returning along the course of its own sweet river music; while the semicolon brings clauses and thoughts together with all the silent discretion of a hostess arranging guests around her dinner table.”― Pico Iyer

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