Hello Everyone -
How are you doing?
Many of us are WELL into sequester by now!
I am hoping it has given you more time and space to reflect, to get a sense of what is really important to you and to your life.
Without this space - to really see, to truly allow reality to sink in - I don’t think the awareness of the full weight of social injustice, of police excesses, and the heart-felt demand for change which we recently experienced, could have occurred. The opportunity for the massive, long over-due response, has pushed existing boundaries and status quo thinking into a significant shift, opening the possibility and likelihood of REAL, tangible, change to take place.
Without this space, we would have been horrified, but too caught up in the wheels of being too busy, too overworked, too preoccupied with driving kids to arenas, making ends meet, running after what we think we need and how we think we have to be - to have truly seen the reality before us, and for people to have been effective in responding to it.
The same pattern can take place whether it be at a social or an individual level.
This is what Mindfulness is all about. It is about being aware.
It’s about waking from the repetitive dream states we are habitually living in.
It’s about waking to actual reality rather than living out of the stories we are telling ourselves. Stories that run like perpetual-motion machines, that keep rotating in our head, dictating our thoughts, feelings and actions. It’s not just you, it’s not just me, it’s
the human condition. Thoughts vary in intensity, but are usually versions of “I need”, “I don’t want”, “you should”, “they shouldn’t” etc. - seldom a new thought, they often feel tiresome and recycled.
Truth be told, when these incessant stories generate fear, sadness and overwhelm, we can feel trapped - not able to see a way out!
Even though it’s all happening in our own mind, it can be very confusing. It can seem as though only some external agent - alcohol, medication, finding a new partner, spending more money could be the answer. I know. It can look pretty grim. Suffering feels pretty grim. I’m feeling pretty tense just writing about it! But I wouldn’t leave you there! There is another way. A self-empowered way.
How have you been with the exercise I shared a few posts back?
Stopping - everything - you can notice your present state, what is moving through you, how your body feels, just simply notice - get in touch with what is occurring in this moment. Look around, see the furniture, the pictures, the window, outside the window.
Notice where you are standing, or sitting, how you are supported by the floor, or the chair beneath you. Breathe. Be a witness to it all. In this moment, are you okay?
Simply be here.
You are back in Reality. Notice the difference in your internal state compared with being caught in mind activity - particularly if it was agitated or overwhelming.
You can experience some quiet.
Some stillness. The noise of the thought machine has been turned down.
(Wouldn’t it be lovely to have it turned so low that you could experience the beauty of silence, the brightness of clarity and the joy of peace of mind?)
This is Mindfulness,
It’s recognizing our birth-right to a peaceful, joyful, creative state of mind. That state of openness to each brand new moment, responding to, engaging with and enjoying each moment of Life as it flows.
There is so much that is vivid, alive and beautiful in the reality of this Present Moment - that is obscured, drowned out, even obliterated by habitual thoughts and feelings that seems to over-take us.
There is a Zen story of a guest who came to a Master, to learn the Way of Peace and Tranquility. While pouring a cup of tea for the guest, the Master continued to pour when the cup was already filled, spilling over the brim, spilling onto the floor. The astonished, confused guest questioned what he was doing. To which the Master replied, “When your mind is already full, nothing, no matter how wonderful, no matter how precious, is able to enter it”.
This is what we do when we stop, return to the simplicity of here and now. We can experience an open, spacious state of mind, where we can think and see clearly - without the imagination generating stories from a now fictional past onto a fictional future - stories that we believe!
This is why we sit, to practice, for 5, 10, 20 minutes in that quiet state. We sit quietly so we can “cultivate” it, so it can take hold in our mind - and be there when we need it, and change the quality of our life.
We empty our cup, so we can be open, be awake and be free to make choices.
Pierre Trudeau used to say that he needed to canoe on a silent lake in Mont Tremblant on week-ends, just to “empty his mind”.
It’s a wonderful gift - and a life changing insight.
Meanwhile, I am hoping you are enjoying this Beautiful Season - really seeing the sunlight flickering on the leaves, really tasting the tangy raspberries, the fat blueberries and the juicy strawberries! Being fully in your life!
Our Mother Earth is now tilting toward the Sunny Side!
Time to bring out the colours, the summer jewelry, and to soak up some REAL Vitamin D.
My recipe for the Cornmeal Pancakes with Kumquat Sauce, which I referred to a few posts back, has been requested, and is attached. Since kumquats (small tangy oranges) are no longer in season, I am going to attempt the same sauce with chopped
organic oranges, including some peel, to see how that works!
Enjoy pancakes, enjoy berries, enjoy sunshine, enjoy rain, enjoy everything!
All warmest wishes,
Lynda
https://mcusercontent.com/aeb5924e9c946a045ed2ccd3f/images/acee2a10-4bf7-48b9-8a75-e6fbfda3a2df.jpeg
How are you doing?
Many of us are WELL into sequester by now!
I am hoping it has given you more time and space to reflect, to get a sense of what is really important to you and to your life.
Without this space - to really see, to truly allow reality to sink in - I don’t think the awareness of the full weight of social injustice, of police excesses, and the heart-felt demand for change which we recently experienced, could have occurred. The opportunity for the massive, long over-due response, has pushed existing boundaries and status quo thinking into a significant shift, opening the possibility and likelihood of REAL, tangible, change to take place.
Without this space, we would have been horrified, but too caught up in the wheels of being too busy, too overworked, too preoccupied with driving kids to arenas, making ends meet, running after what we think we need and how we think we have to be - to have truly seen the reality before us, and for people to have been effective in responding to it.
The same pattern can take place whether it be at a social or an individual level.
This is what Mindfulness is all about. It is about being aware.
It’s about waking from the repetitive dream states we are habitually living in.
It’s about waking to actual reality rather than living out of the stories we are telling ourselves. Stories that run like perpetual-motion machines, that keep rotating in our head, dictating our thoughts, feelings and actions. It’s not just you, it’s not just me, it’s
the human condition. Thoughts vary in intensity, but are usually versions of “I need”, “I don’t want”, “you should”, “they shouldn’t” etc. - seldom a new thought, they often feel tiresome and recycled.
Truth be told, when these incessant stories generate fear, sadness and overwhelm, we can feel trapped - not able to see a way out!
Even though it’s all happening in our own mind, it can be very confusing. It can seem as though only some external agent - alcohol, medication, finding a new partner, spending more money could be the answer. I know. It can look pretty grim. Suffering feels pretty grim. I’m feeling pretty tense just writing about it! But I wouldn’t leave you there! There is another way. A self-empowered way.
How have you been with the exercise I shared a few posts back?
Stopping - everything - you can notice your present state, what is moving through you, how your body feels, just simply notice - get in touch with what is occurring in this moment. Look around, see the furniture, the pictures, the window, outside the window.
Notice where you are standing, or sitting, how you are supported by the floor, or the chair beneath you. Breathe. Be a witness to it all. In this moment, are you okay?
Simply be here.
You are back in Reality. Notice the difference in your internal state compared with being caught in mind activity - particularly if it was agitated or overwhelming.
You can experience some quiet.
Some stillness. The noise of the thought machine has been turned down.
(Wouldn’t it be lovely to have it turned so low that you could experience the beauty of silence, the brightness of clarity and the joy of peace of mind?)
This is Mindfulness,
It’s recognizing our birth-right to a peaceful, joyful, creative state of mind. That state of openness to each brand new moment, responding to, engaging with and enjoying each moment of Life as it flows.
There is so much that is vivid, alive and beautiful in the reality of this Present Moment - that is obscured, drowned out, even obliterated by habitual thoughts and feelings that seems to over-take us.
There is a Zen story of a guest who came to a Master, to learn the Way of Peace and Tranquility. While pouring a cup of tea for the guest, the Master continued to pour when the cup was already filled, spilling over the brim, spilling onto the floor. The astonished, confused guest questioned what he was doing. To which the Master replied, “When your mind is already full, nothing, no matter how wonderful, no matter how precious, is able to enter it”.
This is what we do when we stop, return to the simplicity of here and now. We can experience an open, spacious state of mind, where we can think and see clearly - without the imagination generating stories from a now fictional past onto a fictional future - stories that we believe!
This is why we sit, to practice, for 5, 10, 20 minutes in that quiet state. We sit quietly so we can “cultivate” it, so it can take hold in our mind - and be there when we need it, and change the quality of our life.
We empty our cup, so we can be open, be awake and be free to make choices.
Pierre Trudeau used to say that he needed to canoe on a silent lake in Mont Tremblant on week-ends, just to “empty his mind”.
It’s a wonderful gift - and a life changing insight.
Meanwhile, I am hoping you are enjoying this Beautiful Season - really seeing the sunlight flickering on the leaves, really tasting the tangy raspberries, the fat blueberries and the juicy strawberries! Being fully in your life!
Our Mother Earth is now tilting toward the Sunny Side!
Time to bring out the colours, the summer jewelry, and to soak up some REAL Vitamin D.
My recipe for the Cornmeal Pancakes with Kumquat Sauce, which I referred to a few posts back, has been requested, and is attached. Since kumquats (small tangy oranges) are no longer in season, I am going to attempt the same sauce with chopped
organic oranges, including some peel, to see how that works!
Enjoy pancakes, enjoy berries, enjoy sunshine, enjoy rain, enjoy everything!
All warmest wishes,
Lynda
https://mcusercontent.com/aeb5924e9c946a045ed2ccd3f/images/acee2a10-4bf7-48b9-8a75-e6fbfda3a2df.jpeg
