Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Peace & Resilience


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Does size matter?

When the energy in a situation gets big do you get bigger?

When the energy gets big, do you get littler?

Neither is right or wrong, they just produce different effects.

Where I match the energy carefully and skillfully in its bigness, riding the inhale to its peak, I can take that energy by the hand and usher it to a more stable space.

When I remain small in the big energy I model a means to come back to center, a way to arrive home on the wave of the exhale.

So I can choose whether to breathe in and ride up or breathe out and come back. Where I get into trouble is if I only head one way and forget that there is an inhale and an exhale in every encounter and that big and little are compliments as much as contrasts.


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For a Smoother Takeoff

“Prepare your doors for departure and cross check, please” said the pilot before departing the gate.

How often in our daily lives do we launch without proper preparation?

The brief pause to transition from one moment to the other – to conduct a cross check and prepare for what comes next – provides clarity, confidence, and confirmation that I am ready to move forward.

This cross check also eliminates potential danger and reduces the likelihood of unfortunate outcomes.

On the rhythm of every breath lies the opportunity to prepare for departure, to make wiser choices, and be ready for what lies ahead.

And, with that next exhale, looking keenly and calmly ahead, I softly whisper, “Cross check complete.”


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Sail Away Home

Settling into my breath, I find the spot where the inhale meets the exhale – the moment of attachment of my body to the breath, the point of connection to my inner knowing.

At that point, I find stillness. Projecting from that stillness is a clear and receptive space of awareness.

From that awareness, I follow the path of least effort to discover my intention – the sensation, word or object that reflects my true state of being. In that intention I find reassurance, guidance, and confirmation in my decision making.

I sit for a moment longer in the stillness, awareness and intention until I can let go of all discomfort. Full of ease and comfort, my sails fill confidently with my inner knowing, fulfilling my purpose and potential.

Finding stillness, awareness, intention, and letting go, I sail away home.


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Tasty

Deer focus on abundance. They notice gardens full of nourishment. They find forests of ample places to secure refuge. Deer take only what they need to thrive.

Today, I realized I might not always have that same perspective. As I trim the stems of the hosta that the deer so greatly love to eat, I see waste, carnage, and destruction.

But upon closer look, I notice the removal of foliage at the edges allows room for the little leaves to stretch, the ground to be watered, and sun to reach the stalks of the plants.

The nibbling by the deer makes room for new growth and beauty in a different way. Much like the traumas and obstacles in my lifetime, at first glance they may appear devouring but seeing them just as the act that came before the next one, the action leading to anew, gives me room to flourish.

Yes, I will be more positive minded like the deer, and for-give (give room for all actions that came before now) knowing it all leads me to greater nourishment. Taking only what I need to thrive and leaving all the rest. And, that tastes very good.


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Free falling

Whether a soft trickle or a torrent force, allow your life to freely move through and around you.

Maintain the firm and steady sense of earth below you and feel your life caress your edges gliding smoothly along your seams and boundaries. Let that be the reminder of who you are.

This is what it means to be in the flow.