Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience


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Tap Root of Well Being

In between the mountains and valleys of thoughts,

Flows an inner resource deep within.

Its current runs through the deepest and darkest crevices of experience and rushes along the jagged and unpredictable surfaces of emotions.

It’s temperature, force, and direction make subtle shifts,

Navigating the terrain as it comes before it,

the inner resource remaining the constant in the ever-changing landscape.

It may from time to time be difficult to discern its presence, but with practice its presence becomes the familiar.

It’s consistent support and connection are unshakable.

All well being stems from and is fed by the inner resource.

The inner resource is the well of well being,

The inner resource is the taproot of our existence.

Can you feel it?


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Be Happy

Hold happy,

Tenderly like a baby bird,

Freely like a paintbrush,

Opening like the ocean.

Let in roll and splash.

Let it rock and sway.

Let it ripple and toss

With laughter and lightness.

But most of all

Let it be fully expressed

Without letting it go.

Let happy be

A natural extension

Of all that you do

Until all you are is happy.


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Acceptance

Witnessing

the immediate state of

the breath,

the thoughts,

the body.

Melting

conditionality,

quality,

quantity,

purpose,

direction.

Recognizing

perceptions of

loss

challenge,

failure,

imperfection,

and resistance

as a readiness

to be

seen,

felt,

and expressed

otherwise.

The next moment,

a transition,

a transformation.

Loving

and cherishing

what shows up

rather than what comes next.


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Eyes open, heart full

There is such magic in this world.

In the way my body carries me.

The movement of the wind as it caresses my cheek.

The coolness of the tears that release my tension and heaviness and fall as readily with joy as sorrow.

In the songs of the birds and insects busy with their work.

The smile of a loved one.

The deep knowing in the eyes of a child.

The way the earth holds onto me.

The playful dance of the ocean under the moon.

The squish of sand…mud…and grass between my toes.

The twinkle of the sun peeking through the forest leaves.

The wiggle and prance of unconditional love in a dog’s greeting.

The soul connection of a cat’s purr.

The goodness in the food I eat.

The nourishment and brain power in a sip of water.

The laughter of my children.

The echoes of love that I feel as unborn babies prepare to create more magic in this world.

The gifts are endless, seamless, and there for me even when I forget, become distracted, or look away.

The magic remains and returns again and again.

All I have to do is be still and it appears so clearly before and within me.

It’s really not magic at all.

What a beautiful thing to let love guide me and choose to see the good in the world today.


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Am I?

Am I’m the only one dancing?

The only one smiling for no particular reason at all?

Am I the only one pausing to catch the sparkle of light dodging in and out of the branches of the trees?

Is it my ears alone that hear the ripples and gurgling of the creek

And the silence of the snow?

Does only my heart jump and my belly jiggle with laughter as the squirrel tries to carry the nut too big for its mouth

And the duck rolls over in the pond with its rather ungraceful landing?

Am I the only in awe of the fullness of the warmth of the sun as it caresses my face?

Am I the only one that delights as raindrops dance across my head and body?

Am I the only one who feels the love of all creation wrap around me and hold me tight every time I pause to be still and rest?

Am I the only one brought to tears of joy in the beauty of it all?


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Clarity fleeting

So, I sit here day after day wallowing in my mistakes, misfortunes, pain, and suffering.

I hold onto them in my body like appendages…the tension in my muscles, the crookedness of my bones, the heaviness of my head…and heart.

I carry them as reminders of my faults and flaws.

And yet, when I sit in stillness, when I fill and empty with awareness on my breath, I find only peace…ease…joy.

Remembering…

…the gentle touch of others, through their hands, hearts, and smiles.

…the power of my cognition to work the puzzle pieces of every day life.

… the essence of my kindness and great capacity for love.

…the gifts of receivership and gratitude that present so abundantly and frequently.

I’ve been conditioned to hold onto and dwell on the lack and sorrows as if they belong permanently.

Love, joy, and freedom are somehow deemed as temporary.

Today I give myself permission to release it all – to breathe in and out with equanimity in every moment, to imbibe and cleanse, receive and release, storing none as defining me and simply allowing it all to live through me without reliving or retaining any of it as me.

Clearing the channels of experience so that all flows, informs, and re-minds me that I am everything and defined by nothing.


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Divine Wisdom

I’m not waiting.

I’m allowing.

I’m unlimited creative genius,

Divine!

I am not waiting to be rescued or for my destiny to find me.

I am getting out of the way!

Waiting means I’ve got it all planned out and everything is going to be step by step as I envision.

I know that I don’t make it happen.

I allow it to happen.

So many other forces are at work. Why would I think it’s just me marking my path.

It’s me counting on you and everyone and everything around us.

In that way I cannot control the direction I go in.

All I can do is know that I am headed that way.

I know what it feels like to have the future I am destined for.

The how is irrelevant.


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Living in the space of AND

White flowers

Dark textures

Straight lines

Soft edges

Living wholeness

Dried pieces

Flowing lines

Still emptiness

Warm touches

Cool feeling

Hope and breath

In the spaces

Photo courtesy of Susan Kerr.


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Scattered

I wonder if our paths as humans are designed not to run in a straight line but to zigzag like the paths of butterflies in flight.

Zigzagging might not be an obstacle, but may just give greater freedom to go wherever we are inspired to go and break free from the predictable.

Perhaps the path is intentionally zigzag so that when we’re not sure where we are going, we end up exactly where we are supposed to be.


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Cultivating the smile within

In each moment

there exists a small space

of contentment.

It is our work

to come back to this space,

again,

and

again,

and

again

and

again

until with every moment

our first feeling

is one of contentment.