Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience

Category Archives: growth


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Song of Triumph

Embrace this new beginning.

You are protected and guided by love.

There is no need to pretend to be something you are not.

Lay down the sword you hold against your own heart.

Be who you are.

Allow your memories to sing like sweet songs of triumph and strength,

Of your courage and vitality everlasting.

Have faith that what is yet to come will nourish and comfort your soul.

Move forward with humbled confidence,

A vigilant warrior armed with a quiver of compassion and sensitivity.

Find power, stability, and strength in the quiet and stillness of the winter,

Knowing that you are never truly alone,

And will forever and always be loved.


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I Believe

When I let go of trying to make things happen,

when I stop holding onto the belief that I need to make all the decisions and have all the answers,

I no longer feel an urgency to advance,

to be someone or something in particular.

When I let the work do itself,

methodically and gently applying curiosity and trust,

asking what’s next

without immediately seeking an answer,

allowing options to arise,

instead of predetermining the way,

believing in myself versus holding onto worn out beliefs,

success flows more quickly, smoothly, and freely.

When I take the pressure off myself and those around me to fit into my limiting perspective and beliefs,

I step more fully into my true potential…and they into theirs.

When I stop making myself small through my thoughts and feelings,

when I stop looking to you for answers,

it is clear that I don’t need the answers at all,

merely to hold onto the knowledge that I am doing the work

just by being here.


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Battle fatigue

The field is bloodied.

Swords scattered and strewn.

In the distance, flowers bloom and a river runs cool and deep.

Who are the victors and what have they gained?

What have the defeated truly lost?

Conflict is inevitable but the results are a choice.

To be a victor without gloating.

To be defeated without wallowing.

To receive and face all that comes without fear.

Each day I have the potential to find strength,

balance,

and humility,

regardless of which end of the sword I face.


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Unchanged

At the heart of all is love.

At the heart of me is love.

It’s ok to be skeptical.

No need to be clear or believe it,

And it’s still true.

Everything is working for me.

I need not soften into the knowing.

I can breathe and stand in this,

or I can struggle and resist,

and it will still happen – I am being.

I occupy this space, knowing that no one occupies this space like me.

Big or small,

tall or coiled,

heavy or light,

bold or shy,

free or bound.

The heart of me remains unchanged.

The heart of you remains unchanged.

The heart of all remains of love.


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Regal Seagull

I fly out over the waves I call my home in search of nourishment.

In my seeking, I drift farther and farther from my nest.

Eventually, I am too tired to go on.

As I land, I find completely unfamiliar surroundings.

So unnerving, the experience of stepping out of the familiar, even when it’s for my own survival.

Do I retrace my steps and return to what was and where I came from, scavenging and settling for the scraps?

Do I settle into this new space and look ahead, embracing the unfamiliar and uncertain?

I can turn back or I can stand on these new shores.

I can forage and discover.

I pause and tuck under my wings where I find a consistent space of solace and reassurance,

to rest, to calm, and regain focus,

Here, I remember that to truly nourish myself,

I just may need to take flight and perch on new frontiers.


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Interpretations

The wind determines what I hear.

My eyes inform what I see.

The body interprets what I sense.

Thoughts form from what I hear, see, and feel as an experience.

Beliefs cling to these thoughts and this experience as truth,

setting emotions into action and reaction.

In reality, if there is such a thing, it is all just a choice, interpretation best when it comes not from my beliefs but in what I choose to believe.


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Hmmmmm…

This moment offers goodness,

a natural and positive power to know ease.

Selecting and sorting in order to fully digest and release the lessons of yesterday,

Turning tomorrow’s worries and challenges into nourishment,

Releasing the need for familiar patterns of action and behavior,

Staying curious, playful, and willing to feel good, happy, and harmonious,

no longer resisting,

no longer malnourished and waiting to be fed,

greeting each obstacle, each decision, each encounter as a tasty morsel fueling growth and expansion.

Engaging a soft “huhn” or “hmmm” as all is processed without categorization or interpretation,

all a source of nourishment.

An unconscious smile cannot help but form as the gas moves through the abdomen, bringing curious sensations,

prodding the goodness to surface.

With the sometimes temporary pain and discomfort of digestion

comes clearing, sorting, dissipation, and integration,

as the work of being is done by the experiences themselves,

turning each encounter into a delicious and complete meal.


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Seeds of Desire

Across the barren soil of imagination are strewn seeds of desire.

They float through the air like translucent orbs, barely noticeable.

Gradually, they land, softly burrowing into the jagged and uneven ground before them.

They are compelled to nestle in,

trusting that as they are swallowed up by the soil somehow this is what they need to grow.

And so they make themselves small, quiet and still,

compelled to sprout in time,

willing to grow slowly with care.

They will face the drought of unworthiness,

resistance as they break through and change the barren land,

impatience as they require much tending before they produce any flowers or fruit,

and fear that they may not survive at all.

The patient gardener knows this.

With an eye on the potential magnificence, beauty, and need for these seeds to flourish,

nurturing instead of forcing.

Waiting joyfully,

the gardener balances hope with knowing,

confident that with proper care, attention, consistency, and flexibility,

in due time these seeds will fully grow into their potential

and from them will come more translucent orbs ready to contribute to the wildest, most beautiful, richest landscape imaginable.


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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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Dear tears…

Dear Tears,

The pain is so intense, at times, taking the breath away.

Your arrival is a sign of hope,

and a forceful reminder to surrender.

You cleanse and clear the way for a new perspective.

Diving in so deeply and fully, consuming the moment,

you somehow soften the pain and bring breath back into the body.

This dance of flowing, heaving, melting, twisting and turning kneads the suffering into softness.

Every droplet contains an ocean of loving tenderness.

So beautifully pulling back the curtain,

allowing the light in,

transcending time,

washing out all bridges of reality,

exposing the space between,

bringing us home for healing.