Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience


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Gently Tuning

Replacing effort and trying 

with releasing and allowing.

Engaging discipline.

Acknowledging capacity.

Values aligned.

Curiously listening.

Intuitively informed.

Soft not weak.

Strong not righteous.

Clear and present.


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Obstacles

I’m not always going to get my way,

but I’m always going to get what’s right for me.

When I let go of forcing outcomes,

stop relying on others for my happiness,

and see obstacles not as a sign of my worth but of my courage and strength,

even what seems like a paralyzing blockage

can be an invitation to take a different path,

go a different way,

or sit right where I am for a moment 

and reflect 

on the beauty, 

awe, 

and opportunity 

that exists right here,

right now,

just the way things are.

Much gratitude to Shari Irby for contributing this photo.


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Whole

What if overflowing is just full enough?

Can empty overflow?

What if stillness is found in movement?

Belonging resides within one’s own heart?

Could need be an illusion, and

Beauty be best seen with the eyes closed?

What if love is a natural state of being and everything else a mistruth?

Receiving,

feeling,

all 

in

love, 

creates not overwhelm, 

but allows joy.

What if what we need seek nothing to experience the state of being whole?


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Beautiful

I am not broken.

Although, perhaps to some I may appear that way.

When I sit in stillness, in the quiet of my own heart, it is clear that I may be chipped.

I may be cracked.

Parts of me may be loose or wobbly,

but there is such a profound beauty

in all of the scars and markings of this worn and tired being, 

that I can only imagine 

if I were completely broken 

I would be even more beautiful.


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On Being Seen

Finding the balance between expressing and encroaching,

between stepping back and leaning in.

There are moments to blend

and times to expand.

Expressing one’s colors

requires softness and boldness,

the ability to complement and hold up another and still stand fully on your own.

Today, will it be accent or statement?

There are places to be both.


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Courage

Let it all flow…

Hot and messy

like a volcano.

Root down and rise up,

Stop your feet,

Get low to the ground.

Burst with great force,

triumphantly,

unapologetically,

into the sky

Release the big

and scary

and frustrating.

Shake like a wet dog when you feel stuck or over burdened.

Curl inward and rest until you remember your power.

You are magnificent.

You

are

magnificent.


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Peace of the Heart

In the space of silence and stillness,

there is an enormous void,

fabulous,

wide open,

freeing.

Or hollow,

isolating,

lonely?

It is one space.

In encountering this space,

there is a choice made instantly.

Inquiry,

assessment,

judgment

all rush in to

analyze,

identify,

interpret.

The recoiling in the stark emptiness is natural –

that moment when the stillness startles and unnerves as it presses against the constricting familiar.

And, each and every time,

that space can be met with

curiosity or fear,

acceptance or resistance.

It is the potentiality that resides in the peace of the heart.

It is a choice to receive it

as a gift

or a challenge

when feeling so fully

and completely

into ourselves.


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Listen to the feeling

The abundance of the universe surrounds me,

an endless supply of successes and challenges.

I always have the choice which way I turn.

Signs and signals.

Distractions and dilutions.

Stop looking to the outside for answers.

Trust the intuitive process of discernment and distinguishing.

There are no bad choices,

merely different ways to play in the field.

I can stay here or I can move towards something else.

Forcing narrows the focus,

and breeds striving,

limiting potential,

and resulting in tension and confusion.

Grace and patience fuel clarity

as trust flows into and from decisions to open opportunities,

not always challenge-free but solution-oriented.

Seeking the solutions

that inspire hope,

kindle kindness,

and support the expression of deepest passion

and purpose.

This is dharma.

This is the path of choice.


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Full court press

Curled up in a tiny ball,

breath pressing against muscles and bones heavy with the weight of not knowing.

The voice trying to find its footing,

wanting so desperately to be guided to its answers by the outside,

knowing it must dig deep and mine its own direction authentically from within.

In between each sigh,

a tear drops to the floor,

the only sign of motion

in this otherwise still

and down thrown body.

The simultaneous fullness

and emptiness

pulling at its core.

To be all

and

nothing.

Not afraid

to be afraid.


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Dear charioteer

Be firm in your direction of travel,

humbled confidence as your guide.

With peace, kindness, and assuredness,

go forth.

Fulfill your dreams.

Don your most regal robes of passion and creativity.

Harness the flames of focus and determination.

Let the earth quake and rumble,

the skies fill with darkness,

and ride not into conflict and challenge as a battle,

but as an opportunity to demonstrate your

strength,

intelligence,

and fortitude.