Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience

Category Archives: productivity


by Leave a comment

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.


by Leave a comment

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.


by Leave a comment

Little sips of ease

There is not one giant awakening.

There is no detachment from pain.

There is not one moment of clarity that instantly falls upon the eyes or mind. There is not one instant one experiences freedom.

It happens bit by bit.

Awakening in the darkness,

in the suffering,

in the discomfort,

and in the dis-ease.

We begin to know it, like a dear and cherished friend.

There is a gradual unclogging, unfogging, and unraveling – that is the mystery of change.

That is the beauty of opening oneself to the potentiality of growing into something different.

Bit by bit, moment by moment, like pieces of a puzzle, thoughts and feeling, sensation and experiences, twist and turn and gradually find their way to fit together.

In that coming together, there is a sense of harmony and ease, perhaps even joy, that surfaces on the horizon,

not in overcoming the obstacles,

not in seeing the finished product,

but in feeling the creative process and drinking it all in.


by 1 Comment

perfect holes

Imagine an artist hand-working a tapestry with such precision that it rippled with perfection, had no evidence of flaws in material or craftsmanship, and contained absolutely no mistakes.

Would the artist call it perfect? Would they feel any less insecure in the results of their work? Would they recognize their accomplishment? Could they see their work as flawless? Is there such a thing? Would they want to be? And how would this perfect tapestry be received any differently than any others?

The brave artist announces mistakes not in shame, with excuses, or expecting judgment, but with joy in knowing that imperfections are not signs of our flaws and weaknesses but demonstrations of our beauty – and our capacity for compassion and forgiveness. Imperfections provide opportunities for us to create, again and again, not for the sake of achieving perfection but as play with absolutely no desired outcome other than the act of creating itself.

We need not be embarrassed, fearful, or ashamed in our mistakes. We and others benefit every time we craft with complete vulnerability and humility. Each mistake is important as it leaves space for love to come through.


by Leave a comment

Purpose popping

Today I choose

curiosity,

clarity,

and confidence

to guide me,

releasing control,

as my purpose presents itself most fully

when I play freely

with my challenges,

not anticipating

or crafting

precisely what will pop up,

but knowing

it will be beautiful,

if I just let it be.


by 2 Comments

Bare Roots

The rest of the trees in the woods seem to stand so confident, so steady.

The storms have not hindered their ability to carry on.

And there I lay right next to them…toppled to the ground,

Root exposed.

So vulnerable and feeling like such a failure.

No longer am I the source of shade, fresh air, and refuge for the birds.

How could I be so weak?

How could I let so many down?

As I lay across the forest floor I feel the earth not just at my base but nestling in all along my spine, roots to branches.

I feel the soft mud, leaves of seasons past, and creatures that inhabit the ground delighting in my arrival.

New spaces to be cradled, to play in, and explore.

I am no longer giving nourishment through my leaves and breath but I am feeding the forest now with my whole being.

I am no longer drawing from the source of nourishment at my roots but I am the source itself.

With roots exposed, like bearing the deepest corners of my heart, I have nothing to protect and everything to give.

Fallen and seemingly over my prime, I am just now realizing that my purpose was not to stand tall but to fall into an even more grand state of being.


by 2 Comments

Indelible

Step softly, so that the heart of the earth feels the massage of your gentle touch and yet you leave no visible marks on her outer edges.

Speak confidently with love so that your words are heard clearly without hurting.

Experience wide open spaces without taking up residency or ownership.

Follow the rising sun as the rippling wake of warmth washing over the landscape.

Offer cool crevices like the moon without swallowing up the light.

Be your most wild, magnificent, vibrant self, touching the world lightly and leaving an indelible mark.


by 2 Comments

Rising from the Rubble

I had no idea that as I tore down the wall to rescue my abandoned self that I would nearly smother in the rubble.

Even when loss is experienced in a way that relieves abuse, abandonment and betrayal, the disruption it causes and the pain of breaking through the barriers to healing oneself are great.

And those who helped to build the wall, who reveled in the obstructing and ostracizing of that true self, walk away unphased by the devastation left behind. They go on to build thicker walls around themselves and others.

While their departure ensures the wall they left behind is not reinforced, it hurts that they do nothing to help remove the heavy stones, broken shards, and pieces of what they worked so relentlessly to build.

That burden rests on the shoulders of the self behind the wall. One by one the stones are slid aside. The dust settles. The light starts to shine through the piles and pieces as the opening grows wider and wider.

The power in seeing that self emerge, pale and weak at first – labored breathing, heavy and slow moving, still patiently and methodically forging ahead and finding its way – is so sweet to witness…even in its efforting.

That self digging out from the rubble need not feel animosity, anger, or resentment. No, that self is not needing to be rescued.

That self is triumphing in the freedom of self-acknowledgment, self-care, and self-worth.

Much of the power in healing comes from the self not needing to be rescued. The power is in putting aside the rubble and freeing oneself.


by 2 Comments

Branching Out

Today I want to be a tree,

providing steadiness and sturdiness in the world,

receiving assuredness and ease,

knowing precisely where I stand.

Anchored in the strength of the earth.

Expanding gently, respectfully and gratefully into the air and space of others.

I want to be a source of clearing of thoughts,

feelings,

worries,

suffering,

not absorbing it as my own,

simply removing the impurities and toxins.

I want to breathe in and receive

the light

the water

the nourishment of family and friends

the success of work

the richness of creation.

to feel my beautiful roots and my capacity to grow endlessly upward and outward.

I embrace the simultaneously simple and complex nature of me

Inviting gratitude and joy as my guides

Growing ever stronger and steadier in who I am

and how I show up in the world.


by Leave a comment

Shape Shifting

For just a moment,

I breathe.

Stories begin to evaporate.

Expectations

Fear

Doubt

Dissipate

Ceasing to exist without the stories.

Spreading my fingers, I release the hold,

Unbridle the mind

Widen the heart

Let it all go.

Clearing spaces

I grow lighter

Longer

Looser

Expanding

Into lightness

I deepen my capacity

I feel into my power.

My power is

Joyful

Assured

Easy

Bright

Clear

Not taking on a particular form, shifting fluidly between states and forms as they serve me.

Diving into limitless potentiality

Alive with creativity

I can be

or do

anything

Or nothing.

Feeling into my greatness

There lies freedom to choose.

Growing

Into my capacity.

I am powerful

Whatever shape I choose.