hope | Monday Mindfulness

September 23, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

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.

September 9, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

Havier’s Heart

I know not how

to befriend you.

There are no words or actions that I have learned

to guide me in this seemingly simple endeavor.

Yet I sense

it is crucial to my survival.

I long to connect

and belong.

It is not for a lack of love

or desire

that I appear

so unwilling or unable

to conduct myself as

a friend.

I simply do not know how.

I do know my capacity to love and the kind space that exists

within me

so ready to receive and serve you.

All I can do right now is

breathe in,

expanding and opening myself

just a little more,

building trust in my inner knowing

that I am part of the unseen bond that exists between us all,

and that your care and patience will help me find my way.

With each exhale, I extend myself

slowly and courageously

Into the edges and folds of you

in hopes that my melding

feels as gentle

and loving

as I intend it to be.

September 2, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

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.

August 26, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

The Compass

Always pointing true north,

inner guidance says

trust your instincts.

Remember how your intuition has served you.

What makes you feel alive? Where can you trust inner guidance more?

What feels right?

The internal compass can carve a path to prosperity.

Prosperity shows not just in material wealth, but in spiritual growth, the love you share, the peace you cultivate, the joy you spread.

Forgive yourself along the path and there will be no need to forgive others as they will fall into grace.

Listen to the whispers of your soul and watch as things fall into place more gracefully than ever envisioned.

August 19, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

Waxing

As the moon waxes,

so does my confidence.

I boldly embrace the lessons of the past,

peeling away the darkness,

revealing with wisdom, grace, and humility,

the path of mistakes,

missteps, and injury,

owning them all as

valuable elements,

as every lesson

forms the substance of

what fills in

as the shadows step back

and the moon softly shines.

August 12, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

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.

August 5, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

Perfectly Molting

A bird flies overhead,

magnificent in its form and grace,

perfection in flight.

So present in its existence, movement, and being.

So seemingly joyful and at ease, even as it efforts to ride the currents of air, finding its own way.

A feather lies on the ground,

long, lush, and of complex substance and form,

once essential to the bird’s form and function.

Even the bird,

relying so heavily on its feathers for form, movement, and survival,

molts and looses critical parts of itself to maintain its dynamic essence and functional existence,

growing into its fullest capacity.

It does not wallow in the loss of its parts.

It revels in the new found strength and skill that comes from letting go

and reforming with integrity

and wholeness

over and over again.

July 29, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

Swimming

I came into this world knowing only me.

Somewhere along the way,

As I grew to know there were others,

I let them define who I came to be.

I thought I should follow.

And as a child, like a duckling, I did.

For that was my only sure source of food, shelter, survival.

But along the way, I noticed

I could forage, swim, and tuck my beak into my own wings

in a way unique to me.

It didn’t mean the others were wrong…

I just didn’t seem to be an exact fit to how they did these things.

I wrestled with knowing that I could make it on my own.

I convinced myself that I still needed to follow and be how and what they dictated.

And then one day, I gave it a small try.

I wandered a little farther away.

I showed up last to the waters edge.

I sat a bit longer in the sun than the rest.

There I found ease and a new sense of knowing.

The aloneness still haunts me from time to time as I am now no longer part of that brood.

And yes swimming on my own takes a new kind of effort.

But I’ve noticed

The others haven’t gone away.

Just their influence over my choices has.

Now we search for food near each other but don’t have to fight for the same piece.

We gather closer together when we need warmth and give space as needed.

We swim in the same waters but no longer in each other’s wake.

It’s a new way of existing,

This coming back to knowing me,

And it seems to be just the way it is supposed to be.

June 3, 2024
by Monday Mindfulness Leave a comment

Ripples of recovery

Pain provides an opportunity to turn towards lessons and lessening or to adopt as a wounded state as a part of identity.

For sure, the wave of wound on the heels of pain can feel logical and essential. It may perhaps be needed in order to make a choice. The wound from pain can be like a riptide that is easy to get caught in…that can provide great struggle and even the potential to drown.

However, to ride that current, perhaps even begin to understand it’s make up and direction and feel more fully into it just briefly, produces the wisdom to release the struggle and be propelled to its edges by its own force.

Without resistance, the riptide has nothing to hold onto and pushes away what it cannot drag down.

In due time, the churning and swirling when met with curiosity, tenderness, and patience has the capacity to deliver an object once more to calm and safe waters.

It is in returning to this calm space where wisdom is found…the pain lessened and the wound converted to a lesson.

While woundnedness perpetuates a perceived lack of safety imposed externally, wisdom reinforces the notion that safety is created in the choice to experience but not drown in the wound.

While ideally the sea of life hopes to offer smooth, calm, clear waters, it also aspires to shape future landscapes and to never remain the same, retaining unintentially in its purpose the potential for pain.

And in this way, there lie endless opportunities to ride or resist, to learn or succumb.