Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Peace & Resilience

Tag Archives: wellness


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A Call to Activism

Live Oak - Activism

In the darkness, fear and anger deepen their grip on me.  Bumping up against ideals, opinions, and stories that I have formed, with urgency I am compelled to avenge imbalances and inequities.  I dash in to sweep up the broken pieces of what I perceive as attacks against me and struggle surrounding me.  I am driven to defend principles that through my ego’s eye define me.

This posture that I take implies superiority and gives way to judgment.  In my rush to right the wrongs, I become the being I so justly argue against.  Resentment bubbles up and my ego says, “they are not worthy…they should be punished…they do not belong…silence them…shun them.”

And then my heart whispers, “wait…they too are suffering.”  Those opinions I defend and just as importantly those I oppose are here to guide, test, and inform me.

To release my struggle, my fear, my anger, and my suffering, others do not need to pay a conjured debt for who they are.

Compassion, patience, and trust become my weapons against the injustices, inequities, and imbalances that swirl around me.

Allowing it all to exist and maintaining harmony, care, and peace…that is the true work of an activist.

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Jagged Edges

Tucked into the crevices,

Buried between the rocks and sand,

Are little moments,

Precious little glimpses of life’s greatest gifts hiding just beneath the surface.

I could easily pass them by if not for the jagged edges that reach up, poking at my being.

This uneven landscape calls for greater awareness.

I draw upon my deepest core for balance so that the pressure and discomfort do not become too great.

Those jagged edges remind me that I have not chosen the easy path, but I am capable of walking this path just the same.

Those jagged edges belong to the moments that will require the greatest courage and persistence, but unquestionably will cause rise to the fullest form of me.


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Strutting and Swirling

My heart feels quickly, as if flowing on subtle currents in the air. Ego moves faster, thrusting against the wind. Emotions lag behind but still they dance closely together, ego and feelings.

Guided by the dance, I strut and swirl around with urgency, bravado, and sprawling feathers. Responding to surface winds, impulsively flying in a defensive posture, these auto-pilot movements are built on the residue of my stories.

Something shifts and suddenly I am still. For a moment, my intuition takes the lead. There is no need for flight , no rush to action. I know all I need to know as I slow these frenetic motions.

I land. I unruffle. In the not-doing, I am even more than I was just moments before. I hang here in the peace and stillness of slow-looking.

When I land, I am my most powerful.


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A little bite will do

cake

A cake baked rich and full calls us to dive in.  Taste buds perk up, enzymes dance with anticipation, the whole body awakens to receive the treat.  In one bite everything else around fades away…thoughts, senses, feelings all tie into this moment.  There is a full sense of aliveness, of nourishment, of awareness and special connection in knowing that this bite can never be duplicated and would never need to be.  This bite fills the space of needing anything else.  At one in this moment with this sustenance, we know it is enough.  That is all we need to feel complete, full, satisfied.

Each moment in life is like that bite of cake, so rich, so filling, and completely satisfying when we are aware, when we allow ourselves to be fully consumed and to fully consume the deliciousness.


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Slow Watching

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Sometimes life begins to feel like it’s swirling around outside of me, faster than me, bigger than me, as if instead of surfing the wave I find myself caught up, tossing in the undercurrent.

That’s when I recoil my limbs, retract my mind, and tuck securely into my shell.  Belly protected, I focus on my breath, on my heartbeat, on listening — listening and watching — as my inner wisdom quietly reminds me that “I’m OK.”

When I go inside, I come back to my center and everything on the outside slows down.  I watch…I breathe…and I know that whatever is going on outside, I can always find calm on the inside.


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The Perfect Cup

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Fill your cup and keep it full, not just of anything, but with what nourishes, strengthens, and completes you.  Nothing bitter, nothing bland, nothing that blocks well-being. Simply delicious, comforting, fulfilling. Sip, smile, refill.