Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience


Leave a comment

Resonate

In her enormity,

unruliness,

and most unyielding state,

she is soft,

subtle,

clear in her direction,

ever capable of moving,

shifting,

adapting,

aligned,

attuned,

resonate,

in her power

and beauty.

We drink of her,

ride upon her crests,

sink cradled in her stillness,

follow her home,

allow her to absorb our burdens,

as we find peace by her side.

She reflects back to us always

what we need most to see.


Leave a comment

The Illusive Quest for Meaning

This existence

is not to be hijacked

by a search for meaning.

It is an opportunity for knowing.

There need not be searching

or seeking,

striving or controlling.

Engage the senses.

Unlock the mind.

Move the body.

Come into the knowing.

Of gentleness as strength.

Of vulnerability as power.

Of tenderness as intelligence.

Tap into the council of thoughts and feelings.

Enlist curiosity

as a teacher,

and grace as the doorkeeper.

Flanked by patience and excitement as treasured friends,

need nothing,

lack nothing,

owe nothing,

prove nothing.

Let truth be clouded by nothing.

Nothing needs control.

In a state of knowing,

nothing matters.


Leave a comment

Boldly Going Nowhere

Frenetically charging ahead.

Pushing to make something happen.

Squandering the gift time has given of ponderance.

Moving and changing is exhilarating.

The powerful rush of adrenaline

on the grand loops and dips of the roller coaster.

Is that sustainable?

Movement for the sake of movement can release and even bring progress.

Advancing into action

can relieve pain and fear.

It can also bring injury and dis-ease.

There is great potential for harm with repetitive movement absent proper supports and conditioning.

Every decision is filled with regret or acceptance.

Every decision is likely being made in response to fear.

It may be the greatest fear we have is remaining where we are.

Every decision can be empowering.

It may not require striving,

movement

or big changes

to demonstrate prowess,

intellect,

and power.

It may be adventurous.

It may untangle the bonds of current conditions.

Or, it may be escapism,

grandiosity,

avoidance.

It may be a means of hiding

or running away

from the lessons available right where we are.

Just being,

in the stillness,

in the simplicity,

in the temporarily perceived lack

and stagnation

could be just what is needed

to truly free the heart,

open the mind,

and honestly and gratefully embrace one’s spirit.

To boldly go where no one has gone before

may be an invitation

to stay right where we are.


Leave a comment

Apart or whole

Gnarled or free flowing.

Grasping or outstretched.

From its center point,

form expands in two directions,

mirrored in the spread of itself confidently into the earth

and it’s expansion courageously into the air.

Nourishment flowing.

Survival impossible without the reflections

of grounding,

of stretching,

of growth,

of change.

One feeding the other,

feeding the other.

Separate in apparent function.

Symbiotic existence as one.


Leave a comment

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.


Leave a comment

Allow Me

Root my grounding cord deep into the earth.

Open my mind to the wisdom of the universe.

Flow endless love and joy through the river of my heart.

Fuel me with confidence and clarity.

Allow me to be a humble reservoir of harmony and balance,

in the space between earth and sky,

in this space of being human.


Leave a comment

Flowering

It’s exhausting,

this blooming all the time.

Extracting every nutrient from my veins,

drawing and expending all the energy from my roots.

In my weakest and most depleted state,

this is when I am celebrated and noticed most,

colorful, exotic, intricate, beautiful.

Please stop seeking and suggesting my flowering as a sign of my flourishing.

Please applaud me as I hibernate, drop my leaves, and recoil into my quiet greening.

Please see my faded and dying petals as a sign of my capacity to grow.

Allow me to impress you not by blossoming,

but by being.


Leave a comment

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.


Leave a comment

Hidden Treasures

Open the box.

Release the wounded,

dejected, and painful parts.

Be not afraid

that they will multiply

or grow bigger

if you let them out,

for as soon as

you hold them

on a platform

to be seen,

they become

fragile,

small,

sweet,

needing nothing

more than the space to dissolve,

into the open air,

into the rolling sea

of being,

where they become

nourishment

for our greatest

dreams,

successes,

and gifts.


Leave a comment

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.