Replenish, Refresh, Renew

 

Summer officially started last week. In my town, for those kids who showed up, today was "technically" the last day of school. Thank goodness! I always loved the end of a school year and the sense of freedom that came with it. Though, as an adult, it's not quite the same because adult responsibilities still go on, I enjoy how the town gets quiet, the long days of light bring a feeling of greater spaciousness and slower time, and the invitation to play, whether I take it or not, sits on my table ready to be opened. 

The academic calendar is forever engrained in me and so these months are the time when I welcome a shift in my schedule, in my drive, in my sense of duty. We all need a season to be replenished, refreshed, and renewed.

Whether summer is your favorite or least favorite season, my invitation this week is to ask yourself what needs to be replenished, refreshed, renewed during these months? Like a gentle mist of cool water on your face on a hot day. Ask the question, close your eyes, and wait to hear what comes? See if what arises at first captures it. If it does, what does it feel like to acknowledge it? If it doesn't, listen some more, and see what feels true. Then ask, "what would bring me the feeling of being replenished, refreshed, and renewed?" Here are some questions and examples to help inspire the answer...

• Is there a certain activity that brings the feeling? (Swimming in a fresh water pond, reading novels, sitting outside at night watching fireflies).
• Is it giving yourself permission to change a routine? If so, what is it? (Sleeping in, staying up late, loosening up on family "rules" that, though helpful during the school year, cause more friction than they are worth in the summer).
• Is it letting go of something you do? (Not listening to/reading the news, not working in those afterwork hours, not mowing the lawn and hiring someone instead, not doing everyone's laundry because they are around and can help, not planning every meal, but dividing up the task). 
• Does it involve play, rest, creativity, movement? (Going to concerts, taking tennis lessons, signing up for a jewelry and metalsmithing class, and I can't leave out... meditating with a group).

I welcome you to write to me and share what you found. There is something about saying it to someone that makes the follow through more likely.  Remember that when you replenish yourself, you benefit everyone. Being burnt out, depleted, run down, or stuck in a rut doesn't help us to connect, create, share, inspire, or add joy to life. We don't have to change everything, just some simple shifts can bring renewal. Most importantly, when you are doing them, really take in what it feels like. Let yourself be replenished.

🌼
Jean

Body Appreciation Meditation

 

This week's pause comes in the form of a meditation. Being here in this vulnerable form of a human body, we are subject to constant physical change. From before we even come into the world we are growing and changing and it never stops. Even after we take our last breath, our physical form changes. I wish I could say this was an easy process to flow with, but for most it involves some struggle. Our body changes shape, loses muscle, gains muscle, grows things in places we don't want, sheds things we want to keep, gets sick. Sometimes there is physical pain and sometimes it causes emotional pain. Unfortunately, when we are suffering around our body, we tend to feel separate from our body, as if it is failing us, or feel as if our body should be different than it is. But, this amazing body is what allows us to experience this life. It was made for us and, when we criticize it, we cause more suffering. 

Feeling my own ups and downs as my body naturally changes with age, I realized that a specific meditation geared for anyone wanting to shift away from berating one's physical self to strengthening the ability to honor, care for, and appreciate this body, would be worth making and sharing. When we shift our perception to one that is loving and grateful toward ourselves, life feels very different. I hope this meditation is helpful. Whenever you find yourself in a struggle with your body -- fighting with how you look, how you move, how you are aging, and whenever you are facing ill health and need healing, I hope this practice is useful in switching the song in your mind from one that is critical or fearful to one that is caring, tender, and loving. We all need to be reminded.

To listen to the meditation click here.

🌼
Jean

P.S. If this speaks to you and you haven't taken the Strengthening Self-Kindness workshop with me, please sign up for the one on July 15th! 6 spaces left.

The Body Brings Us Here

 

I hope you are enjoying a long, holiday weekend. Today's email comes early in the day so that you can take this Mindful Pause into the day with you. It's a simple practice to help you to be present in your beautiful body, allowing yourself to be filled in simple ways.

As many of you hear me say often in my guided meditations -- "we are here in this body and, in this form, we get to experience all kinds of sensations. When we are sensing ourselves, we are here in the present moment." It is very hard to fully sense what is happening now and be somewhere else in our mind. Try feeling the touch of your shirt on your torso and arms, the way the fabric feels, its weight or lightness, anything about it, and at the same time, think about what you are going to make for dinner. It's not so easy! Impossible, maybe?

Today's practice is to help us set the intention to savor our experiences in the day before us. Take a pause to ask yourself, "what, today, do I want to savor with each of my senses?" Take one at a time and see what sight, sound, taste, smell, touch you can name, now, that you would like to fully enjoy in the moment of experiencing it?  You might close your eyes and ask the question for each sense. Bring yourself there and allow yourself to appreciate what you get to experience in life. Yes, this exercise has us lean into a future moment, but with the intention of helping us not miss out when it happens. An added bonus is that in the process of thinking it through, we can already enjoy it. We can set ourselves up so that we don't just roll on through to the next thing, but are filled by our daily experiences. It is an act of self-kindness.

Here's an example. Today, I want to savor the smell of cinnamon before I put it on my oatmeal and the smell of the blue tansy face oil when I put it on my skin before bed. I want to take in the sight of the peonies my friend cut from her garden in all their lushness. I want to listen fully to the sounds of the country as we take a walk on the trail. With the arrival of a much anticipated new couch, I want to savor the feeling of my body relaxing into it.

🌼
Jean