Feeling The Love!

 

In the workshop I teach on strengthening our ability to be kind toward ourselves, one of the tools I use may not, at first, seem obvious. It's the act of turning our attention toward what is good and well in our lives. When we direct our attention this way, it rewards us by giving us a chance to savor and be nourished. Who doesn't want to take in more of a good thing! Rather than roll on through to the next moment and miss out, we can receive and let ourselves feel satisfied, happy, and full. This is a choice. When we are aware, we can make these kinds of choices which, ultimately, effect our well-being. 

Today's pause is a practice I shared in last week's A Mindful Life groups and is one that we can do again and again. Remember that it only works if you do it. To read about it is not enough, so give it a full-hearted try. You are worth taking the time for.

You can do this in writing or as a meditation. You can do it at the end of a day or the end of a week. For today's practice, think through the past few days and name all the ways, big and small, that you felt loved (or valued, or appreciated). Keep going with the refrain, "I felt loved when..." With each one, take a breath and feel it again in your whole being or, maybe feel it for the first time if you didn't allow yourself to in the moment it happened (this happens more often then we might realize). Keep the refrain going longer than you think you need to. In waiting, more might come to mind, especially the simple things we tend to overlook. At the end, note how it feels to recognize the love that came our way.

While this practice is self-rewarding, it has the potential to spread goodness because we realize that the acts of love we receive are also ones we can give. We understand that the nice things we do matter to people. They may seem small or insignificant, but they make a difference. Just like we appreciate being the recipients of love, we can make choices to help others feel loved, too. The next step is to ask if there are ways you would like to express love in the coming day(s). It's not that you don't already, but sometimes we can think someone already knows we appreciate them and so we don't say it. Or, we think it wouldn't matter much to the person, but as we see for ourselves, it does. We can be generous in our love. Why hold it back? 

Be kind to yourself. You are the best one for the job. Be on your team.

Wishing you a week of loving abundance.

🌼
Jean

A Simple Way To Practice

 

One of the many aspects of summer that I appreciate is being able to meditate outside. There is a simple way to practice outdoors that I find makes the ability to stay in the present moment easier and allows my mind to concentrate more effortlessly. Give this a try and see how it feels.

The practice is all about present moment awareness. Moment by moment being right where you are with the breath in the background and also serving as the home base that you return to. It helps you to stay aware and practice being present. You can't be "wrong" about it or "bad" at it. It's just simple awareness of being alive right now. And what this does is train us in being present without judgment, evaluation, attachment, or avoidance. We just notice what is arising.

• Start by letting your weight settle into your seat and feel the ground underneath you. Let go of effort in your body that you don't need and find your way to stillness. Close your eyes if you feel comfortable enough.
• Begin to sense your breath coming in and going out and follow along, experiencing one breath at a time. With each set of inhaling/exhaling, you can say "breathing." This is what you will keep coming back to. See if you can maintain this awareness in the background as you notice whatever else arises.
• As your mind/body notices sensations and thoughts, name them, coming back to "breathing" between them: sounds (birds, plane, truck backing up, soccer ball, children playing), sensations (breeze, warm sun, sweat, this chair, heavy arms, rumbling stomach), thoughts (planning, that conversation, that task, fantasy), feelings (worry, self-doubt, restlessness, relaxed, peace).
• Between naming, continually return to your breath saying, "breathing" until you notice something else present. 

It might sound something like this (read slowly with pauses between each): breathing, breathing, birds, car going by, breathing, plane, breathing, breeze, train, breathing, planning, breathing, baseball, that trip, breathing, Mike, breathing, dinner, etc.

Just 5 minutes of this can help us reconnect our body and mind, bring us into the present and ground us. Reach out with any questions/reflections. Enjoy your breath and your practice. 

🌼
Jean

P.S. If you want to practice together this way, join us for an outdoor practice and walk on 8/12 with A Morning Pause. And Last call for my Strengthening Self-Kindness Workshop this Saturday (3 spaces left).