|
Are you wanting to learn something new? Maybe you’re taking up a new language, trying your hand at painting, or just wanting to grow as a person. We can only go so far by thinking about it, reading about it, or wishing for it. Perhaps it is time to make it your priority. The teacher is not out there. It is you. In mindful presence, Lori Being the Thunder
I keep looking for one more teacher, only to find that fish learn from water and birds learn from sky. If you want to learn about the sea, it helps to be at sea. If you want to learn about compassion, it helps to be in love. If you want to learn about healing, it helps to know of suffering. The strong live in the storm without worshipping the storm. —Mark Nepo
0 Comments
Your mind is not the boss of you. And it doesn’t always tell the truth. Its job is to catalog information, form opinions, and make plans. It can be a workaholic. Sometimes you just need to hit the pause button. Free yourself from the endless cycle of thinking by taking a walk, observing nature, or just taking one full deep breath. In mindful presence, Lori To know that we are not our thoughts is the first step toward freedom. —Stephen Cope
At any given moment, we are usually on auto-pilot, assessing each experience based on our huge cache of opinions, preferences, and past experiences filed away as knowledge. We may also be projecting into future moments with those two basic motivators—desire (hopes) and aversion (fears). Being attentive first requires awakening to the present moment, simply remembering to be here now. Then we might soften, open, and skillfully work with the myriad experiences in this moment, observing and choosing if and how to respond. In mindful presence, Lori The moment is now. The present moment is not just a progression of past moments, but is alive in its own way, complete and perfect. And it is this new moment that demands our attention. Only in the moment can we be fully awake and respond to the real needs of ourselves and others. Only in the present moment can we be fully attentive.
—Llewellen Vaughn Lee We sometimes feel love with intensity and passion. We also feel fear with intensity and passion. Both can spark a strong reaction, into the depths or into the light. In embracing both the darkness and the light, in our world and in ourselves, we tap into a limitless wellspring of possibilities for growth. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life. —John Lennon
How quick and easy it seems we become angry, sad, frightened, worried, anxious, frustrated, annoyed, and so on. Do you also find it as easy to feel happy, grateful, contented, and peaceful? Because the mind is wired to search for danger to help us survive and to seek out what needs fixing, we sometimes have to work a little harder to see and feel the joy. Perhaps we might balance our suffering by finding those moments that allow us to linger in happiness. In mindful presence, Lori Lingering in Happiness
After rain after many days without rain, it stays cool, private and cleansed, under the trees, and the dampness there, married now to gravity, falls branch to branch, leaf to leaf, down to the ground where it will disappear—but not, of course, vanish except to our eyes. The roots of the oaks will have their share, and the white threads of the grasses, and the cushion of moss; a few drops, round as pearls, will enter the mole's tunnel; and soon so many small stones, buried for a thousand years, will feel themselves being touched. —Mary Oliver Faith is “confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept.” Faith can mean holding the belief that, even in the darkest times, light still exists and light will return. It can be helpful to remember that every night eventually turns to morning, every winter turns to spring. There is a yang for every yin. We have faith in these perpetual rhythms of life. And perhaps most importantly, we have faith in ourselves to gather strength in the darkness and be ready for the light. In mindful presence, Lori You darkness from which I come,
I love you more than all the fires that fence out the world, for the fire makes a circle for everyone so that no one sees you anymore. But darkness holds it all: the shape and the flame, the animal and myself, how it holds them, all powers, all sight-- and it is possible: its great strength is breaking into my body. I have faith in the night. —Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by David Whyte Did you ever have the courage to say “yes” to something that pushed you beyond your comfort zone? Those moments can be frightening and exhilarating, all at once. But there is a great freedom that comes from making the choice to open up…to let the unknown unfold. In mindful presence, Lori How did the rose
Ever open its heart And give to this world All its beauty? It felt the encouragement of light Against its being, Otherwise, We all remain Too frightened. —Hafiz Strength comes from being fully and completely who you are, standing where you are, in your body and on your feet. Nothing to prove. Nothing to pretend to be. Standing, warts and all, as your authentic self. It seems to be a lifelong evolution, though perhaps you're not really evolving so much as courageously revealing who you already are. In mindful presence, Lori I said to the wanting-creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross? There are no travelers on the river-road, and no road. Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or nesting? There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatman. There is no tow rope either, and no one to pull it. There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford! And there is no body, and no mind! Do you believe there is some place that will make the soul less thirsty? In that great absence you will find nothing. Be strong then, and enter into your own body; there you have a solid place for your feet. Think about it carefully! Don't go off somewhere else! Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, and stand firm in that which you are. —Kabir Suffering sometimes comes from feeling like it’s you against the world. There is much to fight for and much to prove. It can be liberating to release this notion of separation and realize the interconnectedness of everything that shares this planet and beyond. In mindful presence, Lori Throw off the bonds of your conditioning and fear
and celebrate the wonder of being here. Experience this moment as it is, connected by breath and essence to the whole. You couldn’t be separate if you tried. Live this day as if the earth exhales blessings in your direction, as if trees speak their deepest secrets in your ear, as if bird songs can lift you outside your ordinary state of mind and bring you into truth. Be the creative juice flowing through the universe. Be silence and stillness, the ocean of love so palpable that not one cell of you disputes the truth that you are that. —Danna Faulds There are so many ways to distract ourselves from experiencing this moment. We divert our attention toward work, entertainment, schedule planning, ruminating, eating, addiction, talking…anything that keeps us from feeling what we feel. It takes great courage to stay with the simple focus of being present. To stay amid the 10,000 things calling for your attention. To stay with the simple act of being. To be present for your life. In mindful presence, Lori Rememberings
Doubts are endless. I vow to see through each one and name the fear beneath. Fear is bottomless. I vow to feel it without believing it is real. Distractions surround me. I vow to pay close attention to what is true. Escape beckons. I vow to stay present through the thousand urges to flee, the thousand forgettings, the thousand and one rememberings. —Danna Faulds May we each awaken to know that nothing is lacking. You are already whole and complete. You are enough, just breathing this moment. In mindful presence, Lori Awakening
Why wait for your awakening? Do you value your reasons for staying small more than the light shining through the open door? Forgive yourself, Forgive yourself. Now is the only time you have to be whole. Now. Now is the sole moment that exists to live in the light of your true nature Perfection is not a prerequisite for anything but pain. Perfection is not a prerequisite for anything but pain. Please, oh please, don’t continue to believe in your stories of deficiency and failure. This is the day of your awakening. —Danna Faulds To start anew we sometimes must hit rock bottom. From the depths of disaster, we learn new strengths, gain new insights, and often find an unexpected gem. The seed must wait in the dark for a long time before it ever begins to bloom. In mindful presence, Lori To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. —Wendell Berry Experiencing the flow of your breath can be calming in many ways. Sensing your breath helps to focus your mind, reconnect with your body, relax your nervous system, and process your thoughts and emotions. Let your breath be a river of peace. In mindful presence, Lori I breathe slowly in,
I breathe slowly out. My breath is a river of peace. I am here in the world. Each moment I can breathe and be. I watch the stream. Each thought is a floating leaf. One leaf is worry, another leaf is sadness. The leaves drift softly away. I breathe slowly in, I breathe slowly out. My breath is a pathway of peace moving softly through me. Each day I can breathe and be. —Kate Coombs |
AuthorLori Furbush teaches Qigong, Yoga, Reiki, & Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She weaves MINDFULNESS & RELAXATION into every moment. Archives
December 2019
Categories |
RSS Feed