Many of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are instinctual reactions to life events. Your brain likes to follow familiar patterns and keep quick information at the ready, to help you solve problems and to survive. So it may take a bit more work, a bit more time, to engage the parts of the brain that help us respond with clear rational thinking rather than the typical knee-jerk reactions. Once we learn to slow down reactivity, perhaps by pausing and breathing in the midst of a stressful situation, we often find empowerment and the freedom to choose if and how to respond. May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
―Nelson Mandela
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You may find that you spend a good deal of energy obsessing about your body, whether you’re trying to hide it, flaunt it, slim it down, strengthen it, nourish it, or heal it. But how much time do you actually spend in your body? To embody your body is to sense it, dwelling in your legs, back, belly, chest, arms, neck, and head. Interoception is the ability to sense your inner body and simply notice what is here to be noticed. Making this mind-body connection now and then throughout your day can be a grounding and centering practice. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.
―Michel de Montaigne The concept of enlightenment may elicit connotations of vibrancy, illumination, wisdom, and achievement. Perhaps we think enlightenment is some lofty goal we should (and will probably never) attain after years of endlessly perfecting ourselves. Or we can think of enlightenment as the daily work of paying attention, skillfully navigating our thoughts, words, and actions, and forever learning from our own perceived successes and failures. Perhaps enlightenment is making peace with who you already are, and accepting responsibility for your own happiness. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Enlightenment means taking full responsibility for your life.
—William Blake Strength is often valued over vulnerability. We feel strong when we feel confident, skilled, supported, grounded, and centered. We feel strong when we have an answer or a planned course of action. To feel strong is to feel safe. Vulnerability, then, may feel unsafe. To dwell in that place of uncertainty is unsettling. And yet, we sometimes must let go of what we think we know, what we’re holding onto as “truth,” to open the door for new information and possibility. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is a bold choice. Softening into vulnerability can reveal the seeds of strength within. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.
—Brené Brown Thoughts and emotions are important aspects of being human. They contain information, memories, and perceptions which can be useful in helping us set goals, make decisions, and interact with our world. It is easy to become so immersed in thought and emotion, however, that we “fail to see the forest for the trees.” To be conscious is to be awake and aware. When we’re feeling overwhelmed, it can be helpful to pause, pull back to a wide angle lens, and observe our thoughts and emotions for what they are—just passing clouds in a clear blue sky of consciousness. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them.
―Eckhart Tolle It can be an easy, and sometimes comforting, choice to disconnect. We disconnect from the body, getting lost in the noise of the mind. We also tend to disconnect from discomfort, getting lost in distracting habits and gadgets. It may be a challenging, even uncomfortable, choice to reconnect with our inner experience. Finding a practice like mindful movement or meditation helps us reconnect the mind into the body and the body onto the ground. If we want to skillfully navigate the noise of life, we must connect with the strength of silence within. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush When you connect to the silence within you,
that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you. ―Stephen Richards Sometimes we spin ourselves in circles looking for the meaning in things. Why did this happen? What is the purpose? What am I supposed to learn from this? Rather than seeking answers outside of yourself, perhaps the meaning lies within. You have the freedom to choose your perception and interpretation. You have the freedom to find your own answers and to breathe into the questions. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.
The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning. ―Joseph Campbell We often resist practicing self-care for many reasons. Perhaps it feels self-indulgent, like we haven’t “earned” it. Perhaps all the other tasks on our list are given greater priority. Perhaps there is a discomfort in setting aside our usual distractions and facing ourselves. In truth, self-care is not necessarily luxurious or even relaxing. It is maintenance. Self-care includes cultivating healthy patterns of eating, sleeping, exercising, resting, and recharging, along with skillfully managing thoughts, emotions, and social support. The work of self-care is a 24/7 job that requires a sustained alignment with your sense of center, your boundaries, and your values. When we live our self-care, we are continually rejuvenated, with more energy and presence to handle everyone and everything else. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush And then I learned the spiritual journey had nothing to do with being nice. It is about being real, authentic. Having boundaries. Honoring my space first, others second. And in this space of self-care being nice just happened, it flowed not motivated by fear but by love. ―Michelle Olak
“This too shall pass” is a phrase that often gets us through tough times. Reflecting on the temporary nature of all things reminds us that challenges will eventually shift into greater ease. Of course, the reverse is also true. Pleasant experiences also fade. So we learn to ride waves of emotion without getting lost in the surf. In the midst of the highest high or the lowest low, we can feel, acknowledge, and let it pass. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Only press on: no feeling is final. ―Rainer Maria Rilke While both your body and your breath exist in the present moment, quite often your mind is somewhere else. As often as you remember, you can bring your attention back to the felt-sense of your body and your breathing to establish presence. True embodied presence allows us to be aware of the mind’s wanderings into desire and aversion—the wanted and the unwanted—while more clearly discerning what requires action and what is better left undone. With presence, we may act without striving and rest without resistance. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush The Breathing
An absolute patience. Trees stand up to their knees in fog. The fog slowly flows uphill. White cobwebs, the grass leaning where deer have looked for apples. The woods from brook to where the top of the hill looks over the fog, send up not one bird. So absolute, it is no other than happiness itself, a breathing too quiet to hear. ―Denise Levertov Mindfulness is a practical tool we can use to know ourselves better and navigate life with skill and freedom of choice. The goal of mindfulness is not to reach some lofty state of bliss, relaxation, or empty mind. It is, rather, the practice of engaging with each unfolding moment in open curious presence. Meeting yourself just as you are is an act of courage. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Mindfulness practice isn’t meant to eliminate thinking but aims rather to help us know what we’re thinking when we’re thinking it…like going into an old attic room and turning on the light. In that light we see everything—the beautiful treasures we’re grateful to have unearthed; the dusty, neglected corners that inspire us to say, “I’d better clean that up”; the unfortunate relics of the past that we thought we had gotten rid of years ago. We acknowledge them all, with an open, spacious, and loving awareness.
―Sharon Salzburg For those of us walking the path of self-reflection, it is somehow comforting to know that we are always learning, evolving, and awakening, while at the same time carrying our same old wounded self with tender loving care. Those triggers still trigger us. Those buttons still get pushed. It’s as though we are simultaneously circling outward and inward, uncovering old ways and new insights. We are not linear beings but circles rippling the surface and revealing the depths. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Where you are going
and the place you stay come to the same thing. What you long for and what you've left behind are as useless as your name. Just one time, walk out into the field and look at that towering oak-- an acorn still beating at its heart. ―Peter Levitt Permanence is an illusion. While we may have people and experiences that linger longer in our lives, the truth is that everything comes and goes. Your thoughts, moods, successes, failures, and even your challenges eventually shift into something else. Our familiar pattern is to cling to what we want and push away what we do not want. Remembering that all experiences are fleeting may invite us to really be present for each moment of life, the pleasant and the difficult. Life itself is fleeting. And rich. You may not want to miss a moment while wishing for something else. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush The knowledge of impermanence that haunts our days is their very fragrance.
―Rainer Maria Rilke While the past can be reviewed and retold in stories and accounts, and the present can be felt with all of your senses, the future remains elusive. Truth is, we never know just how the next moment will unfold. We can make plans and take steps in a particular direction, but uncertainty is always with us. How might you become more comfortable with “living the questions”? In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.
―Rainer Maria Rilke An extraordinarily unique and challenging year is nearing completion. Likely you have experienced moments of frustration, acceptance, sadness, joy, worry, trust, fear, and courage. Perhaps your world was turned upside down; your perception of what is true was tested. You may have resisted and you may have adapted. You might even have found silver linings. As this year ends and another begins, we cannot help but hope for a better future. And yet, as always, much remains complex, nebulous, and incomplete. The question then is whether we can find satisfaction and even peace, knowing that our strengths and our weaknesses make us complete. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace. Nothing real, nothing absent. Not holding on to reality, not getting stuck in the void, you are neither holy nor wise, just an ordinary fellow who has completed his work. ―Layman P’ang The winter solstice reminds us that darkness and light dance in rhythms, every year, every day, every breath. With an exhale, we release this past year. And in the pause before the next breath begins, we rest in trust. Trust is softening into knowing that another inhale, another day, another new beginning will come in its own time. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush What to Do in the Darkness
Go slowly Consent to it But don't wallow in it Know it as a place of germination And growth Remember the light Take an outstretched hand if you find one Exercise unused senses Find the path by walking it Practice trust Watch for dawn. ―Marilyn Chandler McEntyre In these darker days with another year coming to an end, we pause to reflect, reassess, and renew. Just as there is a centered calm available in the midst of chaos, there is a vibrant animated heart beating within the quiet. This is a time for withdrawing inward, not constricting from the world in fear, but gently aerating the soil within, preparing the ground for the seeds of a fresh start. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible; to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance, to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit. ―Dawna Markova In observing your own mind, you may find that much of your thinking is focused on future and past moments. Rarely are we ever fully present. Experiencing this moment now with all of your senses—touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound—can help you tune in. It takes courage to center yourself in awareness, shining a light into the shadows and being open to what we find. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.
―Thich Nhat Hanh It is human nature to want to fix things, to find a solution, to tie it up in a bow and move on. Whether we’re on a journey of physical or mental health issues or both, healing can seem like that carrot at the end of the stick that we can never reach. Rather counterintuitively, mindfulness practices help us get in touch with and explore our discomfort, taking an active role in meeting ourselves where we are rather than getting lost in distraction and wanting something else. True healing might be expressed as fully experiencing your disappointment, shame, anger, loss, and fear, then welcoming the power and clarity of knowing it is okay to be exactly as you are. In mindful presence, Lori Furbush When we can actually be where we are, not trying to find another state of mind, we discover deep internal resources we can make use of. Coming to terms with things as they are is my definition of healing. It’s very healing to realize, if only for a moment here and a moment there, that you can be in a wiser relationship with your interior experience than just being driven by liking it or hating it.
―Jon Kabat-Zinn We experience joy when something sparks a state of pure happiness, an outpouring of appreciation and delight. Your ability to feel the fullness of joy can become blocked, overwhelmed by worry, anger, fear, sadness, striving, resisting. It is important to experience all of our emotions, the pleasant and the unpleasant. What can you let go of to make room for joy to shine through? What brings you to that state of delight? In mindful presence, Lori Furbush Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
―Zhuangzi |
AuthorLori Furbush teaches Qigong, Yoga, Reiki, & Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She weaves MINDFULNESS & RELAXATION into every moment. Archives
March 2021
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