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Activity can be fun and is surely an important aspect of life. And, like the moon reflecting on calm water, taking time for reflection reminds us how intricately woven we are within the bigger picture. In mindful presence, Lori Let the waters settle
and you will see the moon and the stars mirrored in your own being. —Rumi
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To withdraw is not necessarily to feel smaller or more confined. Sitting with awareness of your own body, your own self, can put you in touch with your energetic nature, connected and free-flowing with the vast energies of life all around you. In mindful presence, Lori Be empty of worrying
Think of who created thought Why do you stay in prison When the door is so wide open Move outside the tangle of fear thinking Live in silence Flow down and down Into always widening Rings of being. —Rumi Life seems to be full of suffering and challenge. At the same time, there is much beauty and magnificence. If life were all pleasant, we wouldn’t have much need to grow, learn, and evolve. It is challenge that helps us find strength we didn’t know we had and new ways we didn’t know existed. In mindful presence, Lori A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind.
—Lewis Mumford It is rather surreal to suddenly press the pause button on your active life and withdraw, sheltering in place. How strange it is to be immersed in this different reality, as though you have slipped through a portal into an alternate universe. We are adaptable creatures. Can you stand in this “new” reality with curiosity and presence? In mindful presence, Lori Oceans
I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing. And nothing happens! Nothing…Silence…Waves… —Nothing happens? Or has everything happened, and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life? —Juan Ramon Jimenez We spend a lot of time cogitating on how things should be different, how someone or something could be better. The panel of commentators in your brain likes to have opinions and solve problems. AND the brain is also capable of opening, like a vast sky of awareness, to welcome what is already here. Is this a safe moment where action is not immediately necessary? If so, can this moment be enough for now? In mindful presence, Lori Mind Wanting More
Only a beige slat of sun above the horizon, like a shade pulled not quite down. Otherwise, clouds. Sea rippled here and there. Birds reluctant to fly. The mind wants a shaft of sun to stir the grey porridge of clouds, an osprey to stitch sea to sky with its barred wings, some dramatic music: a symphony, perhaps a Chinese gong. But the mind always wants more than it has-- one more bright day of sun, one more clear night in bed with the moon; one more hour to get the words right; one more chance for the heart in hiding to emerge from its thicket in dried grasses—as if this quiet day with its tentative light weren't enough, as if joy weren't strewn all around. —Holly Hughes This is an invitation to be gentle with yourself. Be kind to your body. Be patient with your heart. And be softer in your inner dialogue. Softness makes us stronger. In mindful presence, Lori Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.
—Saint François de Sales Is there a problem that just doesn’t seem to get solved? Do you keep running into the same wall? Sometimes spending time in inner reflection, quieting the thinking mind, can lead to spontaneous insights and creative alternatives. Breathe, rest in your body, and allow the freedom of time and space for creativity to arise. In mindful presence, Lori We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
—Albert Einstein Making changes requires that we set goals, make a plan, and take action. If we are so intent on reaching the goal, however, we may be blocking our own ability to receive. Remember, the reward may not appear in the way we expect. Along with controlling everything that is within our control, we must leave space to be open. In our seeking, we must leave space for finding. In mindful presence, Lori Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal.
—Hermann Hesse Daily mindful living requires us to not only foster our inner light, but also to stay conscious and present when meeting our shadow side. We all have darkness within us, and we all are brilliant, radiant beings. In mindful presence, Lori One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,
but by making the darkness conscious. —Carl Jung To retreat is to withdraw and seek refuge from the battles of the world. And yet when we do finally pause and turn inward, we realize just how much of our conflict lies within. Perhaps this is why we distract ourselves and choose to live unconsciously. But hidden gems of wisdom and strength are waiting if we find the courage and patience to sit within ourselves. Many of us are in "shelter-in-place" mode, withdrawing from the world in order to heal ourselves and our planet. It is an interesting and perhaps unprecedented opportunity to notice how you meet yourself in quieter, simpler moments. In mindful presence, Lori The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.
—Joseph Campbell Alignment brings synergy and resonance. Physically standing or sitting in alignment evokes a strength of presence. Mentally aligning with a point of focus evokes calm stability. And when your actions align with your core values, you are living in integrity, empowered. It can be helpful in any situation to question: Am I living in integrity here? In mindful presence, Lori Integrity is choosing courage over comfort.
It's choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy. It's choosing to practice your values rather than simply professing them. —Brené Brown We seek solace as comfort and consolation in times of need. Solace comes to us in many forms: from a friend, from nature, from a quiet space. Sometimes we even find solace from turning deeper inward, touching into the rawness of our suffering. In mindful presence, Lori Solace is what we must look for…
when longing does not come to fruition in a form we can recognize, when people we know and love disappear, when hope must take a different form than the one we have shaped for it. Solace is not meant to be an answer, but an invitation, through the door of pain and difficulty, to the depth of suffering and simultaneous beauty in the world that the strategic mind by itself cannot grasp nor make sense of. —David Whyte, Consolations Chaos brings confusion, unpredictability, disarray. If we tend to prefer structure and organization, chaos can feel quite uncomfortable. And yet it is that very discomfort, whether it is discomfort within ourselves or discomfort with the way things are, that fuels our fire to take action, to break the mold, to create something new. Chaos is a creative force. In mindful presence, Lori You still need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star. —Friedrich Nietzsche
There is a lot of suffering in the world…a lot of suffering in ourselves. It is easy to be drawn into negativity, anger, and sadness, and soon we feel overwhelmed and hopeless. Taking time to appreciate life’s gifts, even the little ones like a strain of music or a color painted across the sky, can tip the scales back into balance. A blessing may be defined as “a beneficial thing for which one is grateful; something that brings well-being.” It is a practice, and sometimes work, to stay open to beauty. In mindful presence, Lori Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. —Rumi We sometimes have that one person in our lives who is an anchor. In times of distress, they maintain a solid sense of presence, keeping our boat steady in rough waters. We can also be an anchor unto ourselves, steadying the focus within the body, stabilizing the mind. When we learn to be our own best anchor, we come to trust our strength and resilience, knowing we can weather any storm. In mindful presence, Lori A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because its trust is not on the branch but on its own wings. —unknown
Wonder is “a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.” Wonder invites curiosity and awe. It is a warm welcome home to something larger than ourselves. Pause the cacophony of thoughts and opinions. Allow space for wonder. In mindful presence, Lori Only the empty mind can be filled with wonder.
—William Martin Accepting the present moment to be as it is does not mean we have to agree with it or like it. Acceptance is not giving your power away. It is simply the act of dropping the resistance that arises as stress reactivity (adrenaline, cortisol, tension, fear, anger, anxiety, etc.), so that we may be more clear and centered (and therefore empowered) to handle whatever is unfolding. When you find yourself fighting the reality of the moment, it is a wakeup call. In mindful presence, Lori Struggle can be a “mindfulness bell.” It tells us that there’s something happening that we’re not accepting.
—Charlotte Bell Time for a check-in. Is the current pacing of your daily life sustainable? Anything or anyone that requires your physical, mental, or emotional energy needs balancing with time spent receiving, replenishing, and just being. If you build sustainability into the structure of your schedule (even if it means simply scheduling a 15-minute block of non-doing into each day), you will likely feel less depleted, resentful, and stressed and have more energy for all the other moments. In mindful presence, Lori Create an island of being in the sea of constant doing. —Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Latin origin of the word compassion means to “suffer with.” While it can be useful to cultivate empathy, which is the ability to understand others’ feelings, it could be overwhelming and depleting to “suffer with” everyone we meet. Perhaps a healthier way to practice compassion is to first have empathy, understanding others’ perceptions (which may differ from yours), and then to allow them space to have their experience without trying to change it or fix it or take it on as your own. Compassion, then, may be redefined as meeting someone where they are while maintaining your own centered presence…in essence, practicing both compassion and self-compassion. In mindful presence, Lori Have compassion for everyone you meet,
even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit, bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone. —Miller Williams It seems we bump up against so many moments with our bristles already raised in defiance, wanting something other than the reality of now. Or we rush through moments, barely noticing them while wishing to be somewhere else, doing something else. There is a strong sense of empowerment available when we practice meeting the moment, just as it is. The first step toward presence is to accept this moment as it is unfolding. Then, when we are not wasting energy on futile resistance, we have more resources available for making a clear choice about how to attend to whatever is arising. In mindful presence, Lori Do you treat this moment as if it were an obstacle to be overcome?
Do you feel you have a future moment to get to that is more important? The present moment is as it is. Always. Can you let it be? —Eckhart Tolle |
AuthorLori Furbush teaches Qigong, Yoga, Reiki, & Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She weaves MINDFULNESS & RELAXATION into every moment. Archives
May 2020
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