Posts Tagged ‘Breathe’
And God Whispered…
Wednesday, November 14th, 2018
I’m right here.
As I headed into the woods to look for fall warblers and hawks, I found myself smiling at the abundance of yellow trees. I looked up to see the sunlight streaming down onto the tops of the trees. Then tears came streaming down my face. I was overcome with joy of being in nature, of being surrounded by light, of walking with my spouse. Of feeling the crunching of leaves and feeling peaceful. It had been a long time since peace filled me – as most of the year has been spent being with my ill father until his passing in September.
Nature is a great reminder that everything changes. Leaves fall and mulch. Seeds succumb to the darkness. And transformation comes in every season.
Many emotions filled me with every breath – sadness, gratitude, peace, and grief. I felt all of it. I looked up as the sunlight bounced off the yellow leaves and listened to the silence that filled the trail. Suddenly I heard squirrels hurrying through bushes, birds flying from tree to tree, and crisp air blowing the leaves. Smiling at the beauty all around me, I heard the words, “And God whispered, I’m right here.”
Through the mystery of grief and love, my heart felt peaceful. Lost in emotions of sadness, I knew joy. Grasping for connection, I knew groundedness. Longing for the return of hope, I found myself whispering, “I’m right here.”
Meditation in the Catskill Mountains
Tuesday, August 13th, 2013
Take five minutes to slow your breath and open your heart with a meditation in the Catskill Mountains. With beautiful mountain views, we will take a few minutes to breathe in light and be the mountain. Enjoy!
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Compassion, Courage, and Breath
Thursday, June 20th, 2013
Sitting with compassion for others and myself led me to a beautiful meditation:
Fill yourself up with compassion with each breath.
What do you look like when you are living with compassion?
Show yourself some compassion right now.
Allow your hand to move and breathe compassion into your body.
Notice your body and breathe compassion.
Let compassion move your hand.
How are you transmitting compassion?
What is your message of compassion today?
Listen to compassion.
Take a deeper breath in and out.
Breathe compassion.
When you see the world with compassion, what’s possible?
And take a nice big breath.
Be compassionate to you, always.
Beam compassion with every interaction.
And so it is.
As Pema Chödrön writes, “Just as nurturing our ability to love is a way of awakening bodhichitta, so also is nurturing our ability to feel compassion. Compassion, however, is more emotionally challenging than loving-kindness because it involves the willingness to feel pain. It definitely requires the training of a warrior.
When we practice generating compassion, we can expect to experience our fear of pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. The trick to doing this is to stay with emotional distress without tightening into aversion, to let fear soften us rather than harden into resistance.”
Stay with your breath. Stay with yourself. Stay with compassion.
Hurry Up and Wait!
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
My father had this saying when I was growing up: “Hurry up and wait.” I would often laugh at the expression – until I had to start driving on I-95 in New York. Anyone who has driven I-95 knows that there are two speeds on this road – drag racing and dead stop. There are so many times it has taken me hours to go 13-15 miles. By now you would think I might have learned patience after 18+ years of driving on the Cross Bronx Expressway. The reality is, I still get frustrated and yell at drivers.
I am not one for sitting in traffic or waiting on lines (heck, I was born two months premature!). I will often choose to take lunch early or late so I don’t have to wait on line. So, when I went to Whole Foods for a lunch treat this week, I thought I would miss the mad rush. But there I was – standing on a long line. If you have ever been to a Whole Foods, you might appreciate the anxiety running through me. You not only have to wait on a LONG line, you have to stand in a color coded line and wait for your color to be called and told what register to go to. There’s a science to it. And finding your register when it blinks is an art – one I have not mastered.
I waited on the long line because I had bought a delicious lunch. And then I thought, “Why am in a hurry?” Other than wanting to enjoy a yummy meal, what was the big rush?
Of course, there are many other things I would rather be doing than sitting in my car in traffic or waiting on a long line in a food store, but I get to choose how I think about it. I get to listen to more CD’s in my car and meet new people while waiting on line. I even chatted with the cashier at Whole Foods as I had just seen her over the weekend. This doesn’t mean I’ll love to sit in traffic or wait on lines, but it does mean I might choose a different response to it.
What is something that teaches you to hurry up and wait?
Mary Anne
Stillness in 20-Zen
Friday, January 1st, 2010
As we start the New Year, may it begin with stillness. In the quiet places of our hearts, may we take a moment each day to breathe slowly and deeply, and then step into our day from a sense of peacefulness. I am not one to make resolutions, however, I do look at my year and set goals with clear action steps, and time for reflection. I am also starting a new accountability project with a friend that will allow us to share where we are at with our goals, express our learning, and any roadblocks. I am holding myself accountable to writing more and slowing down the pace. This might mean attending less events and an emptier calendar and it feels the perfect way to start 2010 (aka 20-Zen). In an effort to take this Zen approach this year, I offer some of my meditations as a way to explore stillness in 20-Zen.
“We are all just a thought away from stillness.”
“Do it afraid. Do it despite yourself. Do it anyway.”
“You hold the Master key to the prison of your mind.”
“Bring love to all your work and inspired action will follow.”
“Rest in the place of great love.”
“I smile. You smile. The world smiles.”
“Life is full of music. What song are you singing?”
“Forgiveness is the window of the soul through which only light shines.”
“When stressful thoughts arise, breathe them, bless them, and blow them away with love.”
“Saying a prayer is expressing a big part of you to a bigger part of YOU.”
“How you breathe and how you feel are related. Breathe love.”
“Begin a resting practice of noticing the space between the words.”
May 2010 bring you a love-filled year with unshakable peace. Happy 20-Zen!
— Mary Anne