Taking ourselves less seriously and others more seriously has its benefits and side effects.
Lynn J Kelly offers another provocative piece on mindfulness and our relationships. Hope you find this helpful in your life role assessment.
A couple of years ago, I became deaf in one ear. It was bizarre and lasted for six weeks before improvement began. With the help of modern medicine and mindfulness I fully regained my hearing.
The procedure that led to improvement involved shots into my ear which required me not to twitch or move in any way as the needle was inserted. I did not look forward to the weekly shots, but I knew I needed to endure them in order to have any hope of my hearing returning to normal.
I share this, fortunately temporary, condition because mindfulness helped me enter the doctor’s office and accept the procedure that was coming. Through breath awareness and recalling the Five Remembrances, I was able to still my body and accept the medical procedure.
Below is a link to Lynn J Kelly’s blog where she shares what she has learned about pain management and mindfulness. I think you’ll find it interesting.
Lynn J. Kelly references Cheri Huber to explain how Mindfulness helps us during these crazy times.
May their words bring us comfort and guidance.
Lynn J Kelly shares her appreciation for mindful walking and the guidance offered by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in her blog post linked below. I have also found this practice especially helpful in times of high stress or overwhelming feelings. Moving slowly can be especially calming when your body needs to “walk off” whatever pain is being experienced in the moment.
May we walk mindfully for ourselves and for those who are not able to walk at this time.
Lynn J Kelly shares another insightful blog post on how we can be mindful throughout the day in all our postures. Check it out at the link below.
Lynn J. Kelly offers us some alternative New Year’s goals for consideration.
Some marriage counselors like to ask their clients, “Do you want to be right or in relationship?” This Socratic method approach suggests that “being right” may be more difficult and lonelier than you might initially think. In addition, being in relationship may not always include being “right.”
Below are two references that have crossed my desk today. The first is a is a Tricycle article on Zen Ethics which includes a second reference, the poem, “A Place Where We Are Right,” by the Israeli poet Yehudi Amichai.
May you find one or more of these words of wisdom helpful in your daily discernment.
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“A Place Where We Are Right,” a poem by the Israeli poet Yehudi Amichai, shows this consequence perfectly:
From the place where we are right
Flowers will never grow
In the spring.
The place where we are right
Is hard and trampled
Like a yard.
But doubts and loves
Dig up the world
Like a mole, a plow.
And a whisper will be heard in the place
Where the ruined
House once stood.
(from The Selected Poetry of Yehudi Amichai, translation by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell, University of California Press, 1996, used with permission of the translators)
Lynn J Kelly offers another helpful blogpost on how and why we might meditate. I encourage you to check out her link below for all of her mindfulness offerings.
Here’s a quick explanation of people to avoid: the taker, the talker, the flatterer, and the reckless from Lynn J Kelly. See picture above and link below. Thank you, Lynn.
http://www.amazon.com/Bearded-Man-Bus-Immigrants-Privilege/
A friend and Buddhist mentor, Daniel L. Smith, has written a new book: Bearded Man On A Bus and it’s the perfect book for me right now as I live out my new life as a recovering romantic. His book is filled with wandering wisdom and gave me some fresh insights for my life journey. Specifically:
My thanks to author Daniel L. Smith who approved the sharing of his words above. If you’d like to read more of his “wanderer’s spiritual journey … a collection (of) hopeful poems, possibly, because life continues, nothing is permanent, and breathing is such a fundamental right to exploring the conditions necessary for happiness in all humans, regardless of origin, journey, or destination.” check out his book available on Amazon.
Life Matters 