PRACTICING AND TEACHING MINDFULNESS & MEDITATION

Today was day 28 of my 100 day challenge. I like the fact that I'm looking forward to each morning with a different meditation. These first 28 days were the mindfulness for beginners album. I'm interested to see where the rest come from. Kindness and love for all, John

You are a lot kinder than i am in that respect. i am a bit of a curmudgeon and naysayer when it comes to people. 

Hi @Faune, Yes, there are many good and caring people who live, speak, and act in ways that support and care for the wellbeing of animals and the rest of the natural world. I can see what you are saying about our species, but I try to think that because we are here, we are natural and there is a purpose for us. We just need to figure out what that is on a collective scale. 💖

Thank you so very much Rachel. Your words highlight for me the complexity of things and the frequent co-existence of paradoxical emotions. It can be difficult to put our finger on what is going through the mind, heart, and body since these feelings are transient. In one moment, hope. In the next, anger or cynicism. You have highlighted your own experience of multidimensionality this week beautifully.  And this. Yes! Words are incredibly powerful. And poetry is a unique vessel that brings words directly into heart and soul. My own mind today has been shifting between focused and scattered. For periods of time I have been concentrated on my work and on my practice (mantra, self-compassion, and journaling today). And during other periods of the day, well, my mind has been a little bit all over the place.  One thing that helped to put my mind at ease today was when one of my dogs sauntered over to me and sat in front of me, staring up at me with her dark brown eyes. In that moment, the planning/worrying/anxious mind just melted away and I tuned back into the present moment. I held her and an immense wave of gratitude washed over me. It helped me to remember what matters most in life - love.

I am a bit late to this week's inquiry, but I was actually surprised by the amount of decompression I was feeling last week after the inauguration.  I do not think I had realized how much emotion had been tangled up in these recent months for me. I have been feeling a slow burn of hope, relief, anger, and exhaustion.  Dare I say a bit of cynicism (eek) on the edges, around the concept of a magic bullet having arrived and all being well.  There is so much suffering, for multiple reasons, and the work must now be attended to in earnest.  In that way, I get a sense of energized commitment.  Complacency is not action.  These things- racial injustice, the climate crisis, economic inequity, the pandemic- are not someone else's 'problems'.  They belong to all of us; so now, with the turn of leadership here in the US, we get to work. The last thing I have felt this week has been awe.  Amanda Gorman not only inspired with her words and recitation, she reminded every student I work with that it is COOL to read, write, and express yourself.  Words are power.  Wow. Wishing all here peace and ease.  Take good care.