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Like you, Gillian - SPRING! The first thing that "sprang" to mind! I feel a season of hope and possibilities unfolding inside me as I breathe new life into my business! Great question!

This topic is improvised and not organized, I just wrote whatever came to my mind. P.S: Hey Gillian ^_^ ♥ I've came so far thanks to the prayers of my beloved ones and to the angel sent by God to guide me through this journey. Today I am celebrating my great milestone! I never imagined in my life I would come this far and if you have read my first topic you would know how miserable I was and I felt hopeless about any changes or to have the will to move past addiction and depression. for the past 50 days I had few flaws, some days I broke my diet and some days I experienced deep grief and sobbed the entire day in despair, I had also two days where I dipped down and relapsed back to addiction, but the only thing I was committed to was 20 min of meditation everyday and if I wasn't overwhelmed by tiredness and busy schedule I practiced yoga everyday. I feel like I've grown into something wiser and much more mature, I don't concern myself much now with wanting but with serving instead. Today I was reading chapter ten of the power of now, the meaning of surrender, and I did notice that during this journey I didn't let my ego have any expectations of what it should be like: " I must lose this amount of weight in 2 months" "I must make no mistakes at all" "I must wake up everyday at 4 am and be productive" "I must only eat healthy food" I started to practice "Non judgement" and "Self-compassion", just two days ago I was binge eating on pizza and cakes, but I didn't consider it as a "failure", just kept going and went with the flow of life instead of resisting. at one day I got really overwhelmed by grief and instead of telling myself "I must work today and do that or that" I just went back to bed and started sobbing the entire day and barely did anything and I am proud of myself for doing that. at some days I've dropped my guard down and enjoyed some pizza with family, later my ego would scold me for doing that "WE WON'T LOSE WEIGHT" and other ego drama stories, but I just shut this voice and I tell him "go pound sand". one of the most important lessons I did learn is to limit compassion with wisdom, sometimes I would take responsibility for others' suffering and I would sacrifice my own happiness and comfort to please them, but came this person who played a dirty trick that taught me this lesson that I should prioritize myself first and to be compassionate with myself. also other aspect is to be compassionate toward myself that there are things I can't do or control, I can't expect myself to work hard everyday and I can't expect myself to feel happy all the time, but to apply wisdom is to set a minimum amount of effort not to fall beyond it. last thing I started to appreciate it's value is listening and silence, yesterday my sister started to vent about all her life situations and in the beginning I started to point to her some flaws and negative beliefs in her speech I saw that she started to get bothered by me interrupting her and also she didn't appreciate my advices, so I started to practice bringing presence to dissolve her pain body by listening and "helping her relieve her suffering", at final, I did discover that she didn't actually have any problems at all but she just wanted someone to listen to her and to release this built up negativity, in the end I just told her very simple words and she appreciated them so much and felt so much joy. also I found so much peace in not being driven by the incessant urge to share my opinion and to speak, also ironically I was at my English club and the instructor asked a question: "What does dread mean ?", I answered: "Heavy feeling", he said "No, it means heavy fear". instead of being bothered by him not giving me appreciation or credits, I just said "I guess they are the same" and shrugged. I started to enjoy not being like Hermione and to give others space to speak and answer questions, fortunately I know all the answers but I just like to be compassionate and let others enjoy learning

Although I have been practicing mindfulness meditation for several years, I never looked forward to it with such enthusiasm, anxious to contemplate the questions or suggestions at the end of each day's practice. Also, I find myself engaged in mindfulness throughout the day! It is a much fuller experience for me.

Greetings Everyone, My name is Melanie and I am in Canada, in a small town just outside Calgary, Alberta. I am a yoga teacher specializing in teaching people who are 55+. I was teaching in a studio until CoVid and now I am teaching via Zoom and my students are really loving it. They can practice in their pajamas, they don't have to comb their hair and they don't have to go out into a cold car during the winter to drive to yoga.

I'm happy to hear that Ali! It is truly a pleasure and a gift to read about your journey that you share with such openness and honesty.

Gillian, your comments always makes me heart joyous! Thank you so much for your presence ♥ honestly, I share these topics periodically just to say hello to you ^_^

I am working on a meditation series based on the seasons and thought I'd pose a question to the community based on this notion: If your inner world were a season, what season would it be embodying right now? Spring, summer, fall, and winter each carry unique energies, gifts, and purpose. For instance, spring to me is a time for expansion and new life, whereas autumn is about slowing down, turning inwards, and surrender. You might have your own interpretations of the seasons, but in any case, I invite you to share a few thoughts on what inner season you might be experiencing right now. Personally, I find myself slowly thawing out of winter, coming into an inner spring. New ideas are coming to me and I am slowly cultivating the energy to step into them.

This week's question asks: What mindfulness-related virtues do you wish to cultivate or strengthen? Mindfulness is about non-judgmental present moment awareness, but as Dr. Rick Hanson discussed in his workshop for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Program, there are various states we can evoke through practice and traits we can start to cultivate. We all have areas to grow in, and so this week I invite us to share where wish to expand or deepen. What qualities or virtues do you wish to strengthen within yourself? You might consider: kindness, compassion, contentment, patience, authenticity, generosity, openness, acceptance, gratitude, focus, non-violence, truthfulness, or any other quality/virtue that comes to mind.

completely understandable - enjoy with your friends and family - love midland .... our house sits on an acre and surrounded by trees more or less ...am working on gardening so i can plant flowers next season

My small group meets on Zoom due to the pandemic here in Utah. We only meet once each week for an hour. Zoom has worked well for us.

Winter. The withering season, but it still teems with energy. There is nothing like the sun shining on a clear, cold, crisp day, especially if there is newly fallen snow it sets glittering. Still, the days are shorter, shortening more, and I spend more time inside.

Thanks for another great question. Like you I find myself being very concerned and worried these days about so many issues going on in the United States and around the world. I would like to have more patience and perspective when it comes to working on such enormous problems. I would like to have the wisdom to look at change from the perspective of “the long arc of history” as President Obama often says.

I love this topic of viewing our inner and outer lives from the perspective of the ever changing four seasons. Thank you. Although it is a bit hard to accept, I realize that I am now living in the Autumn season of my life. However my inner season feels like spring since I living into one of the most creative seasons of my life. All in all I am grateful for both seasons.

The question I am responding to is what season describes me and my life. At age 73 I wo uld say Autumn. That season is often warm, sunny and filled with blue skies. The leaves which turn color here in Illinois are always beautiful. They have an earthy smell when piled up and a nice curnch when you walk on them. Later, the month grows colder. There are days which darken sooner and things turn colder towards winter. Indoor activities heighten with warm good, cider and mulled wine shared with friends. My life is in the stage of Autumn. I have plenty of good and warm relationships. Walking in the park on warm days is wonderful. I watch my grandson play flag football and marvel at his coordination and his height which surpasses mine. My granddaughter and her girl scout Troop is readying for the annual Scare Crow contest during the pumpkin fest at the arboretum. Her dancing classes yield a more lovely and strong young woman. They are my harvest. As Khalil Gibran says " they live in the house of the future which you can't visit even in your dreams". They will reach it however, and carry me in their hearts with them. My spiritual growth continues. After growing up Christian their is room in my life for the Buddha, his ethics and practices which enhance my understanding of Christianity. Mindfulness helps me recognize that my energy is part of the vast existence of Consciousness which is known in loving presence. I lived a life of helping others. I didn't do things perfectly but I did things mostly well. While my wife and I have a lot to liive for and to experience I feel some increasing readiness for peace and I mean the final peace. When my time is over, I suspect I will welcome whatever happens or doesn't afterward. Daniel

I have just started here and I will begin the Teacher Training Program shortly. Im so fascinated and inspired to pass this beautiful practice on for people to benefit from xo

For myself at this time, two things come up: focus and gratitude/contentment with 'what is'. I wish to strengthen my capacity to focus on what inspires and motivates me, becoming more mindful of the things (technology and news largely) that detract from presence and gratitude. So yes, gratitude comes into this too (presence as well). My attention has been pulled in all directions lately given some of the events I see playing out across the globe. I wish to strike a balance in all this – remaining aware and connected to what's happening in the world while also focused on what I wish to create and tuned into the beauty and blessings that exist in this world.

Hello Gillian its all a little overwhelming but my initial thoughts are to learn how to conduct sessions and teach the practise so people get the best results

welcome back to canada @Gillian Sanger if you're ever in midland, drop by for some cocoa...would be great to meet....

I am reading Dream Yoga by Andrew Holecek and have signed up for the Dream Support Team Club. I find it inspirational. I still am reflecting on the impact of my last book, Conflict Is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman. It basically stands for the proposition that conflict is inevitable in life and encourages us to engage in it with a commitment to kindness, understanding, and honesty. She contends that we also should kindly confront people when they fail to do so and be receptive to others doing the same with us. I think there is something very beautifully radical and inspirational in that. It really approaches conflict as a means of supporting one and other in dealing with the inevitable intrusions and misunderstandings in life. My little meditation group of 10 people or so inspires me because they show up on a regular basis (we meet weekly) and themselves demonstrate a commitment to honesty, kindness and mutual support. On our own time many of us partake of the online offerings of the Insight Meditation Center. https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/ It hosts online mini-retreats and other programs that also include opportunities to meet in small breakout groups. Longer online retreats are available through its retreat center, http://insightretreatcenter.org I was looking for something online to share with my group that briefly and effectively demonstrates how simply being willing to be present with what arises in us, welcoming it, and warmly receiving it with kindness can really lead to growth and openings for us. In the end, I used this TED talk which is not about mindfulness meditation at all. It is about a mother who uses Carol Dweck's Mindset program. She left me awestruck. I suspect many of us lack the insightfulness and resourcefulness of the speaker and would be blocked to the insights and revelations that seemed to come so easily to her once she found the right direction. It inspired me to send along her talk along with this message: Most of us run from such unsettling things and erect the sort of "fixed ideas" and rationalizations that the mother describes so well. In so doing we block our ability to be warmhearted and compassionate by guarding our wounds. We become really good at hiding our pains and insecurities from ourselves, deceiving ourselves and trying to deceive others, for example by trying to make things out as though others were responsible for our problems or we ourselves were incapable of more. Being kindly and mindfully aware of our present-moment embodied experience starts moving us toward allowing the processes of defensiveness and evasiveness to settle and ease. It helps make what discomforts us more visible and helps open our hearts to them, first revealing the coarser levels and later revealing the subtler ones. It starts opening new doors. It helps lead to the very growth, intimacy, integrity, and creativity that the mother describes from Mindset. So, the mindset with which we can start is one of loving-kindness to ourselves exactly as we are. It is more than o.k. to be human. Time and again we might find it the place from which we take the first tentative step forward. Moreover, we don't have to rush this process. Maybe it will take months before we even feel ready for a step; maybe we just need to fill-out our balance, confidence and ease right where we are for awhile.

If I were a role model for millions of children I would not change my behavior. I would let children know that I live a real life. For the most part I am happy but I feel all the feelings which most other people have. I would let them know that I am not perfect and don't expect myself to be. I would encourage them to understand that just like they all behave well towards others most of the time but not all of the time, I live that same way. I would also let the children know that I do not like to live my whole life as if a camera is following me just like they wouldn't. I would say I need private time to be alone, with my own friends and family just like they do. I would tell them I want the freedom not to be perfect like they do. I would ask them to think of the good things I do and let me have privacy the rest of the time. If that lack of perfection is disappointing to them, I would remind them that no one behaves their best all the time including them and their parents. Daniel A. Detwiler

Am taking this Mindfulness Exercises class own my own pace.