Everyday Mindfulness

What is the biggest challenge to remaining mindfully present throughout our day? By now, we all know that awareness is the first (and maybe last) step in the process. Living mindfulness is like living from the inside-out. When we are not aware, we are living from the outside-in, a condition that is reinforced daily by the media and our materialistic culture. The simple truth is that we forget. I forget, you forget.....we all forget at times to be present. Before you know it we are indulging in a desire (or thought) at the expense of someone else and/or the expense of our sense of connectedness and peace.

To quote from the Karate Kid which I saw with my family lastnight, "Doing nothing and stillness are very different". Stillness flows and is continually inspired by a deep sense of presence. "Doing nothing" is inspired by fear and fatigue. The first step in practicing Everyday Mindfulness is awareness. In my experience cultivating an attentiveness to the breath is the most potent and direct path to awareness. Practice bringing your attention again and again to the breath. Relax and be present. In a moment of intensity and reaction, breathe deeply and relax. In a moment of great joy and celebration, relax and breathe. Notice how your breath changes throughout the day, when you retain the breath and when you sigh heavily. Your body speaks to your consciousness through the breath and you communicate through presence...awareness. This takes practice but can most certainly improve your mental, emotional and physical health.

Direct your attention inwards again and again and you may realize a greatness and a gratitude within that will fuel your life expression. Practice being aware of the breath and your shoulders as two points of concentration throughout the day. Sit in silence for five minutes per day, keep it simple and enjoy your Self.

Namaste,

Steve

Step off!

The sky is bright and blue as Spring is making a comeback here in our beautiful community. The emptiness and expansiveness of the blue sky is similar to the spaciousness of mind that we can cultivate through meditation. Our days are filled and our minds are filled with thoughts of yesterday and tomorrow. As we sit for meditation we simply observe those same thoughts and step off the wheel. You know the little wheel the hamster runs around? In meditation we step off that wheel. The wheel is the story that you are running about your life, the complaints, the regrets, the thoughts of revenge. The wheel is still there, the mechanisms of the mind, the old thought patterns and habits are still there but something else manifests. A vacuum is created as we "step off" and drawn into the space of the vaccuum is a deep sense of peace. When do you experience deep peace in your life? I bet you know how often you experience its opposite. Peace is not a luxury to be felt by the unencumbered but rather the very foundation of health, the proverbial fountain of youth. Find a way to experience peace every single day and if you do a little peace inventory and find your life wanting then get to yoga class and take back what only you can give away.

We will have yoga at the boathouse tonight with Claudette as I am traveling today. She may not want me to say this but Claudette radiates peace in a way that is deep and rare. She will guide you to move your body with awareness and with the intention of peace; to strengthen and to lengthen the body within the embrace of peace; to contract your muscles and relax your muscles with the attitude of peace and finally to relax deeply your mind and body so that you may realize peace to the very core....AS the very core of who you are.

I read a quote the other day that said, "Tension is who you think you are while relaxation is who you really are."

Namaste,

Steve