How to Live Mindfully
Moments in life...
The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth
then hold no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike
is the disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning of things is not understood
the mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail.
Copied from: Dharma Talks: Bamboo in the Wind
I love this poem as it clearly states what you need to do in order to practice mindfulness. Setting aside judgment, right or wrong thinking is what gives us clarity and allows us to actually see what is happening. When we bring judgment, opinions, interpretations or analysis into the room it tends to cloud our vision. Try practicing seeing what is, naming it instead of applying judgment or labels to it. This to me is the path to freedom.
Until next time I wish you peace!
My Thoughts on Aging Gracefully
The Beauty of Aging
With every wrinkle
upon my flesh
feminine beauty and wisdom’s
expressed
For years I rejected
the beauty within
finding fault
with my body,
to fat or too thin
Not honoring
the beautiful woman
as she unfolded,
trying to fit into some idea of
how I needed to be molded
Listening to the doctrine
and ignorance of man,
telling me
be what I say or
you will be damned
I forsook myself and
denied my powers,
hopelessly misunderstood
…afraid of
my desires
Now, I slowly awake
from this embryonic state,
awake and aware
of the beauty within
reflected on my
beautiful dress,
my skin
No longer ashamed
of my beauty and essence
I break the chains
that held back my presence
Unfolding my wings
like a butterfly
I slowly stand proud,
face lifted to the sky
With each flutter of
my wings,
love of self flourishes from
within
Until…
I am a most
wonderous being
A woman proud
of what she is seeing
At last I stand
a woman, my outside
reflecting the beauty
within…
My Thoughts on Aging Gracefully by Cindy Ricardo, LMHC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at womenscafe.wordpress.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.acaringcounselor.net
Beautiful Collage about Grace- her strength and beauty!
Warrior Woman – by grace2244 on Polyvore.com
Practicing Self Care in a Chaotic World!
Are you feeling overwhelmed or stressed out?
Is your patience wearing thin?
Do you feel emotionally and physically drained by the end of the day?
Given what’s happening in our world today, it’s not surprising to find the number of people suffering from stress, depression and anxiety on the rise. Just turn on your television or radio and suddenly you’re bombarded with the ups and downs of the stock market, news of more companies going out of business and the rising numbers of workers being layed off.
Hmmm…which one holds more promise…the past, present or future?
With all of the worry about the future and the recriminations of the past it’s no wonder that we are a society of stressed out and sleep deprived individuals!
When we are in a state of chaos our bodies and minds react instinctively and go into survival mode. This can be draining, as we spend a lot of time and energy trying find a way to attain balance between our inner lives and whats going on outside in our everyday world. It can become overwhelming and confusing as we lose track of the moment and spend much of our time reviewing past failures or successes and try to predict the future.
In my own life, I notice the ebb and flow of stress. Sometimes there are periods when the stress builds up and I end up feeling emotionally and mentally drained. On a physical level I often feel as it I have the strength of a noodle! The first place stress shows up in my body is in my shoulders. But even before it decides to fill the vacancy in my shoulders I can feel it trying to book a permanent room in my mind!
Help! I need some peace and quiet in my life!
Help! My mind has a mind of it's own!
The best method I have found to deal with this is to check in periodically and become aware of my thoughts.
In this way I’ve been able to stop the Stress Construction Project from establishing a place of business in my head, body and spirit. This it the benefit of developing a daily mindfulness practice and for me this is a lifesaving practice! It helps me to bring balance, clarity and connect with life!
It’s not about making all of the noise, frustration and worry go away. It is about creating space and time to take care of my most important resource; myself. When I take these little breaks (or mind and body retreats) I break away from the past and the future and become fully present to what is going on in my mind and my body. I become aware of how my mind dictates how my body responds to any particular situation. I don’t have to anything, I can just pause and allow what ever I am feeling to be present. I don’t have to judge them, push them away or runaway from them. When I pause I learn that accepting my feelings, allowing them to be present and even welcoming them will not devastate or overwhelm me. In fact, I have a totally different experience as I don’t feel the drain of creating stories, going into action or predicting the future.
Steps Towards Developing a Mindfulness Practice:
Right now I want you to stop what you are doing and do the following:
- Take in a deep breath, as you breath become aware of where you feel the breath in your body. Can you feel the breath as it enters your nostrils, do you feel it in your chest or in your belly? Slowly let the breath out and repeat this at three times and return to your normal breathing rythmn.
- Become aware of the sensations in your body. You don’t have to do anything other then notice what you are feeling. Do you feel any tingling sesations? Any areas of tension, stress or pain? Just notice any sensations.
- As you notice any areas of tension or stress take a moment to become aware any thoughts that follow this; like feeling a need to do something about it. Just acknowledge the thoughts, commentaries or judgments about your body sensations (for example you might feel pain in your back and then start thinking about how awful your day is going to be because of this pain.)
- See if you can tune into the sounds that are going on around you, open your eyes and become aware of the colors that surround you, the smells. Just notice with your senses how much activity is going on around you and take it in.
- Take in a long breath and then release it slowly. You can repeat this three more times and then resume what you were doing.
Take a few moments to think and write about the following:
- What was it like to just be still for a few minutes?
- Did you notice anything different about your surroundings or about yourself?
- Did you notice how many judgments, thoughts, commentaries and stories followed your feelings?
- Can you see the benefits of not getting hooked into, or following the thougths and building stories?
- How would this help you be more present to what is going on in the moment?
- What was it like to take a break from your normal routine
Other Relaxing, Mindful Practices
Some other practices that will help you gain balance, clarity and connect with the moment are yoga, massage, and mindfulness meditation. Whether you are able to dedicate a few minutes a day to restoring balance, or whether you engage in one of the above activities, I can assure you that doing so will grant many benefits and rewards for both your emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. Its a gift of loving kindness to yourself!
Until next time! I wish you peace…
Cindy Ricardo, LMHC is an Imago Relationship Therapist with a private practice in Coral Springs, Florida. She teaches couples and individuals about how to create a balanced, joyful and peaceful life. She also runs workshops for couples about how to create loving and supportive relationships and Women’s Empowerment Workshops addressing topics related to assertiveness, boundaries and self-care. For more information please contact her at 954.793.6442. or visit http://www.acaringcounselor.net to learn more about her services.
