This Mindful Life

I’ve been surprised by how meditative painting has been.  It’s fully immersive and I find myself able to be present in a way I’m not with other activities.  Every part of my mind and body is present, fully connected.  No separation.  No awareness outside myself.     Except when I made this painting.  

*Audio Only*:  We show for ourselves when we follow through with our commitment  to our practice even when there are other things pulling our attention.  We are the ones that create the calm in the storm, the space for stillness, the quiet among the noise. This talk is followed by a 25 minute guided meditation. Poem: Beneath All Sound by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer #mindfulness #meditation #love #sel...

*Audio Only*:  We can become so overwhelmed by the suffering in the world that we cut ourselves off, not just from the news, but also from our most innate, tender, and joyous selves.  These hurting or difficult times, when we feel helpless and hopeless in the face of such doom are exactly the times we need to reconnect with our joy, our sense of spaciousness, the memory that suffering does not neg...

*Audio Only* We think we live from our own free will, but most of live in our life according to a program. The Program is typically invisible to us and informs and influences everything in our lives. So if we can’t see it, how do we know we living by it? The talk is followed by a 20 min. guided meditation. Poem: Forget About Enlightenment by John Welwood #mindfulness #meditation #love #selflove #s...

*Audio Only* Thoughts seem so real to us, seem to make us who we are, but they are changeable, cannot be capture, located, or held in any physical way, like vapor.  One minute this, the next minute that.  In this talk we explore the changeability of thoughts, how we get caught in them, and how we can learn to see them without allowing them to hook us into defining us.  The talk is followed by a 20...

*Audio Only* "To everything there is a season...". What season do you find yourself in? How are you relating with this change? Sometimes we welcome the seasonal transitions of our lives. Sometimes we are confused or frustrated by them. In this talk we explore this theme and how it can be challenging. The talk is followed by a 20minute guided meditation. References: Poem: Lost by David Wa...

*Audio Only*  In intentionally clearing noise from our daily lives, we create an open space where we cultivate a deeper listening.  This deep listening is how we stay connected to our inner voice and to who we really are.  This connection serves as the ground from which we can live authentically, with wholeness. Poem:  The Soul Lives Contented by David WhyteBook: Silence by Thich Nhat Hanh #mindfu...

*Audio Only* Having a process that can serve as a sort of road map for learning to be present in our lives through meditation can be very invaluable. In this audio, we discuss the practice of RAIN - Recognize, Allow, Intuit, Nurture. This talk is followed by a 20 minute Guided Meditation. Poem: The Guesthouse by Rumi Book: Radical Compassion by Tara Brach #mindfulness #meditation #love #selflove #...

**Audio Only** Strengthening our skill in recognizing when we are having certain types of thoughts, emotions, reactions and staying with the initial sensations that come up with them, can help us out of the cycle of getting caught. Naming the initial sensations allows us to stay with them rather than letting them lead us into stories that breed more thought and feeling that keep us from living in...

*Audio Only* Rarely to we welcome discomfort. Rarer still are times that we allow discomfort to be present so we may hear what wisdom it has to share. In this talk we discuss the beautiful gift allowing discomfort to be present can bring. This talk is followed by a 20 min guided meditation. Poem: Saving Grace by Julie Ferhenbacher "Comfortable with Uncertainty" by Pema Chodron #mindfulne...

*Audio Only* When was the last time you were soft with yourself? For some, this is a foreign concept, indeed. Bringing a sense of tenderness to the relationship with ourselves can allow us to be more open, more compassionate, and just have an over-all better life experience. This talk is followed by a guided meditation that allows us to begin to cultivate such a softness.  Referenced:  The Wisdom...

**Audio Only**  In this guided meditation we walk through resting our awareness in the energy centers of the body.  !Please note: I forgot the heart chakra.  My apologies! #mindfulness #meditation #love #selflove #selfcare #motivation #mentalhealth #inspiration #healing #wellness #mindset #life #happiness #embracing #Mindset #peace #metta #positivity #lovingkindness #spiritual #consciousness #ener...

*Audio Only* What is our relationship to Joy? Do we give ourselves permission to feel it, to cultivate it, to focus on it despite the difficulty in our lives and our world. In this talk we delve into these questions among others so we can understand more fully our innate capacity for joy (and that we are worthy of it). The talk is followed by a 15 min guided meditation.  Poem "Adrift" by...

**Audio Only** When we delight in the happiness of others, we access a connection of spirit that dissolves all sense separateness. Sympathetic Joy or being happy for another’s happiness is one of the four highest qualities of the heart in Buddhism. It is innate in each of us and always accessible, though many things and ways we have experienced life may make it seem otherwise. This talk is followe...

**Audio Only** In our culture, attaching ourselves to a strong set of certain beliefs is central to who we think we are as individuals. But in Buddhism, it is said that attachment is the very core of our suffering. What can we learn about how attached we are (to things, beliefs, ideas, people) and how to allow ourselves to step back from those attachments so we can see the true nature of things in...

*Audio Only* We have the strength to approach the world in an open-handed way, rather than with a closed fist. Bringing this sense of tenderness and compassion to our experience can help us immensely to grow into a more authentic relationship with ourselves and the world. #mindfulness #meditation #love #compassion #selfcompassion #itspossibile #possibility #tenderness #healing #wellness #mindset #...

There is so much power is acknowledging what is happening in the present moment, what situation you find yourself in right now, how that feels, allowing it to be there whether we like it or not. Its not necessarily about liking it or wanting it to be that way, but in the allowing we open space to choose how we will be with it. And in that lies the power. Talk is followed by a 20 min guided meditat...

(Audio Only) We have a choice...we can continue to make ourselves hard, contributing aggression, division, and suffering to the world. OR we can choose softness, choose to cultivate compassion and a way of being in the world that contributes understanding, a willingness to be open and see the reality of life - that we all belong to each other and our separation is nothing. but an illusion.

This week we talk about the pillars of mindfulness, what Jon Kabat-Zinn calls the Attitudinal Intentions of Mindfulness. The talk is followed by a guided meditation.

**Audio Only*** We live in a goal-oriented society; “where do you see yourself in 10 years?”.  We are always encouraged, told specifically and directly, that doing, accomplishing, attaining, striving is the way toward something, toward happiness.  We are never told to just be, that it’s okay to be in a state of non-striving.  The talk is followed by a 25 minute guided meditation.  Poem:   Wild Gee...

**Audio Only** Driven only by a false need to fill emptiness inside us, the illusion that something outside us can complete us, that just one more achievement, the next fancy gadget, that dream job or dream partner we become Hungry Ghosts, roaming our lives in pursuit of satiety we never find. This talk is followed by a 20 min. guided meditation. #mindfulness #meditation #love #selflove #selfcare...

Let's check in! How was March? Mine...? Well, I had plans. Life had other plans. What do you do when you get off track? How do you treat yourself? How do you get back on track? #mindfulness #meditation #love #selflove #selfcare #March #Rest #exhaustion #healing #wellness #mindset #selfcare #happiness #offtrack #spirituality #peace #nap #positivity #grace #spiritual #consciousness #mentalhealth...

**Audio Only*** Spring calls us to slow down, to pause and revel in the blooming of new life, the emergence of that which has been previously planted.  This is a lesson nature provides us to bring into our human lives as well.  To pause and appreciate that which we have grown, tended, cultivated in our own lives. The talk is followed by a 20 minute guided meditation.  Poem:  Today by Billy Collins...

Practicing Mindfulness on the cushion, in a quiet space, with soft light is great, but how do we bring this same quality of mindfulness into our everyday lives; at the grocery store, at work, while driving?  This talk is followed by a 15 minute guided meditation.  Poem “Mindful” by Mary Oliver #mindfulness #meditation #love #compassion #selfcompassion #mindfulnessineverydaylife #possibility #tende...

(Audio Only) How have we gotten to the place where we are screaming at each other?  How have we forgotten that we belong to one another and are connected?  In this talk we go into how division can be healed through compassion practice.  The talk is followed by a 20 min guided meditation.  Poem “With Astonishing Tenderness” by Rosemary Wahtola Trimmer #mindfulness #meditation #love #compassion #sel...