Author: takeawalk44

 Gandhi did not realize one thing that I have known for a LONG time.  We share a birthday.  Somehow I doubt this would have changed his life, but it has changed mine.  When I realized that we share this day in my teen years I became fascinated with an amazingly kind and influential person.  Learning about him brought me to Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr as inspirations for Human Rights and my place in this equation.

I wanted to dedicate this day of ours to some thoughts – worth sitting with and repeating daily.

We have talked about giant friends, human friends, and now let’s give some credit and witnessing to our little critter friends.  They are so adaptable, fierce, and vulnerable all at the same time.  Finding a little critter and watching it quietly can be the perfect meditation for some afternoons.  Breathe, observe, let go of preconceived feelings about these tiny guys.  They are living life just as we are.

Learning how to breathe in a way that is helpful to our lives and Nervous System is not easy.  It takes practice and time when things are all going OK so that the tool and brain connection is there for you when the POOP hits the fan or someone cuts you off in traffic.  Here is a way to practice- If you find that you are often trying to; ‘calm down’ or ‘not over react’ or not yell at your kids and family- you are in need of DOWN REGULATION.  Nature gives us this with our Exhale.  Seems easy enough, however, most of us do not have access to a long exhale when we need it and we aren’t practiced with taking the time to breathe before we speak or act.  So give this a try.  pick a number between 5-10, find a candle (jars work great because it controls where the wax goes) and breathe the number of exhales that you chose into the jar, flickering the candle but never blowing it out.  See if your exhales can be at least 6-8 seconds.

There.  Done.  Now do it again tomorrow and the next day.  In a few weeks those neural pathways will be made to use this tool in life’s craziness moments.

Find the time to notice the Art in your every day surroundings.  Tiny moments all around us are worthy of our full and slow attention.

I went to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum for the 3rd time last weekend and finally saw many of her early works when she was in art school and showing that she could impersonate anyone’s art.  All of the technical skills were there, with ease.

Then, she went her own way and showed an entirely new side of shape, color and perspective to the world.  A new and LARGE impression was made on me with her guts and her inability to be anyone else but Georgia O’Keeffe.

There is a song that I used to love by Ani Difranco which says ‘When I look down, I just miss all the good stuff and when I look UP, I just trip over things.’  I relate to this because of the way I take pictures.  It seems I am either engrossed in ‘up close vegetation’ or head right smack in the middle of the clouds.  I appreciate the middle ground as well, but these two contrasting places are what hold most of my attention.

I share an obsession of this large sky that I live underneath with a friend.  My Sky Friend. We are regularly sending each other pictures of the most amazing, miraculous, devastating and scary skies we witness daily in our extreme environment!  This started about 6 years ago, has continued and I am NEVER bored.

What catches your attention?  What fascinates you outside, in nature?  Do you still find magic and pause like a child might?

Mala beads come in bracelets and necklaces.  Much like Rosary beads they are a way of keeping track throughout a mantra or meditation.  On necklaces there are 109 beads. Traditionally, you repeat a personal statement 108 times each time you use it, which is usually daily or many times a day.  The 109th bead is your Guru bead, or a bead that signifies teachers or most dear loved ones in your life.  Bracelets usually have 27 beads and so you repeat 4 times around with your statement. The other beads are drawn forth by your thumb as you repeat a statement about yourself that you are working toward.

“I am enough”

“I live with kindness and show love to all”

“Peace and Calm lead my actions as I trust”

Some people advise not to hold the Mala with your index finger, as it is your ego finger, but even the Dalai Lama has been seen using his index finger.  Best practice is to use it with your heart and with consistency.  As you wear this beautiful piece it can be a helpful reminder of a vision for yourself and an internal place that you seek.  It is also a calming form of self regulation throughout our busy and stressful lives.

 We are all on a path of finding, forgiving, enveloping and releasing.  It is a daunting task at times.  The joys and sorrows are beautifully devastating.  Throughout this growth, on this path, while we walk there is something to always remember –

You are loved

You are lovable

You are love

So, love

When we were kids we naturally knew how to breathe.  This breath let us truly experience patience, release, calm and joy.  As we get older, life happens, fears come and our brain and body tries to cope.  We often begin to live with a breath that is in our chest and collar bones.  It is a short and shallow breath.  Living this way and breathing this way allows us to be very close to anxiety and panic, because this is our survival breath.

To come into calm like we did as children and experience peace and more joy, try diaphragm breathing exercises.  Reclined and comfortable place one hand on your belly and one hand of your chest.  Inspire the chest hand to be still, it may take a lot of reminding at first and see where the air goes.  It must go somewhere, and down it will go.  Breathing low allows your belly to inflate with your inhale and deflate with you exhale.

Try this for just 2 minutes at a time anytime you feel the need to relax – practice this breath into habit and then lifestyle.  We once lived this way, we just need to remember.