“Break the old pattern of present moment denial and present moment resistance.  Make it your practice to withdraw attention  from past and future whenever they are not needed.”   – Eckhart Tolle

“When you wash your hands, when you make a cup coffee, when you’re waiting for an elevator – instead of indulging in thinking, these are all opportunities for being there, as a still, alert presence.” – Eckhart Tolle

The everyday activities you perform can become mini meditations.  You can attach a practice to short lived actions as reminders to live mindfully.  You can also attach gratitude to the action with positive affirmations.  Think about an affirmation you’d like to repeat everyday or every time you see one of your coffee mugs.  (This isn’t a new idea -plenty of mugs have quotes on them, but I happen to like wordless mugs collected for their color or shape.) The sight of the mug, your positive affirmation, and then quiet awareness on the actions of preparing, pouring, and drinking the cup of coffee, tea, or water can become a meaningful part of your day.

Suggestions for mug affirmations

1. I am so grateful for this moment.

2.  I know my worth and I honor the same in others.

3. I am so lucky!

4. There is no wrong choice.

5. Life is always balancing itself.

Use whatever words bring you the most joy, comfort, or sense of rightness for where you are now.

 

Congratulations!  You’ve made it to day six of a brand new decade.  How do you feel?  Did you take time to look over what you were happy about in 2019?  Have you spent time hashing out those 365.24 days to see if you could pinpoint the most important moments for change, joy, and love?  If you did, did it make you feel better about the moment you’re in now or the ones you’re going to be creating soon in 2020?  If you loved the last decade, maybe you sat joyously reminiscing or celebrating your noted accomplishments.  If you’re not satisfied with where you are, maybe you resigned to buckle down and make larger strides.  It could also be that you were indifferent to December 31st, 2019 as it turned over into January 1st, 2020.  You know you and you know where you stand with your past and with your present.  Generally, the past is only useful to you in what you can learn from it in recreating more of the same or altering for change.  With that in mind, taking just a few moments to feel gratitude for the past decade and year could be enough, otherwise you may be missing some of your now.  The same is true for future planning.  Take time to set your goals and intentions, but don’t let your head get stuck in a future that’s not yet here.  Planning, vision boards, and even feeling your future as you want to experience it are wonderful tools but too much worrying about another time can keep you from being a part of the present.

BE HERE NOW  

You can bring yourself back into your present moment with purposeful breathing.  You can also spend time with nature to do this and if you can’t get outside but you need to refocus, call yourself back into the present moment by going tactile.  If you’re outside, look for a pebble or whatever is in the landscape and comfortably accessible to you.  If you’re inside or at a desk, you can call in your energy with a pencil or another item there close by.  Focus on the object of your choice, feel it’s weight, notice it’s texture, and smile as you inhale and exhale.  Notice the weight of your object again and internally recognize your presence through the external.

Let 2020 be a year of clear vision for staying present as much as you can.  Honor your true self with acceptance of the current scene while you let that bright light of yours shine radiantly. No matter what has come before this and no matter what may come to pass, let the present be your muse.

We often become immersed in the repetition of our days and dulled to the magnificence of our existence.  We don’t know what moment may be our last and yet we let so many pass in a string of absentminded interplay, forgetting to marvel at the beauty in it all .

Today is a gift.  Be alive with your surroundings and loved ones.  Today is perfect exactly as it is and as it comes to you.

 

This is the best way that I know to stay MERRY in this season….well and really any season.

1-say NO when you really do not want to; give, go, do.  Then let it go.

2-say YES when you feel the urge to share, be there or buy.  Then let it go.

3-Do not take what people do and say personally as if it is ALL simply to crush your day.  They are living their own path through the holidays and that can be VERY difficult.  “Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”  Said differently by many people.   Let them go.

4-“Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.”  Brian Tracy

Remembering that you do not necessarily need a quiet, neutral room with a yoga mat for ‘peace of mind’.  Then again, you might.  Let it be.

 

You never know when a seemingly small interaction or invitation is going to lead you to something much more important than you could have guessed.  Ordinary happenings hold plenty of magic, when you allow yourself to be in the stream of receptivity while also open to action.  I recently heard magic described as any technology we have yet to understand, and I liked that so much because pretty much all of us can jump on board with that – mystic or skeptic – yes?

I have experienced quite a few events that played out in wonderful ways when I didn’t stop to question and let myself go with the flow.  The first I remember was with how I met the friend I share this blog with… we were 11, well, I was 11 and she would be very soon after.  We had gym scheduled similarly in sixth grade but with different teachers which lined up our changing room time.  One day she called out, “Hey everyone! I’m having a birthday party and want to invite one more person if any of you are interested.”  I changed around the corner from her but overheard the invitation and wasted not one moment in the opportunity to go to someone’s party.  I don’t even remember if we had spoken before this.  I ran around the corner and yelled out, “I wanna go to your party!!” That was the beginning of this connection that has now spanned 28 years.

You never know where an invitation may lead you, or an impulse, or your imagination. Listen to yourself, trust your impulses, and let the everyday show it’s magic to you!

 2002

What can be dropped from or added to this day to make room for happy?  Is there something you’re just dreading and could let yourself say no to doing?  Saying no to one thing is often a yes in disguise for something else that will feel so much better! (I think this is such a lovely way to dispel guilty feelings surrounding no.)

If today is beyond your control in shaping, remember that your response to whatever comes is still up to you.  If you commit to saying, “I plan to be happy.” you’re sure to see it become part of your day.  The more in line you are with your truth and the more you honor yourself, the more you’ll have to nourish others in their pursuit of genuine happiness.

 

After the large beautiful meal that you enjoyed yesterday and left overs today you may not be feeling your sharpest or most energetic.  Here are some suggestions for getting that digestion back online even when you might have eaten sides that inflame your gut.

Standing with feet shoulder width, arms at your side, feel your feet in the ground and begin to sway with heavy soft arms.  a casual twisting that likens a walk. exhale every time you twist, inhale as you sway to the other side.  15-30 breaths.  Breathing may seem fast, and that is ok!  Work for those thorough exhales.  Energize this twisting sway with breath, not arms.

Then begin to high step one knee to the opposite elbow (maybe seems like an aerobics class at the moment). exhale with every elbow/knee touch.  15-30.

Stand tall, feet close, for Standing Crescent.  Arms over   head, feet and heels firmly planted.  pull one wrist over stretching the side body like a crescent moon.  Opposite side as many times as you like.  Your side body may be quite tight, so DEEP inhales as you arch over.

Next, either take a nice walk outside in the fresh air OR lay down and increase your digestions with Reclined Twists, Legs left first.  Back and forth with 3-4 breaths for each side and then end legs on right side.  This is for your ascending and descending colon.

JOY to your GUT.

It’s not always nice or helpful to say ‘get over it’.  Mmmm probably never actually.  Yet, I am going to say it, inside.  This morning was a morning in which my 6 year old felt the world and its inner workings were worth tears and defeat at every turn.  Nothing was right or OK.  Don’t we all have moments and hours and days like this.  Sometimes entire seasons.

Some things we may never get over, we move along with them and begin to see them differently.

Some things we can share and talk about and find joy within.

Some things, some mornings, we need to get over.  Move past and start FRESH.  Breath. A pose.  Change clothes.  Allow for a mess.  Move through on and get over IT.  There is a day waiting that is bursting with NEW.  I hope today the best lifts you up and sets your path onward.  Little things can be worth tears.  You are worth moving on and getting over IT.

 

Last year around this time, healing familial ties and other relationships was a theme that felt appropriately placed in the holiday season.  That time of year has come around again, and this year I’m thinking of it a little differently.  I’m wondering how the holidays will look if I consider myself a garden to tend and the people I interact with as visiting flowers.

How would activities be chosen differently?  How would words to a petal or stem be spoken?  How much water does that one need and what kinds of food does it like best? (I’m thinking of water and food here as listening, affection, shared conversations, and perhaps eye contact.)  What truly nourishes? This lends to feeling a little lighter and inquisitive about how the coming week and end of year will look and feel.  Envisioning people and yourself as a garden may not be what fits you — but if it does and you try it, I’d be delighted to know what you experience.  I’m giving it a try for sure!

Poetry by Emily Dickinson