Lessons from a kindergarten class:

Last week I was in the art room at my daughter’s school to lend a hand to a group of kindergarteners working on a clay project.  When I first walked in one of the students scowled at me.  I’m guessing that’s because he didn’t know who I was —  I’m not quite sure.  A few moments after instructions for the lesson were finished and the art teacher explained that I was there to assist the class, this kid was the first to come over and say, “I’m going to need your help with my clay.” There were lots of little hands and lots of clay that needed rolling, so after he was set for his next step it was time to move along quickly.  The class time flew by and they were lining up just as the last child finished the first step of their project. I went around picking up dried bits of clay while the art teacher organized their line up and dismissal.  The boy from the beginning said, “I’m going to miss you.” and I replied, “That’s very kind of you to say. I’ll miss you too but maybe see you again next time.”  Five and six year old children are notorious for catching on to what draws a compliment and wanting to receive the same, so the girl next to him said, “I love you.” The child next to her said, “Me too!  I love you!”  It set off a wave of I love you from the entire line of children.  They were saying It to each other, to the art teacher, and maybe to the air.  It was absolutely adorable.  I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a room full of I love you, but it’s a sweet reminder about letting go of conditions or reasons to love.

Love to love and say it just because.

When you’re able to bring yourself into the present without carrying the past or feeling concerned about the future, you have the opportunity to become a clean slate for yourself and for others.  Learning to drop judgements about yourself and to not form them for others or releasing them if you have, can create a lot of freedom in your life.

I’ve been in a long process that I consider to be a deep clean, a time of letting anything go that once defined who I thought I was.  This includes letting go of notions I had about others too and practicing seeing myself and others as clean slates.  If you’re willing to try this, so that you can be fresh for the moment you’re in, I think you’ll find the benefit.  It provides the platform for forgiveness and making choices with a loving heart.

Imagine what your life would look like if you were willing to let people be new in each moment instead of holding them to the patterns or displays of their past.  How would you feel and behave if that were offered to you in each moment?  Being a clean slate creates the space needed for any kind of real change.

We can move through life taking our bodies for granted and forgetting to be thankful and loving ourselves as we are.  Body experiences vary for each person and change with age.  Sometimes we have pain or discomfort and yet we can still see all of it as an extraordinary happening that we get to take part in and that is worth our gratitude!  Pause to acknowledge the blessing your body is to you with a short guided visualization.  This takes just a few minutes and may help to keep you mindful in other parts of your day.

Blessing the Body

I am thankful for my whole body.  I am thankful for my whole being. I bless my mind, body, soul and all the points at which these parts of me interconnect.

I breathe into my entire body with a warm, soothing light that glows as it moves with my breath.  I breath warm, soothing, glowing light into my chest.  I breathe warm, soothing, glowing light into my shoulders, neck, and face.  I feel the warmth flow into the back of my body, stomach, hips, legs, and feet.  I am filled with warmth.  I am filled with a soft glowing light.  I am safe. I am warm.  My entire body is a blessing to me.

Guided voice with singing bowls and tingsha bells:

 

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anaïs Nin

Have you held yourself back from anything that could have helped you to expand? Could you let yourself take a step in a direction that would lead you to living a little larger and letting yourself embody more of your expansive spirit?  Where in your life is fear of something keeping you small?  If just acknowledging a fear is where you are today, that’s okay.  Approach it when and how you can until it’s easy enough to see whatever that fear is as something you can hold hands with, merge with, and then work with.

You can use the word fear interchangeably with insecurity, hurt, anger, sadness, and anything that could feel heavy or restrictive. All of these states of being need you to bring in their opposite to balance and heal.

 

 

An affirmation for trusting life and possibilities :

I trust that every moment is unfolding as it should.  I trust in my experiences and I am open to possibilities not immediately seen.

 

Your vehicle is just a party waiting to happen!  Even a 5 minute drive has  a minute in there where  you could be letting loose!!   The extent to which you’ll embrace this is all up to you.  I’ve been known to dance it out at a red light which my two kids think is horrifying now that they’re in their preteen and teenage years.  I’ve joked that I’m invisible in the car and they insist that’s absolutely not true.  (I do have leeway at the moment from my daughter to dance after 6pm with daylight savings time. – Thanks a lot kid.) The truth is I hope the people sitting around me will see it and remember to LIVE their lives and snatch up those moments of fun when they can.

So this is an ongoing scene for us, but yesterday my dear neighbor who is a little more reserved than me had her windows down and her jam turned up.  She yelled out as she drove by, “I’m having a party in here.”  Her British accent made it all the better to hear.  (Why is that – propriety?)  I was so happy to catch her in that moment and said, “Yes you are!  Enjoy!” and it’s made me think to share it with all of you.

Let yourself be the person having fun in a row of metal and minds lost to the mundane.  What is that quote by Omar Khayyan? 

Be happy for this moment.  This moment is your life.

You may be strapped in to that vehicle but you get to decide if it’s going to be a happy sort of restriction or not.  Please dance responsibility.

 

 

rit‧u‧al /ˈrɪtʃuəl/  noun [countable, uncountable]    

1 a ceremony that is always performed in the same way, in order to mark an important religious or social occasion

2 something that you do regularly and in the same way each time

It could be that you are a very orderly person and live your life by routine.  If that is the case, you could benefit from bringing in something special to that routine to give it spark, wake it up, and help you to be fully present in the moment with your life happenings.  It could be that you are not a very orderly person, and that your life would be more productive if you faced what may be a difficulty in adhering to routine which can be made more pleasant through creating rituals that you enjoy.  No matter how you naturally function, rituals can be a beautiful practice in staying present and they can consist of anything that you like.  Your ritual could be all in the preparation of your morning coffee or tea, it could be in a time you set aside to meditate or to exercise.  Creating a ritual brings more focus into an activity and I believe more gratitude as well.  It can be helpful to have rituals as part of your morning and evening.

Think of ways that you can greet the day that would feel special to you and something that would be a good marker in closing it off too.  The practice doesn’t need to be too long or an obstruction to your day, it should be something that you can easily add to brushing your teeth (assuming you do that at least twice a day) and that will help you to appreciate your morning and your days end.

A good way to determine who you want to spend time with and which relationships are healthy for you is in looking at how you feel with the person or people.  Do you feel uplifted, understood, and valued?  Do you feel seen?  Do you feel free to express yourself as you are?  Does the connection bring out the best in you?  Take a moment with that one.  Who are you in the relationship?  What emerges between you and the other person or group?  You can like someone and what they represent but not feel great about the convergence of personalities.  Someone who is a friend to you will feel good to be around.  That doesn’t mean they’re always going to say and do what you want because a true friend will instead choose what you need.  That can be uncomfortable, but again who are you in the relationship?  Will you be better for the advice or action?  Are you respected?

Choose wisely because your connections determine so much about your experience.

Signs come to us in all sorts of ways.  Be open to receiving them to notice what is communicated to you, and if you don’t believe in that, then you can believe in noticing your response to what’s showing up around you.  Surely your own response has value in being seen and understood. If you ask for a sign this weekend and open yourself to receive, I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised! Try it.

Affirmation:  I am open to receive guidance and I ask for a sign.  My senses are sharp.  I have clarity on all communication.

Could you make one interaction today or tomorrow more personal?  This can be someone you don’t know very well, but it can also be someone you live with and know “inside and out”.  We have a list of responses we tend to pull from with general interactions and we also tend to apply this in deeply practiced routines with our close family and friends.  Is it possible that you are using the same responses for a number of situations?  Is it also possible that you could tailor what you say for the person in front of you in a particular moment?

If you’d like to make an interaction more personal, you’ll first need to bring your attention to the present moment and a good starting place for that is your breath.  Match yourself to the rhythm of your breath,  slow the breath down and let that stem into slowing your mind and steadying your attention on the person of your choice.  Notice the way your breath feels in your body and how it feels to be living.  There is energy inhabiting you and it’s up to you how you will spend that energy.  Try sending that energy out to embrace someone.  That would mean that both you and whoever you decide to share your energy with could feel nurtured in this visualization by your attention to being fully present and making yourself available to a conversation with your entire being – your eyes, your ears, and the energy of your whole body available to connect.  No one but you needs to know about the imagery if you choose to try it.  The person across from or next to you will know, however, that you are absolutely present with them and that you aren’t just handing out hollow responses and advice that you may also share with a hoard of people.

Think about what would happen if everyone took time to whole heartedly connect with another person and the flood of good feelings that would bring about.  You can lift one person at a time and that can do a world of good!