Archive for the Category » gratitude «

Nov
18

365 Meditation Project. Dude, Four Days and Loving It!

Orangutan in Aalborg Zoo, Denmark

Image via Wikipedia

Lest I overstate how I feel about my first four days, I have to stress that my ADHD, crack addicted orangutan- I mean monkey- of a mind still prevails.  My early morning thirty minutes is a virtual cluster f*# of to-do’s, did-do’s, oh sh*t’s, oh-god-i-forgot-to-do’s, WTF’s, and so many more wonderful distractions.

And I indulge.

But I still sit.  I redirect.  I bring my attention to my breath.

Over and over and over again.

While it sounds tedious, it has been a most pleasant space early in the quiet of the morning.  Before the emails, the work, the kids, the noise… the chaos.

And somehow I’m energized first thing, better preparing me for the day.

And the nagging headache I’ve been waking up with?  Blissfully diminished at the end of the half hour… despite the orangutan.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta
Category: 365 day meditation, gratitude, health, maybe, Meditation, Practice, Spirit, strength, surrender  Leave a Comment
Nov
15

Meditation… 365 Days and Counting!

101 days since mommy’s last tweet… 101 days since mommy’s last post.  Hmmmm…..

OK… so things have kinda been falling apart.  Just a lil’ bit.

But inspired anew, with a tidy place to transform my butt-ugly-early mornings from groggily logging on to facebook- I mean, my email and other work related stuff- to something truly transformative.  I’m turning to meditation to aid in persistent headaches, a pesky snacking habit and even more pesky weight gain… and really just an over-all case of the blah’s- physically and mentally.

I’ll let you know how it goes.  Consider this a 365 Day Project of a different shade.

Forget New Years.  Meditation. Everyday. Now.

Tell it, Senor Kabat-Zinn….

Category: 365 day meditation, Good Intentions, gratitude, health, Meditation, Spirit, strength, surrender, weight loss  Leave a Comment
Apr
28

Happy Thursday!

A little bit of unadulterated playfulness in anticipation of the weekend:

Category: Blog, gratitude, green, Spirit  Leave a Comment
Apr
22

Happy Earth Day… Get Your Yoga On!

Happy Earth Day, all!

In honour of all things earth, lets talk what we can do to combine our love of yoga with our love of this wondrous host that sustains us.

1. Get outside with your mat.  OK, so it still might only be slightly above freezing in some parts (ahem. mine.), but I bet it warms up some by this afternoon.  Even if it’s just a quick sun salute out on the lawn… bring your practice closer to the soil on this special day!

2. Walking meditation. Find a favourite spot outside, take off your shoes, and walk it.  Back and forth, with method and deliberation.  Feel the sensations in your feet: every grab of your toes, the pressure in your heels.  Breathe deeply. Welcome thoughts as you patiently dismiss them. Yes, to your neighbours, you’ll sort of look like a victim of the bodysnatchers, but who cares?!  They’ll have no idea what they’re missing and you’ll feel invigorated by the experience!

3. Sitting meditation.  Again… find a favourite spot outdoors, arrange your preferred seat, and sit. Be. ‘Nuff said.

4. Get outside with the kids. There is nothing to ground you to our Mother, like fully embracing that within yourself. Even with the screaming, crying and whining… OK, maybe that’s just my brood.

5. Unplug for mercy’s sake.  Turn off the God-awful tube, X-Box, PS, wii, computer (… yeah. right.) Nothing says we love you Earth, like conserving a little energy and getting people away from screens gets everybody expending a little for a change.

6.  Today… water is for drinking.  Take a break from flushing, washing, watering.

7.  Sit down with your family and make a “Conservation Commitment”.  Talk about some ways you all can impact the Earth less, why it’s so important and sign a contract that seals the deal.

8.  For this day, as you move about your daily lives, keep conservation in your consciousness.  When I approach the fridge and grab for something, I like to ask, “does this really nourish me?”  Same goes for your activities today, “Does this help or hurt?”

It’s a beautiful, wonderful day.  Thank Earth.

Category: Blog, Events, Good Intentions, gratitude, green, health, yoga  One Comment
Feb
05

Buddhist Tales for Kids or Jataka For Dummies!

Compassion.  Integrity.  Cooperation.  Hygiene.  All important principles to living a full, happy life.  However, in this age of technology, over-scheduling and increasingly interactive, realistic and solitary-bordering-on-anti-social pursuits such as computer games, XBox and facebook, increasingly difficult principles to nurture in our young ones.

And, if unplugging isn’t an option, maybe reconnecting our kids, and ourselves, to these human truths can be as simple as a story.  These important messages have been conveyed through story-telling for a millennia.  In regions of Buddhist faith, messages of Empathy, Consideration, Wisdom and Modesty have been passed on through the Jataka tales to help guide and govern human behaviour and develop the character of the people.

I found this interesting resource at BuddhaNet, a great resource for all information Buddhist… if you’re looking for a good way to introduce your kids to Buddhist – heck, healthy human!- principles, complete with easy to digest morals, HERE is a wonderful collection of translated Jataka tales to read aloud to your kids.

They are as simple as can be, some of them a little hokey to be sure- they’re fables after all!- but perfect for getting conversations started and kids (and us- ahem!) thinking!

Category: Good Intentions, gratitude, health, Kids, Meditation, reading, Spirit, strength, surrender  One Comment
Jan
18

Guided Meditation for Children

Time spent in meditation is, by far, one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves.

Many of us as parents, even those of us who appreciate meditation in our own lives, are hesitant to introduce it to our children.

We are intimidated by the prospect, knowing how difficult it is ourselves to find that often illusive place of quiet.  ’If I struggle in quieting my own monkey mind, how can I possibly help my child do it?’

In truth, it can actually be easier.  Consider how rapt your child is during story time. In that spirit, children are remarkably receptive to sitting in quiet and in peaceful attention.  The perfect beginning.

Through guided meditation to start with, the child is better able to connect with that peaceful place within, losing themselves in the comfort of your voice or that of a recording, and the urgings of gentle instruction.

The benefits of meditation are immeasurable.  As with adults, meditation is shown to reduce stress while enhancing self-esteem.  It also offers a healthy means of relaxation during doctor’s visits, exams and in preparation for various sports events and performances.

According to Sarah Wood, a facilitator in child meditation, and author of the book Sensational Meditation for Children, teachers who build meditation into lesson plans report their classroom environments being more peaceful and attribute this to their students’ ability to express compassion to each other.

“The transformation we as adults experience when we become partners in learning with our children” is exhilarating, says Wood, who also observes “learning a meditation practice is a journey in growth, whether it is spiritual, emotional or mental.”

To help you get started with your own child, have a listen:  childrengettingstarted

While it may take several sessions, any practitioner of meditation will agree that there can be no down-side to offering a child such an experience and the knowledge of how to acheive it themselves.  Any time, any where.  There is such valuable power in that.

For more ideas and resources, please visit Children’s Meditation.

For more information, read more at Suite101: The Benefits of Child Meditation: Giving Children Tools to Nurture Their Bodies, Minds and Spirits http://www.suite101.com/content/the-benefits-of-child-meditation-a22687#ixzz1BOorGkMd

Category: gratitude, health, instruction, Kids, Meditation, Spirit, strength, surrender  Leave a Comment
Jan
14

60 Houses Going to Haiti… Thanks to the Power of Yoga!

You wouldn’t think of the tiny province of Nova Scotia as being a hotbed of activism, but it’s amazing what can happen when you combine the spirit of yoga and, well, the spirit of people.

With the help of his staff, Jeff MacKinnnon, of Breathing Space Yoga Studio, and his Yoga 11 class partnered with Ian MacHattie and fotocan.org to raise the money for 60 houses, costing $500 each. The 60 houses will make their way to the devastated and struggling country, hit by a 7.0 earthquake a year ago, killing 220,000 and leaving 1.8 million homeless.

Part of the fundraiser featured a class of 94 students at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College on Monday, which is the largest ever in the region. MacKinnon was trying to break that number Thursday at Cobequid Educational Centre which was also the culmination of the CEC’s first semester of Yoga 11, and featured 86 participants. To meet the 60-house goal, the last $775 was raised through the class.

Read on….

Category: Articles, Events, gratitude, news, Practice, Spirit, yoga  Leave a Comment
Jun
26

Yoga… Not Just For Size 6′s

heavyweight yogaYoga isn’t just for your average Jennifer Aniston type body anymore.  With obesity in North America reaching epidemic proportions it really can’t be.

But when self-loathing is such a fundamental part of day-to-day life, where do the plus-size go to enjoy the effects of yoga but would rather not have to stare into a size-4 behind for 90 minutes?

Unfortunately, there aren’t many choices.  But, seeing the need, and knowing first-hand the difficulty, Texas yoga instructor Abby Lentz came up with a plan.

As an active plus-size woman, Abby knew the importance of not only a safe place in which to allow such physical vulnerability as learning postures in a body that would be perhaps less than receptive, but also founding principles that would facilitate participation.  She refers to them as the Three A’s-  awareness, acceptance and affection.

For people to start the program, and more importantly continue, Abby’s goal is to encourage women to accept and love their bodies NOW, not when they finally manage to lose pounds or shrink jeans sizes.  It’s about influencing the self-loathing before the weight-loss.

Read more….

Category: beauty, gratitude, health, Practice, Spirit, strength, Trends, weight loss, yoga  One Comment
Nov
25

Sanctuary… Clean, Organized & Tidy? So What If It’s Not?!

homeI mean, some people swear they function best when they have to rifle through piles to find what they’re looking for… they even maintain that unless they are rifling through piles, they couldn’t possibly actually find what they’re looking for.

Really?!  I’m always struck a tad incredulous with those claims… but hey, who am I to judge?

What I know for myself is that when my home, particularly those spaces in which I need to be productive… ie. kitchen, office, bedroom- ahem!… is tidy, clean and efficiently functional, I’m all the better for it.  I’m more comfortable in these spaces and therefore enjoy spending more time in them.  This is especially wonderful for me in my office… for my kids in the kitchen, and in the bedroom… well, I suppose hubby is the lucky beneficiary there!

Surely you’ve heard Oprah and her lovely Nate Berkus frequently wax poetic about your home “rising up to meet you…”; or her Australian guru of all things tidy and organized, Peter Walsh, making some mighty strong statements about the reflection the condition the home makes of one’s true state of mind and mental health.  Then again, the people he’s dealing with are dealing with some pretty big issues beyond just some unruly piles of mail and magazines and general untidiness.

As I’m tidying and cleaning to prepare for this fast approaching holiday weekend and seeing piles disappear to whence they came- where they actually belong or the trash!- there’s a sense of calm and peace come over me that I usually only know after a cycle of sun salutations.  There’s a feeling of all being right in that moment and I revel in each and every clutter-free space.  Even the hallway downstairs where I’d been piling clothes to go to my sister’s kids, clothes to donate, seasonal items to be put away (yes, I have those infernal to-be-put-away piles that grow and grow until you have company coming to stay and finally PUT the stuff AWAY!!), ski suits to be tried on, car and boat batteries, the new light fixture for the dining room… I could go on….

Anyways, the feeling of satisfaction at having finally dealt with the various piles, the various messes, the general disorganization, is so worth the effort once the day is done.  So, in honour of Thanksgiving… despite the stress that always accompanies these holidays, I wish everyone gratitude and peace of mind, whether it be from digging through your organized piles, or getting rid of them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Category: Good Intentions, gratitude, health, Meditation, Spirit, surrender  Leave a Comment
Nov
13

Little Bits of Nice… Add Up to Wonderful

ringletWe have been trying to implement a regular routine of meditation for the kids…

It’s short and sweet, don’t get me wrong.

While eleven year old sits and is definitely interested in ‘getting it’, the others are typical kids and do what they have to to endure the seemingling endless minutes.  There’s a bit of fidgeting by seven-year-old. And five-year-old lone girl child feels the need to act out the scenes I describe to facilitate relaxation: eyes scrunched shut, turning her face upwards with an exaggerated smile towards a fictional sun or scratching and digging her toes into the floor as though it’s actually warm Caribbean sand.

Regardless the fidgeting and dramatic performance, it’s a practice. It’s a practice that will provide them with a personally valuable life skill.  The ability of being able to still the mind, get quiet, calm down, gather.  It’s a practice that will serve them well as they grow and mature and the anxieties and stresses of life intensify. They don’t understand that now, certainly.  But I take heart in this being a gift I can give them that will provide them infinite rewards as they evolve into teens and adults.

However, as we- parents- make our way through our own transition right now, implementing new strategies to manage our stress and keep thinking positively, and as we enjoy the benefits of these strategies, it becomes clear that these few minutes early in the day are only part of the picture.

gusti-jump_02The practice extends beyond just a few minutes of focusing on good feelings for a few moments.  It’s an exercise in looking for, recognizing, and even getting excited anticipating, good things throughout the day.  Little things, sometimes really seemingly insignificant- inconsequential- things, but together add up to a wonderful day.

As homeschoolers we’re together most of the day.  This lends itself to great quality time, but also to more opportunities for conflict and irritation.

So, we’ve begun making lists throughout the day… making a brief stop here and there to quickly consider and jot down those good things that happen, no matter how small.  Say, really simply,  ‘I had leftover pizza for lunch…”  or “I got my language arts done in only one hour…” or “Sister helped me build my fort…”

These little things end up being pretty easy to identify (particularly for kids!) and what’s remarkable about this exercise -an introduction to appreciation and gratitude- is how fast the lists are compiled and how much fun it becomes!

There is no right or wrong in the lists, as long as they’re positive and that they please us to look back upon.

It brings colour to the day.

Of course, this practice doesn’t eliminate the bumps and challenges that can be part of our days, but it gives us a little precious perspective, balancing the conflicts, trials and frustrations with appreciation, fun and wonder.

Category: gratitude, health, Kids, Meditation, Spirit, strength, surrender  Leave a Comment