Blending the science of well-being with the wisdom of ancient contemplative practice.
Mindfulness in the Heartland
every moment matters
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I am becoming water…I let everything rinse its grief in meand reflect as much light as I can.– Mark Nepo – Mindfulness practitioners will often explore a variety of meditation practices as they endeavor to deepen the cultivation of present-moment awareness. When it comes to developing positive attitudinal qualities, loving-kindness meditation is one of the …
The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. – Maya Angelou – Practicing mindfulness opens us up to a whole new way of being in the world. Not only are we learning to be more present and accepting of what …
The eye—it cannot choose but see;we cannot bid the ear be still;our bodies feel, where’er they be,against or with our will. — William Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads Often, as people begin to explore mindfulness, questions arise around the concept of “being.” What is it exactly? And how do we know when we’ve arrived? Human Doing vs. …
In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind, there are few. – Shunryu Suzuki – One essential truth is that no moment is ever exactly the same as another. Life is a dynamic, ever-changing unfolding of everything that exists. To that end, every moment we experience is rich with unique …
All of us have the capacity to be mindful. All it involves is cultivating our ability to pay attention in the present moment. ‒ Jon Kabat-Zinn – A friend of mine, who is a busy educator, artist, and mother of a young child recently expressed her desire to bring more mindfulness into her everyday experience, …
Whatever the times, suffering eventually touches every life. How we live with it, and help others to, is one of the great creative and ethical opportunities. – Dr. Elaine N. Aron – Several years ago, when my daughter was still in pre-K, our family’s morning routine had become a teary and stressed-filled extravaganza. Every morning, we’d …
Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. – Robert Louis Stevenson – The clean slate that rings in with a new year is often the time when many of us are inspired to reach toward new goals of self-improvement. We mark the passage of one year …
Lead us toward a speech, which is as beautiful as silence, and toward a silence, which is as beautiful as the sweetest and truest of words. – Jean-Yves Leloup – Communication is the primary vehicle by which we attempt to share our beliefs, perceptions, inner experiences and get our needs met. When communication is nurtured …
This morning, I welcomed the day along with the birds…long before the sun showed an interest in this side of the world. Not wanting to rustle the stillness from our otherwise sleepy house, I decided to do my meditation before anything potentially disruptive occurred. At some point during meditation, a bird in close proximity to …
Wisely and slowly; they stumble that run fast. – Hugh Howey – Like most people, I struggle with balancing all there is to get done. Having two small children means that some days I have to prioritize my priorities. Which is another way of saying some goals have to take a back burner to others, …
Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day. – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh I would have told you at one time that I was an extremely patient person. Having lived through a pretty chaotic childhood, I thought myself able to manage the ebb and flow of situations that …
If every child in the world would be taught meditation, we would eliminate violence from the world within one generation. —The Dalai Lama Parents often ask me if I know of any meditations geared toward children. Although not created with only children in mind, Pebble Meditation, developed by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, is commonly …
It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either. —Wayne Dyer Yesterday, we began the long drive home after a week of visiting family. I remember in the days before we had children, that 6+ hours …
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself. —Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays Formal meditation practice continually encourages the practitioner into an ever-deepening look within. Like the burgeoning intimacy of a close relationship, anchoring into one’s being invites …
For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain. —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Within the field of mindfulness, we often talk about being present with things as they are, rather than as we’d like them to be. In simplest terms, this means accepting life as it comes …
To live lightheartedly but not recklessly; to be gay without being boisterous; to be courageous without being bold; to show trust and cheerful resignation without fatalism—this is the art of living. — Jean de La Fontaine Prior to discovering meditation twenty plus year’s ago, I was very much at the whim of my thoughts. …
“It’s in our biology to trust what we see with our eyes. This makes living in a carefully edited, overproduced and photoshopped world very dangerous.” ― Brené Brown The saying, “you are what you eat” is generally accepted wisdom. It’s not a stretch of one’s intellect to see the link between what …
Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live. ― Alan Wilson Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety Many moons …
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince In between today’s morning cartoons and Sunday football, our family took a quick sojourn to Loose Park, one of the gems of our beloved Kansas City, and a regular haunt for our tribe. …
Our old habits are worthy opponents. — Pema Chodron Change may be inevitable, but it can also feel incredibly daunting. This is especially true when we are actively letting go of habits that no longer serve us. Mindfulness can play a critical role in the process of relinquishing old habits and establishing new ones. Although …
Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul. – Marcus Aurelius – People who regularly meditate with an organized group will at some point be introduced to the concept of “going on retreat”. Although formal retreats vary greatly in design, in the mindfulness community the consistent threads of …
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few. —Shunryu Suzuki Recently, my life has been imbued with a little more breathing room as my son has moved into toddlerhood. As a result, I’ve been able to give myself permission to return to meditating with a group on a …
“It’s no surprise we fail to tune into our children’s essence. How can we listen to them, when so many of us barely listen to ourselves? How can we feel their spirit and hear the beat of their heart if we can’t do this in our own life?” ― Shefali Tsabary, The Conscious Parent Earlier …
“Life is the dancer and you are the dance.” ― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose I’ve been spending a lot of time in the car over the past week. As a one car family, we are always navigating schedules to make sure everyone gets where they need to be and …
