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You are here: Home / Archives for Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Countdown New Zealand Day 15

05/22/2020 by John Leave a Comment

This is a series of posts that will log some of my thoughts in the month leading up to my moving back to New Zealand.

I picture us living in a small home with a decent sized yard on the outskirts of a small town in New Zealand. From the windows, we look out at the mountains framed by a brilliant blue sky. It is a simple life. We rent out some space of some sort to people traveling through and in this way stay connected to the larger world. There is a garden that allows us to produce much of the fresh food that we need. We diligently can and freeze the excess for the colder months. Every morning we go down the street for a coffee and read books from the local library. When we have free time we drive the van out to the beach. We deepen our practices: meditation, yoga, journaling.

Money? We don’t need much. Just enough.

Doesn’t all that sound nice? And yet, once again I look to an imagined future for my salvation instead of the present moment. The only relief to be found is right here, right now. It is in the hum of the refrigerator, the taste of my coffee, and the feel of the breath moving in and out of my body.

My tendency is to look outside of myself for comfort. If only I had this. When I achieve that. When I meet the right person. All of this, a fool’s errand. And though I know this to be true, I still default to having my eyes set firmly on the horizon instead of on the ground on which I stand.

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Mindfulness Tagged With: Countdown New Zealand, mindfulness, minimalism, New Zealand

This Is How It Is Right Now

04/29/2020 by John 1 Comment

I’m having coffee in bed — one of my favorite things. Bird song is coming through the window. A candle is burning on the dresser across the room, throwing shadows on the wall. I am relaxed and at peace.

This is how it is right now.

I did a meditation this morning with this quote as the focus. This is how it is right now. This is how it is. Right now.

In turbulent times, this simple phrase is a source of comfort. It reminds me that whatever chaos is happening within or without will pass. In times of joy, it is a reminder to appreciate what is, but not cling to it, for it too will pass.

This is how it is right now.

Filed Under: Mindfulness Tagged With: mindfulness

Uncertainty and Possibility

04/15/2020 by John 1 Comment

We are living in a time of heightened uncertainty. The Covid-19 pandemic has us all wondering when things will return to normal. We worry about how much the world will be changed by what is occurring. Sometimes it feels like all we have now is uncertainty — endless days stretched before us leading to no one knows where.

I thought I knew uncertainty pretty well, but this feels entirely different. Normally in times of uncertainty, I can still make choices that can affect my situation. But in this situation, I feel powerless. I find myself constantly wanting to run to numbing behaviors like overeating, alcohol, busywork, or obsessively checking the news. I’m having more trouble than normal just allowing myself to be in the space of uncertainty. I try and sit with it, but my mind is fidgety. There is nothing I can do but follow instructions and hope that the situation improves.

I remind myself that stepping into uncertainty is something I’ve had a lot of practice with. Each one of us does it thousands of times a day as we move from one-second into the next. Uncertainty is always with us. We just don’t normally recognize it. If we could connect with the constant state of uncertainty that is existence then perhaps we would feel better prepared for what we now face.

But we crave certainty. We create daily rituals and routines to maintain and enforce it. We cultivate what we read and who we follow on social media to strengthen the certainty of our beliefs. We eat the same meals over and over again. We think of uncertainty as something negative, something to be avoided at all costs.

We need to acknowledge the fear inherent in uncertainty. Trying to push it away will only make it stronger. But we should also honor the possibility that lives within uncertainty. It is the possibility that what comes after will be better than what was before.

Filed Under: Mindfulness

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