Last week I had a bad cold.  It made it’s home in my sinuses and the only relief was laying down.  I drank a lot of tea and contemplated the wisdom instead of thinking about the pain and pressure in my head.  There is so much to be gained by slowing down and going within.  Which teabag saying speaks to you?

“Let Things Come to You”

“Love Your Soul”

“Our Intuition Lies in our Innocence”

“Let Your Heart Guide You”

“Practice Kindness, Mercy, & Forgiveness”

“Love Your Soul”

“Let Your Heart Speak to Other’s Hearts”

“Your Destiny is to Merge with Infinity”

“Understanding is Found through Compassion”

“Open up to Infinity and You Become Infinity”

“Meditation is the Medicine of the Mind”

“Old Age Needs Wisdom and Grace”

“Mental Happiness is Total Relaxation”

“Let Your Manners Speak for You”

“Oneness is Achieved by Recognizing Your Self”

Posted: February 5th, 2009 under meditation, present moment, yoga.
Comments: 4

It’s a half hour before sunrise as I grab my cup of tea and head out the door.  The sky is cloudless blue as light ascends on San Diego.  The near full moon lights my way as the car snakes down Torrey Pines Rd, around Hidden Valley and up Capri.  My destination, Mt. Soledad National Park.  I can see the large cross in the distance, the center of the war memorial. 

 As I reach the top, I am alone.  Silence surrounds me, except for the background hum of early morning traffic along Interstate 5 and a couple of crows whom call this park home.  I grab my yoga mat and climb the stairs then take in the beauty around me.  The light blue and orchid sky surrounding the moon, the yellow and orange sky to the east, the calm ocean, the flickering city lights, the shadow of Mission Bay, the Coronado Bridge and the Coronado Islands. 

 I set up my mat facing south so that I can drink in the moon as I twist right and the growing dawn as I twist left.  My yoga asana practice is short, a series of three gentle vinyasa flows and warrior pose.  I keep my eyes open and notice a constant stream of jets rising from the airport.  I breathe in the clean, warm air during pranayama practice (breathing exercises): ten rounds of nadishodana (alternate nostril breathing) and 108 kalabati breaths (bellows breath).  I meditate on the phase: one breath, one body, one moment, one heart; then add ten rounds of mantra on my mala beads with one-pointed concentration on the eastern horizon as I await the sun.

 The bright light winks at me, then rises majestically over the mountains. 

 The lights of the city dim.  Cars arrive in the park.  It’s time for me to go.  I say good-bye to the moon and thank God for this opportunity to see, feel, touch, and drink in this magnificent planet.

Posted: January 12th, 2009 under Stained Glass, meditation, yoga.
Comments: 4

Stop thinking and talking about it and there is nothing you will not be able to know.

I’ve been rereading Julie Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” and came across this Zen paradigm in the margins.  After reading it once, I stopped to think about what it meant.  When I see two negatives in a sentence, it always gives me pause.

Stop thinking and talking about it and there is nothing you will not be able to know.

When I encounter a statement I wish to ponder, I like to reword it, pull it apart and think about it more.

Stop thinking and talking about it.  That alone is something to ponder.  How often do we think about writing a book, getting a new job, making new friends, taking a cooking class - anything that requires action.  Yet we think about it and think about it until we decide it takes too much effort or we drop the idea and start thinking about doing something else – again, thinking but not acting on the thought.  We spend so much time in our heads and get nothing accomplished.

The same could be said about talking about something.  We talk to our friends when something is bothering us. We talk about our dreams, our worries, our desires, our complaints, but if we don’t take any action to change the situation, we are caught in an endless cycle of wishes and negative talk.

The second part of this Zen paradigm, there is nothing you will not be able to know.  Reworded, it says you will know.  Stop thinking and talking about it, and you will know.

What do we know?   We know the answers. 

The answers to what?  To whatever we are dreaming about and worrying about.

If we are in touch with who we truly are, we can bring the question or discussion to our heart.  Our heart knows the answer.  But in order to hear the answer, we must be still.  We must find a place of solitude and silence.

Try it now. Find a quiet space.  Sit comfortably on the floor or a chair. Take several deep breaths and let the air out slowly.  Become relaxed.  Pose the question to your heart .  Sit for several minutes or as long as it takes.  In the silence, an answer will come.

In the process of meditating, we become intuitive.  We know the answers to difficult questions.  Each of us has the capability to move from inaction to action by being silent.  Try it out.  You’ll be surprised at the answers you receive from your heart.

Posted: September 4th, 2008 under Stained Glass, meditation, mindfulness, present moment.
Comments: 1

I like today’s teabag wisdom.  It says so much in so few words.  What is truth anyway?  Is it the absence of lies?  Truth is certainly talked about in all religions.  I remember growing up and hearing my mother tell me to always speak the truth.  But sometimes speaking the truth can hurt someone, so then what do you do?  The wise thing might be not to say anything, yet we sometimes cover up the truth with a white lie.  We tell ourselves that that’s okay, because we aren’t hurting anyone, but are we deceiving ourselves?  Do our non-truths come back to haunt us?

I think the truth goes beyond speech.  When we deny the truth, we accumulate negativity.  One little lie turns into bigger lies.  We begin to delude ourselves.  We come to the point that we can’t tell the difference between truth and non-truth.  Negative emotions of fear and anger surface and we don’t know where they came from.

So how do we get past the lies we tell ourselves and come back to the truth?  I certainly don’t have all the answers.  But I know that when negative thoughts arise, they come from fear.  We end up playing the “what if” game with ourselves.  We conjure up the worst possible scenario and that fear stops us in our tracks. 

One thing we must constantly remind ourselves is that “what if” isn’t the truth.  The truth is not our fear of what might happen in the future.  The truth is not holding on to anger from some past hurt.  The truth is this moment.  The truth is not lying to yourself or lying to others.  The truth is peace.  And peace is everything. 

Posted: August 25th, 2008 under meditation, mindfulness, present moment.
Comments: 3

How many times have you heard someone say “Pay Attention”?

I can remember my teacher from first grade saying that all the time.  In school, we were asked to pay attention so that we could learn.  At home, our parents would tell us to pay attention when they were giving us instructions on cleaning the house or cooking a meal.  But I don’t remember anyone telling me to pay attention to life.

We go through each day doing things, time passes.  We eat, we talk to people, we go to work, we exercise, we play video games, we email and text message, we watch TV.  Yet I wonder as we go through our day, how much of the time are we paying attention?

What does it mean to pay attention when we eat?  How many meals do we gobble down while engaged in another activity?  Eating breakfast and watching the morning news or checking email.  Eating lunch with co-workers, catching up on what everyone is working on or talking about the drama in our lives.  No one’s ever really taught us to pay attention to our meals. 

Have you ever engaged in a Mindful Eating Meditation?  It’s fairly simply.  Take a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts.  Engage all your senses in the process.  Let’s say you have a strawberry in front of you.  Pick up the strawberry.  Feel the texture between your fingers, the softness of the leaves on top, the fuzziness of the fruit.  Rub the fruit along your lips.  Smell the strawberry.  Sense the sweetness.  Lick the strawberry to get a glimmer of taste.  Take a small bite of the fruit.  Feel the juice drip into your mouth.  Chew the piece of fruit thoroughly before taking another bite.  Listen to the sound coming from your mouth as you eat.  Maybe you release a sigh of enjoyment.  Eating one strawberry in this manner may take you several minutes, but you will discover that you’ve never eaten a more flavorful strawberry in your life.  By paying attention to your food, you enjoy it more.

The same concept hold true for everything else we do in life.  If you are talking with people, listen intently to what the other person has to say without thinking of what your response is going to be.  Don’t cut off someone in mid-sentence.  If you are working, concentrate on your work and let go of your thoughts about what happened yesterday or what you’re going to do this evening.  If you are responding to email, text messaging, watching TV or playing, no matter what you are engaged in, do with the utmost attention. 

By paying attention, we live in the present moment and enjoy our lives more fully.

So when you find your mind wandering, gently remind yourself to pay attention.  You’ll have a happier day.

Namaste´.

Posted: August 19th, 2008 under Stained Glass, meditation, mindfulness, present moment.
Comments: none

Did you ever wake up slowly from a pleasant dream, remembering all the details and wishing it would never end?  That was how I began the morning.  Parts of the dream, still vivid in my mind.  I was out in nature, a beautiful park that seemed familiar to me, but now in my waking state I can’t pinpoint the location.

The long green meadow grass sway in the mild breeze.  Wildflowers open to the early morning light.  Deep blue sky with wisps of clouds float overhead.  Gravel paths meander through the valley and along the river into a forest of oaks and pines.  It’s just past dawn.  Stillness.  Quiet.  Peaceful.

I hear the crunch of tiny pebbles beneath approaching feet.  Along the path, my yoga teachers  walk toward me. Silent. I open the door to my cabin and inhale the crisp clean air.  Donned in sandals, shorts and t-shirt, I join them on their silent journey.

I notice the reds, tans, and grays of boulders tumbled into the valley.  Their scars a reminder of the elements of nature.  I hear a distant stream, trickling over river rock.  I stoop to examine the delicate periwinkle petals of a flower tinier than the nail on my pinky finger.  The petals velvety smooth.

We stop in a clearing, sit on the ground, close our eyes and listen.  Birds sing. Leaves rustle.  Squirrels scamper.  The river flows. 

I can feel my heart beat and my life force flow freely throughout my body.  It feels so good to be alive.

My eyes open to the ceiling fan overhead, the sun streaming on my face through the bedroom window.  I smile, welcoming the new day.

Have a great day everyone.

Posted: August 14th, 2008 under meditation, mindfulness, present moment.
Comments: 2

Here’s a little teabag wisdom to get your day going.

“Mental happiness is total relaxation.”

Now, this is good.  What does it mean to be mentally happy?  No worries.  No arguments or judgments about yourself or others.  No anxiety about the past or the future.  No negative emotions.  But instead of defining mental happiness in terms of what it is not, let’s define it in a positive way.

Mental happiness is waking up from a good night’s sleep.  It’s gazing at a sleeping newborn.  It’s sitting alone by the ocean listening to the waves roll in.  It’s enjoying the magnificence of a sunrise or sunset.  It’s smelling the clean air surrounded by pine trees in the mountains.  It’s taking a few minutes out of each day to be silent and marvel at the wonders of the universe.  It’s being grateful for everything you have in your life.

I’m sure the list is endless and different for everyone.  What does mental happiness mean to you?

Posted: August 3rd, 2008 under Stained Glass, meditation, mindfulness, present moment.
Comments: 4

A mantram is a word or phrase with spiritual meaning.  I learned mantram in my yoga class.  I repeat Om mam everyday. These are Sanskrit words that translate to God heart. I began sayingthis mantram after my heart attack in 2006.  I say these two words 1,080 times in the morning.  I use mala beads (108 beads strungtogether in a necklace) to keep track of the count.  It starts my day in a quiet reflective mood that keeps mecalm the rest of the day. 

I just came across a item in a local health newsletter.  Researchers confirmed what I alreadyknew.  Mantram repetition is helpful for managing stress, emotions other than stress, insomnia and unwantedthoughts.  The article by JillBormann can be accessed online from the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Posted: May 3rd, 2008 under Stained Glass, heart disease, meditation, yoga.
Comments: 5

My body is in a state of pain.  I overdid or overstretched this past weekend while rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park.  My spirit knew no bounds as I hiked, scrambled around rocks and boulders and clung to stone with my fingertips.  And now, my body is in pain.

A pulled muscle in my back revealed itself on Monday.  Tuesday, the muscle began to spasm, causing my vocal cords to cry out in agony.  My body is in pain, but I am at peace.

I’ve spent the last several days moving arms and legs as slow as a Tai Chi master.  Lifting one foot, moving one arm, turning ever so slowly, placing weight on my feet, letting my thighs tighten until my torso balanced in an upright position.  The doctor gave me medication for the pain.  The drugs dull my senses and allow me to sleep.

But an amazing awareness has come over me.  Being present, my body is not in pain.  Yes, occasionally I experience a sharp knife jabbing my back, but the pain is not consent.  I am observing the pain as it comes and goes.

I am not my body.  I am not my emotions.  I am the observer. 

Posted: April 18th, 2008 under exercise, meditation, mindfulness, present moment.
Comments: 3

OM is a mystic sound that refers to Isvara or God’s name.  It’s a seed sound from which all other words are formed.  I meditate and repeat the mantram OM, feeling the hum resonate deep inside my chest.  I like to think of it as a time I talk to my heart, focusing on the energy throughout my body.  Meditating helps me live in the present moment.

I also meditate as I create my stained glass.  Each of my designs comes from my heart.

Today I worked on this glass mosaic design for a 18” round cement stepping stone for my garden.  It’s the OM symbol.  Now whenever I step into my garden, it will be a reminder to breathe and focus on living in the present moment.

Posted: April 2nd, 2008 under Stained Glass, meditation, present moment.
Comments: 7