Meaningful Monday: Pema Chödrön

Wendy is getting ready to be off on a new adventure, a new stage in her life.
So, for awhile mindfulness Monday shall be meaningful Monday as she is much more mindful than I!

Picnic with Ants

photo by Lorraine

Wendy is too busy with all the wonderous changes in her life to present her usual Mindfulness Monday post at the moment. So, I am stepping in with a guest post for her.

I have always found great wisdom, humour and compassion in the words of  Pema Chödrön. She is member of/teacher at a Shambhala Buddist community – Gampo Abbey – in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia which gives her words a special resonance with me. My paternal roots, and extended chunks of my adult life were spent in the Maritimes. No better spot for meditation, retreat, and restoration. I just returned from the South Shore of Nova Scotia. My first visit “home” in 7 years; a truly transformative experience.

So in honour of Wendy and Nova Scotia, I present Meaningful Monday as a guest host for Wendy’s wonderful Mindfulness Mondays. All quotes are from Pema Chödrön.

“When…

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Mindfulness Monday – Pain

So true. I try to own my pain, not have it own me. Wendy’s painting is the sort to calm and contemplate.
Thanks Wendy for sharing this during your busy and stress-ful time.

Picnic with Ants

painting by W. Holcombe 

“Pain can change you,

but that doesn’t mean

it has to be a bad change.

Take that pain and

turn it into wisdom.

~Dalai Lama

“To diminish the suffering of pain,

We need to make a crucial distinction

Between pain of pain,

And the pain we create

By our thoughts about the pain.

Fear, anger, guilt, loneliness and helplessness

Are all mental and emotional responses

That can intensify pain.”

~Howard Cutler

“Pain is not wrong.

reacting to pain as wrong initiates

the trance of unworthiness.

The moment we believe something is wrong,

our world shrinks and

we lose ourselves in the effort

to combat the pain.”

~Tara Brach

*painting by W. Holcombe.  All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission.

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Mindful writing – sharing an article from Mindful magazine

Given my difficulty with writing, of any sort, of late, this piece speaks quite directly to me.

Picnic with Ants

I have a bad cold so today I’m changing things up a bit.  In lieu of Mindfulness Monday I’d like to share with you an article I read in Mindful magazine.  I found it very interesting and plan to put this practice to use.  So you may find me doing a lot more blog posts in the future, as I meditate while writing.

Image from Mindful magazine

A Writing Practice For Those Who Like To Keep Doing by By Shamash Alidina 

I don’t want to copy the whole article here, it’s a short article, but it’s not proper to copy someone else’s work, so I’m going to give you the highlights. However, you really need to jump over and read the article to understand what this entails.  It’s fun!  go do it!

Shamash starts by saying: “I’m writing this article in a state of meditation. And there’s no editing required (for…

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Mindfulness Monday – Eckhart Tolle

I’ve been mentally, emotionally, and spiritually away from blogging, and this past eight days, physically away from my computer and cell phone.
The second quote resonates soundly; I remember an older country gentleman who told me that people in the city are “in a rush to get nowhere.”

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“Be the silent watcher of your thoughts and behavior.

You are beneath the thinker.

You are the stillness beneath the mental noise.

You are the love and joy beneath the pain.”

~ Eckhart Tolle

“In today’s rush,

we all think too much-

seek too much-

want too much-

and forget about the joy

of just being.”

~Eckhart Tolle

“The ultimate truth of

who you are is not

I am this or

I am that, but

I AM”

~Eckhart Tolle

*image by and of W. Holcombe.  do not use without permission

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Mindfulness Monday – Light

Our light is our path — wonderful thought! And mindset.

Picnic with Ants

“We have a light inside us.

The oil of the lamp is

our breathing. our steps,

and our peaceful smile.

Our practice is to the

light up the lamp.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Be a light unto yourself.”

~Jon Kabat-Zinn

“Find the light and

it will show you the path.

The path that is shown by

your own light is the

only path that is right.”

~Osho

*photo by W. Holcombe.  All rights reserved.  p

hoto first used in the 2018 Chronic Pain and Illness Photo Project, subject light

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Mindfulness Monday – Grow

What seeds will you plant?

Picnic with Ants

“If we’re growing,

we’re always going to be

our of our comfort zone.”

~ John Maxwell

“The deeper you go,

the more you grow.”

~ Suzanne Heyn

“It’s tempting to try and

blossom before we’re ready.

Only forced plants grow that way.

Treat yourself more organically,

allow life to unfold.

~Kelly Martin

* image by Wendy Holcombe.  The Hosta Greets Spring.  All rights reserved. Please do not use without consent.

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Mindfulness Monday – Byron Katie

Another wonderful image and quotes. Wendy’s mindfulness has helped me find grounding and centering.

Picnic with Ants

“It’s not your job

to like me –

It’s mine.”

~ Byron Katie

“It’s not the problem

that causes

our suffering;

it’s our thinking

about the problem.”

~ Byron Katie

“The world is what

you believe it to be,

and it changes as you change.”

~ Byron Katie

“When you discover that all

happiness is inside you,

the wanting

and needing

are over.”

~ Byron Katie

* image by W. Holcombe, all rights reserved.  Please do not use without permission.

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Mindfulness Monday – Shadow

I have been staying away from the cyberverse — so playing catch up with Wendy’s Mindfulness Mondays.

Picnic with Ants

“Don’t chase after your thoughts

as a shadow follows it’s object.

Find joy and peace in this very moment.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Put your thoughts to sleep,

do not let them cast a shadow

over the moon of your heart.

Let go of thinking.

~ Rumi

“If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts,

happiness follows them

like a never-departing shadow'”

~ Buddha

** photo by W. Holcombe. My shadow.  all rights reserved.

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Mindfulness Monday – change

Embracing change (as life does flash in an instant from one “reality” to another) is something we all need learn to do. Especially the “unexpected” changes; the whirlwind before the storm.

Picnic with Ants

“Some changes look negative on the surface

but you will soon realize that space is being created

in your life for something new to emerge.”

~ Eckhart Tolle

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.

Don’t resist them;

that only creates sorrow.

Let reality be reality.

Let things flow naturally forward

in whatever way they like.”

~ Lao Tzu

**photo by W. Holcombe.  Tulip Magnolia in my backyard, the beginning of Spring 2018

All rights reserved.  Please do not copy without permission.

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Mindfulness Monday – How to

Once again, Wendy, has “nailed” it for me in terms of her mindfulness. The first quote has been wrapped around a recent discussion.
And the first daffodil is a harbinger of spring; we have our flocks of grackles “grackling” in the trees as ours.

Picnic with Ants

“Respond; don’t react.

Listen; don’t talk.

Think; don’t assume.”

 

~ Raji Lukkoor

 

 

“Begin at once to live,

and count each day as a separate life.”

 

~ Seneca

 

 

“The way to live in the present is to remember that

‘This too shall pass.’

When you experience joy, remembering that

‘This too shall pass’

helps you savor the here and now.

‘This too shall pass’

Reminds you that grief, like joy, is only temporary.”

 

~ Joey Green

** Early Spring Daffodil photo by W. Holcombe.  All rights reserved.

 

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What It’s Like Currently Being a Student in America — Queerly Texan

Thanks Wendy for speaking up and sharing an important post.

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I’ve grown up in a post-Columbine world. The talk of school shootings is not something new to me, I’ve been taught how to prepare for one my whole life. I’ve spent hours siting in dark classrooms, huddled in the corner with my classmates praying it’s only a drill. As of February, there have been a […]

via What It’s Like Currently Being a Student in America — Queerly Texan

as I read Alyssa’s words I kept thinking,

“Our Children’s Lives Are Worth More Than a Gun!”

I don’t care what you feel about your right to own a gun, it is not greater than the life of a child.

Under no circumstances does anyone need to own an automatic weapon.  Period.

The argument that we are blaming the gun instead of the shooter doesn’t cut it.  As I heard someone say yesterday, “If my child hits someone with a stick, I…

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Mindfulness Monday – Self Love

Oh so true! Love and kindness to ourselves can be the hardest thing we try each day.
All the quotes are good, but I like the last most. For I am a forehead hitter!
Thanks Wendy for sharing these quotes and your fantastic image!
And, remember to be kind and gentle to yourself.

Picnic with Ants

“Maybe the reason nothing seems to be ‘fixing you’
is because you’re not broken.
Let today be the day you
stop living within the confines
of how others define or judge you.
You have a unique beauty and purpose;
live accordingly.”

~ Steve Maraboli

“Be nice to yourself.
It’s hard to be happy when someone
is mean to you all the time.”

~ Christine Arylo

“View your life with kindsight.
Stop beating yourself up
about things from your past.
Instead of slapping your forehead and asking,
‘What was I thinking,’
breathe and ask yourself the kinder question,
‘What was I learning?'”

~ Karen Salmnsohn

Always remember, you are doing the best you can; be gentle with yourself.

**self portrait by W. Holcombe. Please do not use without permission.

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