Mindfulness of Breathing

 

The poster says:  Just breathe…….

Mindfulness of breathing is a practice of learning to harmonize your attention with what is, in this moment. Short, long, deep, shallow are all fine breaths. Trust your body; it knows what is needed.   - Christina Feldman, "Meditation Q&A"

Last fall, ten of our friends came for a combined equinox and full moon celebration.  The theme was Humor and Humility.  The discussion ranged from community gatherings, sporting events, to discussions about current events and the energies that we are experiencing.  Throughout the evening, the common thread was breath.  Sometimes, to keep going, one just needs to breathe. 

Blessings, 

Judy

How Important Is Our Stuff In The Overall Universal Plan?

Image is from https://www.womansday.com/life/a39788446/spiritual-quotes/

Over the years, one of the very important lessons that I have learned is that our daily lives, the work that we do in a corporation or the fights/wars that we battle for others, has very little significance to the Universe.

Yes, we do need to work to make money to have food and shelter and clothes, yet at the end of the day, when our families are gone long after we are gone, no one remembers those things. The Universe is interested in the love that we show each other.  She/he/it wants to see balance and compassion and a love of Nature.  Mindfulness is also interesting to the Universe as is the ability to detach from emotional situations and become the observer.  

I am still adapting to all the instances that are of Universal interest.  Where are you on the journey?

Many blessings,

Judy

 

Why You Should Take Time To Read

 

Sometimes, we need to be alone and occupied.  The Angels say that reading can be a form of meditation, if you allow it to be.  You can read meditation books or fantasy or non-fiction.  It is the time that you take to be yourself, to be in a place where you are not wearing a mask, that makes this a wonderful experience.

When you read, you move to a state of mindfulness.  Experiencing mindfulness over and over as you read, lets you experience it more often when you do other activities.

When people poke fun at you reading, and they will, never apologize for who you are.  Readers have the gift of seeing more and seeing the bigger picture.  Readers move more easily into the Great Unconsciousness.

Many Blessings,

Judy

Walking Meditation

  

Walking beside the Bow River looking onto Poplar Island where the beavers have chopped down a tree in the summer of 2020.

When I first learned to meditate, based on all the instructions from teachers and from books, I thought that one had to sit quietly, in a lotus position, and push all thoughts out of one’s head if you were going to meditate properly.  Over the years, I have learned that there are many ways to meditate, depending on what belief system you follow and where you are when you want to meditate.

I have learned to love the walking meditation which is an active meditation practiced in Buddhism and in Shamanism.  Walking meditation is not limited to these traditions.  Meditation while walking may seem like a contradiction of activity versus focus.  However, one must be extremely mindful while walking in meditation.  You concentrate on your steps, your breath, and on the world around you.  Mindfulness is part of the strength of the walking meditation.  The steps one takes bring clarity of what needs to be dealt with, or what emotion needs adjusting, and, gives space for a different point of view.  For many practitioners, the walking meditation is a prayer to Nature and to the Universe.

When something troubles me and I cannot seem to get a grip on it, I leave the house and do a walking meditation.  I focus on my steps and my breath and leave the troubled thoughts behind.  Sometimes, it takes a half hour before the soothing peace covers you as you walk.  It make take an hour or so for a simple solution to appear as you walk.  The physical activity helps you work off the tension and stress and walking is just a good health strategy anyway.

Blessings.

Judy

Lightstationwisdom@gmail.com 

Do Not Make Life About Stuff

                      

                         Poster is from an email from a friend.  It is a great saying!

Each year, starting in November, we are pushed to buy the biggest, the brightest, the most expensive presents for family and friends.  We are pushed to consume…. Stuff!  We fill our homes and work places and even our places of entertainment and relaxation with stuff.

The poster above says it all.  Do not collect stuff that will only serve your ego.  Collect friends, good meals together, go on outings, feed homeless or provide some sort of shelter and food  for animals. Make what you spend your money on, count for “something” that makes life better for you and for others.  Become mindful about how you are spending your time and your coin.  Mindfulness will help you see things that are inconsequential to life.

Many blessings,

Judy

Wisdom From Nature

                                

                                  Picture by Judy Hirst - Beaver downed trees in Fish Creek Park 2021                          

A while ago, one of my friends sent me the amazing quote below.  She knew that I was working on mindfulness and on being more attuned to Nature and the signs and messages that Nature provides.

Enjoy the wonderful ideas in this quote from Angus Williams.

      *************

Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water. Lay your bed where the cat sleeps. Eat the fruit that has been touched by a worm. Boldly pick the mushroom on which the insects sit. Plant the tree where the mole digs. Build your house where the snake coils to warm itself. Dig your fountain where the birds hide from heat. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time with the birds – you will reap all of the days golden grains. Eat more green – you will have strong legs and a resistant heart, like the beings of the forest. Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in water. Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear. Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace.

Nature is talking to you, are you listening?

— Angus Williams

Many Blessings!

Judy

Mindful?

                            

Where do we find time to be mindful?  All the time!  It is a choice to be mindful.  It is a choice to be distracted.  It is a choice to be at one with what you are doing.

When you hear the phrase, "be with me now", then you know it is time to let go of the busy-ness that piles up on our shoulders.  Shake it off!  Breathe! Let it all go.

This is your day to be mindful all day, in everything that you do. 

This time of year, our mind is full and we need to be able to breathe through the stress so that we can accomplish what we need to do without getting all stressed out.  It is difficult to change our behavior. Three deep breaths in and out and you will feel the tension lesson around your shoulders.  Let it go.

Blessings,

Judy

Feeling Grief

 

"Puff ball in a field" picture by Judith Hirst-Joyeux June 2008

When practicing any healing, the emotion "grief" seems to show up with regular frequency. I think this definition from Wikipedia says it all - "Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss". The loss may be for any thing or person or animal. It may even be a perceived loss, and not a loss that we would normally associate with grief. Since grief is a personal or unique response, it is hard to gage how deeply it does affect the individual. Grief carried too long without release takes the form of physical dis-eases or illnesses. Grief will manifest in lung problems. Louise Hay in her book You Can Heal Your Life talks about grief/lung problems as "fear of taking in life". 

Since grief is an emotion, and in Shamanism, emotion is associated with water, the body filling up with water - lungs filling up, water around the heart - indicate that grief may be at the root of these illnesses. It seems too that grief may be inherited. When an event happens and the grief is not dealt with at the time, the grief seems to be captured and passed on at a cellular level.

Grief is very prevalent in the world and a large topic of conversation. I say "large" because the number of web sites containing the word "grief" total 28,600,000 web sites, when I did a search. It is the topic of books, prayers, poems, stories, songs, and has become a whole counselling discipline. One solution to heal grief is when the individual recognizes that it is grief they are feeling and they decide to deal with it and ease it. 

The Buddhists call this part of the practice of "Mindfulness". When one is aware of the feeling/energy and stays with it, and judges it not and lets it be, it has a chance to take shape, and then the energy can be released. The saying "time heals all things" really means that we, by our choices and actions heal ourselves.

I have been mindful of the sadness that I carry over the loss of my nephew very recently.  I throw the emotion to fire, in a traditional Incan Fire Ceremony, and I cry when I feel the urge to do so.  I do not stop the crying until it stops itself.  I feel it to completion.

I wish for you to have the time to feel your emotions to completion.

Blessings,

Judy