Practicing Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Cultivate Your Garden

July 12, 2009

In each moment we can make a mindful decision of what seeds we will water to cultivate our garden. Living mindfully — experiencing each moment just as it is — helps us see in living color and transform compost into flowers.

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Loosening the Grasp

June 18, 2009

We can cling to more than just physical objects. At times we cling to ideas, thoughts, views and beliefs. As we continue to grasp, we may notice that our grip tightens. We experience fear at the thought of letting go of something we don’t possess.
This week I found myself clinging to certain ideas and [...]

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Remember Patience

June 17, 2009

When we feel ourselves trying to make everything happen at once, we can remember to practice patience. This may help:
Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?
~LAO-TZU in Tao-te-Cheng

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Mindfulness in Everyday Life

June 14, 2009

Friends. Strangers. Work. Bills. Moments of peace. Moments of stress. Mindfulness in everyday life requires practice — it requires work. But what better “work” to do in life?
I used to think I had to find a job that would allow me to make a difference. And this job would pay the bills and keep everything [...]

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When We See the Past in the Present

June 8, 2009

So, what about us? Can we look in the mirror and see the past in the present? Yes, without a doubt. And that was the part that freaked me out for a second.

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Seeing What Is

June 6, 2009

Sometimes we see what we want to see rather than what is. Sometimes we know in our hearts what is, but it feels too inconvenient to change — too hard to actually do anything about it.

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When Feeling Jumpy

June 4, 2009

When feeling jumpy like a frog, practice a mindfulness technique called “froglessness,” which is a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh.

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The Mind That Refused to Meditate

June 2, 2009

As I practiced the above five steps, I realized that it wasn’t just that my mind refused to meditate. Mindfulness meditation requires gentle awareness and observation without judgement — it’s not exactly about the “mind” really.

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Mindful Living Ain’t Easy

May 31, 2009

As practicing mindfulness requires staying “awake” minute-to-minute, moment-to-moment, we find that that mindful living ain’t easy! Every second you spend on mindful living pays off — for you — for others — for ALL of us.

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