Tag: mindfulness

Mocha Angels 365. Day 343.

Two work-related concussions fourteen months apart is enough to get anyone thinking, “Hmmmmm…..what is the Universe trying to tell me?” Clearly I need to listen. I hit my head on Friday and I’m home for now. I am totally open to lessons today. I am fortunate to have people around me who all said, “Sometimes the Universe literally bonks us in the head to wake us up and pay attention. What is going on with you?”

I have some clues and I am working on them. Let me know how the Universe bonked you on the head to wake you up.

Mocha Angels 365. Day 339.

Kindness begins at home. Be careful not to rush into healing the world before you heal yourself. That will create imbalance within your world and leads to resentment within.

It’s taken me a long time to understand this message. Learning how to slow down, not fill my days with extra “stuff to do” (even though I always have stuff to do), and turning off the TV (see my most recent Year of Living Without post), are slowly teaching me to be kind to myself.

More on this topic tomorrow.

A Year of Living Without (or Breaking the Chains of Resistance) November Update

Imagine my shock yesterday when I open an email from zen habits and the title is “Working with the Ebbs and Flows of Your Resistance.” I got the email on November 22. I didn’t read it until yesterday, November 29. Talk about right on time.

My challenge for November was to not eat nor surf the internet while eating. Sometimes I succeeded. More often than not, I did not succeed. I had no idea these were such difficult habits to break. I realized the noise from the TV or internet surfing distracted me from the present moment. Whether I was alone in a silent house, or in the house with my kids, or eating lunch at work, when I was eating, I wasn’t paying attention. I wasn’t enjoying the silence. I wasn’t enjoying the noise my kids make. I wasn’t enjoying my co-workers at lunchtime.

As zen habits Leo Babauta puts it: The resistance is simply our mind not wanting to do something that feels uncomfortable: anything uncertain, difficult, overwhelming, different than our normal way of doing things, awkward, painful, sad, lonely, stressful. It makes sense that we would avoid these kinds of discomfort.

Resistance is natural, just a sensation in the body that is a response to change, discomfort, uncertainty. Our minds have a hard time dealing with these things, because we like routine, comfort, certainty.

Here’s the thing: the resistance isn’t always at a constant, full-on intensity. Resistance ebbs and flows.

During the time resistance is at its peak, my task is to be aware of the resistance. Instead of running from it, I am to see how it feels. Is it pleasant or unpleasant? (Usually unpleasant.) I notice the intensity changes. The goal is to breathe through it. Smile. Dance. Laugh. Play music. Bring lightheartedness to the table.

So I will continue to focus on my food rather than television or the internet. This month, I am not watching TV except to check the weather. Originally, I wasn’t going to watch the news. I can’t avoid it at work as there are televisions everywhere. At home though, no TV for me. My kids will continue to watch it but I won’t watch any of my shows. I’ll update this challenge the first week of January.

Original post: A Year of Living Without

Leo Babauta’s Working with the Ebbs and Flows of Your Resistance.

Up next on Media Wednesdays: Three boards games that make great Christmas gifts. Wednesday, December 4.