Zen & The Art of Juggling

Juggling
A practice for clowns, for kids, a waste of time?
Something you can't do?

Meditation 
A practice for Monks, for the patient, for the focused?
Another thing you can't do?

What if these thoughts weren't true?
What if these were things that could help "grow" your brain, connect with your body and breath? 
What if they could make you feel a little younger, more patient and focused?
What if they were another couple things you can do?

On the Weekend I had the great privilege of attending a Personal / Professional Development course.One the activities we practised was juggling.

The hand and eye co-ordination was obvious, we were told about the science of how juggling helps "grow the brain", but what struck me is how juggling can help meditation. 

One of the challenges we had was to juggle for a certain amount of throws. 
It didn't have to be throws in a row which meant there was less room for hesitation each time I dropped a ball. It encouraged me to pick the balls up again and keep juggling. The time I could have wasted telling myself how bad a juggler I was instead used to practice juggling. 

Meditating on the breath is a lot like this - it's inevitable I will "drop the ball"  and loose track of my breath - when I do so I can spend time reprimanding myself or I can "pick up the balls again, re connect with my breath and continue to grow. 

Like juggling I can be breathing and noticing how busy my mind is. I can even be thinking I'm no good at this, but as the balls go from hand to hand, as I stay aware of my breath I get better and every now and then I fall into flow, there's juggling, there's breathing, there's a whole lot more but it's not interrupting the flow. 

Try this 

4 Minutes (2 x 2 minutes)

Juggle with two balls in the right hand - see how many total throws you can get in 2 minutes. Then start the clock again and do the same thing in the left hand. If you drop the ball don't waste time being mad with yourself or considering how bad you are - just pick up and keep going (growing). Write your scores down if you like so you can try to better them next time. 

5 Minutes  

Sit with a straight spine and focus on your breath. No need to count the breaths just notice each one. If you notice you've stopped breathing "dropped the ball"  again don't hesitate - just tune back in with the breath and keep going (growing) 

If you do this everyday you will build a new brain and a couple more "Can Do's" if you don't you won't. 

Not Lost, But Unfound

“The Bull is not lost yet I search.
Ignorance of my true nature blinds me to his presence.”

Your power to be free is ever present

Waiting to be realised and expressed

SLOW DOWN

SLOW DOWN
There's Depth

SLOW DOWN
There's More

SLOW DOWN
There's Humility

SLOW DOWN
There's Magic

SLOW DOWN
& Learn

SLOW DOWN
& Open

SLOW DOWN
& Look Up

SLOW DOWN
& Vibe with Stillness

SLOW DOWN
& Grow Up

A Lesson From the Stars

The Stars have something to teach me

They’ve called me to them in moments of noticing

I’ve heeded the call and sat benief them

There magic is obvious but the spell they are casting is a mystery

The Courage of Compassion

Self Compassion is powerful ally on our quest for self mastery.

Self Compassion leads us to the healing grounds of awareness, acceptance and guidance and away from the often damaging world of ignorance, neglect and self criticism.

From this space we can move forward from pain, suffering, set backs, vulnerabilities and challenges from a place of self acceptance and love. 

But it’s not always and easy thing to do.

It takes courage to accept and get close the parts of ourselves that hurt.
It takes humility to recognise that we too suffer, just like everyone else and that we too are deserving of compassion, acceptance and love (even when we don’t really think we do)
It takes discipline and will to break habits that don’t serve us and start ones that do.

Next time your you’r feeling down, life’s not going your way or you know you’re being too hard on yourself have a crack at the below exercise

Your Destiny is in Your Hands

Creative Self Compassion Practice

What you’ll need 
2 pieces of paper 
1 black pen/pencil
Some coloured pens/pencil

1. On the first piece of paper draw a circle.
This represents you. Inside that circle, with the black pen write or draw phrases, words or pictures that sum up the difficulties you’d like to work with.
This could be nasty or unhelpful thoughts you have about yourself or difficult situations in your life.
There may be many or just one or two.
When you feel you’ve got down all you are willing to work with move to 2.

2. Using the coloured pencils write compassionate, warm hearted kind responses to the difficulties your facing.
These could be emphatic words or phrases ( “I hear you” , “wow, that must be tough”),
advice or affirmations or anything else that feels right. 
When you’ve filled the page or feel like you’re complete move to 3.

3. Take out the second piece of paper - draw another circle - inside this circle use the coloured pens to write the essence of the compassionate words you used to fill the first sheet. Fill the circle up or continue to write until you feel you’ve finished then move to 4.

4. Feel the essence of that second circle - try to embody and feel the energy of what you’ve written.

This exercise may seem a little strange and part of you may think you’re above this sort of practice - I strongly encourage you to give it a go if you’re doing it tough.
The paradox of self compassion is often when we need it the most we don’t think we deserve it.

Be courageous.

The paradox of self compassion is Self compassion can appear to be a soft discipline (and there are eliments of self compassion that are soft) but in-bedded in the practice is courage, discipline and a willingness to act. 

Self compassion It can be much more productive and whole approach to personal growth, wellbeing and self mastery t

When wallowing in a state of self pity or just being stuck in a space of self criticism it can be can be hard for to step into the healing space of self compassion far from making as soft, self compassion allows us to grow from a space of love, acceptance and kindness.

as opposed from ruminating and wallowing in a space of self pity, hate and 

Intention

What will you do today to honour all you have to be grateful for?

What will you do today to step into your personal power? 

To full-fill your potential? 

Words have power - they can fuel and inspire action - asking your self questions like this every day, setting intentions based of these questions and then following through with what you said you were going to do adds direction, purpose and personal autonomy to your day. 

Try this :

1. Write down three things that you can and will do today that will bring you a a little closer to fulfilling your potential to be a flourishing human being? 
   

2. Do those things 

The Mind of a Meditator Disciplined, Curious, Compassionate, Free.

Meditation can open your heart and your mind to the universe that is you

“I hear you knocking but you can’t come in”
said attention to mind, sternly

“I hear you knocking and I don’t mind the sound”
said attention to mind, curiously.

“I hear you knocking so I open the door”
said attention to mind, compassionately

“The door is always open”
says the Monk, freely

Rise & Shine

"The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but finding something to live for"

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Every morning the sun reminds us to rise and shine.

How will you make 2019 your own?

What you offer 2019?

What will you take from 2019?

This moment is yours

Use it wisely

Wonder, Wander, One

I wondered for a long time

Then I started wandering

Its’ been a wonderful journey

Here’s what I found ……….

Discipline

To be disciplined you need to become a disciple of something.

To be disciplined you need to become a disciple of something.

Something worth making changes for, that compels you to practice what you set out to do.

Something worth devoting your time, energy, attention and focus too. 

Finding something worthy of devoting yourself to is a tremendous gift. 

Realising your potential to believe in something bigger than you (your small self) can help free you from the petty worries that stop you from being at your best. Devoting yourself to fulfilling that potential can help you navigate life with more focus, clarity and joy.

You'll align yourself with a constant companion that gives your life direction and meaning. 

A companion to remind you to rise and shine, to face life's obstacles with a sense of joy, determination and patience - a companion that reminds you to be a be a better you.

Fight to Flow - The Path / Process

Once you have found something to devote yourself too, to become a disciple of, you can set a plan a goal, a path to walk to fulfil that potential, to realise (to make real) that which you have imagined.

With a path chosen the work of practicing discipline begins. 

The discipline of creating new habits, making wise choices doing what you set out to do. 

At first this can seem like a fight - a fight with your old self, old patterns of behaviour,. A fight with distraction, set backs and doubt. 

Fight with courage, focus, patience, perseverance and compassion- these qualities will grow stronger with practice.

When you win this fight consistently enough over time there's less resistance and eventually the fight becomes flow. 

Your discipline will have taken you to a new stage - a step closer to fulfilling your potential, a higher foundation. 

As the Island of our Reality grows the shore of our potential Expands 

From a new foundation the view of your potential broadens and new opportunities for growth present themselves.

Now’s not the time to be complacent - confident, yes - you have won many little battles and levelled up in life. You are now the commander of your ship.
Just don't let this new found power weaken you.
Continue to honour the practices and behaviours that have brought you to this point, enjoy wholeheartedly where you're at and who you've become, reflect honestly on where you've come from and expand diligently into your new potential. 

The destination of Life is the Journey 

Once you get comfortable with this cycle (if you do so mindfully) you'll realise that contentment and continued development co-exist and you'll have reached your destination - a flourishing, fulfilled, meaningful life.

Be sure to enjoy the ride

Breath to Energise, Focus and Recoever

Do you believe you have the power to control your state of being? 

To tune into your enthusiasm, capacity to heal, focus and flow?

These three simple breathing exercises - when harmonized with the right frame of mind - can change your state of being and help you harness your life force.

There's not a lot of difference between each of these breaths aside from intention and intensity so be sure to know your intentions and monitor your intensity 

1. Breath to Energize - think about how you breath when you just finished a sprint, a really hard set or some form of high intensity training . Your body is hungry for air and you naturally breath a little faster, pulling in a pushing out large amounts of air. This is the style breathing we can use to energise ourselves.

*Deep powerful breaths in, filling the entire rib cage, encouraging the chest to fill out in all directions.

*Long, full breaths out from the belly. Energetically pushing the "old" air out of your body to make room for the new.

The intention hear should be to fill your body with energy, to warm up the respiratory system and mobilise the rib cage.

The intensity should be quite high.

2. Breath to Focus -if you want your breath to help you focus, focus on your breath.

To do this it can be helpful to breath in a particular way. *Long breaths in through your nose right down into your belly and full breaths out is the foundation *the detail is trying to breath in and out through a slightly closed throat so that you can hear your breath. *The intention here could be relaxed but alert

*the intensity should be just enough to facilitate these two qualities. 

3. Breath to Recover and Restore - the simplest breathing technique to recover is deep, slow breaths in through the nose followed long, slow, and full breaths out through the nose.

Be sure to breath into your whole body - belly then chest.

If you can make the out breath slightly longer than the in breath that will help. 

A couple of intentions I like with this  breath are "breathing in awareness, breathing out tension" or "breathing in let, breathing out go". The intensity is low - allow the breath to be deep and long rather than forcing it.

Each of these exercises invite you to control or direct the breath in someway - but the foundation of all breath work should be awareness - simply tuning in to the normal rhythms and sensations of the breath.

Do this often and learn the wisdom and transformative power of awareness.

Restorative Yoga - the Art of Rest

 A practice of Restoration, Stillness and Peace.

Restorative Yoga is series of super comfortable poses, held for 10 - 20 minutes, which help to facilitate relaxation and a gentle opening of the body.

The perfect practice for when your body, mind & soul need a rest.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

This beautiful phrase can offer us a lot of wisdom if we let its lessons sink in.

Perception and subjectivity are the bridge between what our senses collect and what we receive - we have more control over this than most of us realise.

The practice of mindfulness can help us recognise how what we perceive can dictate what we receive.

Once we realise this we have a space in which we can expand, open, enjoy and/or simply behold our point of view.

This “truer” view of the world offers us the opportunity to make wiser, more informed and skilled decisions about how we might see things.

Sacred Space

With in each of us there is a space.

A space of peace, wisdom and compassion. 

It’s a space we all have access to but not many of us visit. 

A space from which we can live with freedom and ease. 

A space where you can be completely alone and deeply connected. 

A space that’s always been there, always will be - just waiting for us to arrive. 

When we arrive we’ll know what to do.

The senses are gateways to experience. 

They constantly commune with us - create our reality, shape our desires and guide our choices.

By taking time to acknowledge, explore and honour our senses we can tune into the messages they send us - some strong, some subtle, some wise, some not.

They provide us with valuable information that can help us make more informed choices, they are our bridge to the outside world. 

Try this : 

Watch one Sunrise this week - notice the colours, the light ........ 

Listen to a beautiful piece of music - close your eyes, lay or sit comfortably and tune into the sounds.

Smell your food - take time to tune in with your sense of smell - notice the impact this can have on your experience of eating.

Taste your food - slowly, deliberately, curiously taste what you eat. Explore the varying flavours and note how they make you feel. 

Feel the sensations of showering. This is something most of us are lucky enough to be able to do everyday and the joy of it is often lost in thinking about other stuff. Each time you have a shower take time to feel the temperature of the water, the feeling of wetness, explore your sensations of touch and notice how it feels to have water on your skin. 

Last but not least a cause for pause!! Choose any moment in the day - right now will do  - and notice what you're looking at, smelling, hearing, feeling and tasting - notice how tuning into these things shapes your experience. 

Becoming Wise

Life offers us plenty of wisdom that can help guide us to a happier, healthier self. All we have to do is pay attention and honour the advice that comes our way. 

Think of one thing in your life you know you could add, change or remove that you know would be good for you. 

Think of a ritual, practice or exercise that would help you make that change. 

Plan the practice into your schedule. 

Implement the plan. 

Wisdom without application is just more noise.

The more you listen to the wisdom life offers you and are disciplined in applying its teachings the closer to your higher self you become 

Save time with Presence

The past is a memory, the future is imaginary, the only time we have to live is right now (and how many of us waste that time worrying about how little time we have.)

Perhaps the most important behaviour we can practice to save our time is mindful presence.

Mindful presence is paying attention to what's going on right now - noticing not only what is happening circumstantially but also how we are a reacting to it (thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations etc.). By opening our awareness to all this we give our selves the best chance of making more skilled decisions and using our time well. 

try these 3 simple tips to become more present

1. Make what you're doing the most important thing in the world - if we practice doing this when the most important thing comes a long we'll be ready) - this doesn't mean stressing out or putting extra pressure on ourselves - quite the opposite. It's about offering ourselves fully to the moment- focusing exclusively at the task at hand and making sure we do it well - this can be from washing the dishes to writing an essay to finishing a project at work - the more often we practice focusing our attention on the task at hand the more likely we are to complete that task to the best or our ability - and the more often we're out our best the more fulfilling our life becomes. 
2. Transition mindfully - as you shift gear from work, to home to gym, take a deep breath - tune in with your body, take a moment to "close" your time on that particular part of the day and set your intention for the next. 
3. Use the breath to come back to the body - the body always lives in the present - the mind can often dwell on the future, the past, another place or another time but the body is always right here. If you find your mind has wandered of and you want to bring your focus back into the moment take a deep breath and feel it as it enters your body, take notice of your posture and any other sensations you feel in your body and bring your mind back to the task at hand.     

Why go without when you can go within?

We can very often get caught up thinking about what we want. 

What do we need to complete, improve us or satisfy us in some way. 

There’s nothing inherently wrong with ambition or desire but if we don’t take time to enjoy what we’ve got, count our blessings and just be then no matter what we get we’ll never be fulfilled. 

What if we were to spend some of our time - 10 - 20 minutes a day - going within?

In to the space of pure contentment, where the desire to have or be anything else leaves us and we are free to simply be.

It’s beautiful place to visit - the sort of place that after a while you decide - “I reckon I could live here”

Once you make that decision you’ll be blessed with clarity, freedom and an ease of being that’ll make life a joy. 

SIT STILL AND GO WITHIN!! 

FAITH

The Journey is one of self discovery. 

Once we realise this we are free to take one wholehearted step at a time.

To walk with acceptance, belief and faith in ourselves and the path. 

To not get caught up on how far we have to go.

To not let the distance between where we are & where we want to be daunt us.

To realise the path is the destination 

& to focus wholeheartedly and open-mindedly on the process of walking the path.

This is an act of faith - this is the practice of prayer. 

Reflect, Recover, Recharge

It starts with a stop ..........  a pause

A moment to halt the momentum of the morning, the day, the week, the month.

To stop the rumination and rushing, to become present.

From presence we direct our mind to our blessings, gifts, learnings and space for growth.

We honour our past by choosing to return to a state of wholeness, strength and vibrancy so that we can step wholeheartedly into the future.