1) Inflexible belief systems and perceptions that are generating incorrect messages to the Central Nervous System, creating over-reactions or under-reactions and loss of ability to be in active stillness mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
2) Finding our internal guide for alignment and balance! With greater mindfulness, we can access and align with our spiritual center moment by moment for optimum balance.
3) The Mindful Action required to support alignment with the inner wisdom for a more balanced life.
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Do BE Do BE Do, The Mindfulness of Getting Things Done
Health & Wellness, Inspiration, Life Coaching 3 Comments »TO DO lists help us remember and get things done. But have you noticed that often these lists are ever present in our minds? We’re always wondering what to do next, what we forgot to do, and what we need to add to the list?
How might it be if instead we were vigilant about a TO BE list?
Be present
Be compassionate
Be peaceful
Be joyful
Be alert
A TO BE list is not a list to check off the way we mark things DONE on a TO DO list, because Being is never done. We use the list to clarify our intentions for the NOW rather than to evaluate past performance. Our TO BE list reminds us of the choices we have every moment and inspires us to always put our best feet forward. In the words of the late Coach John Wooden, “It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.”
Choosing How to BE is perhaps more subjective than choosing What to DO and it’s more powerful in terms of quality of life. For example, charging ahead on a TO DO list frequently results in feeling rushed and overwhelmed, not enjoying the doing. In consciously choosing a state of Being like BE Alert, you will be surprised and enriched as you notice things unnoticed before. Choosing to BE Compassionate, many ordinary conversations become rich and meaningful.
Are you ready to really enjoy Getting Things Done? After all, you’ll be doing things on the list anyway, right? Try lining up your TO BE list right next to your TO DO list. Whenever you decide on the next thing to do, ask yourself “How will I BE in the doing of this?”
For example, if you need to contact a company about an error in your order, how do you want to be as you do it? Open? Relaxed? Understanding? Clear? If laundry is next, how do you want to be in the doing of it? Calm? Mindful? Playful?
Hint: Things like “BE productive” “BE perfect” violate the spirit of the TO BE list. BE careful what you choose to BE!
“I didn’t make any mistakes,
I just know a thousand ways not to make a light bulb.”
—- Thomas Edison
Looking for the life lessons in our challenging circumstances isn’t always easy, for sure. However when we do, we capture the gems of our lives that may have gone unnoticed. Sometimes, just facing the challenge is the lesson - we learn how to persevere.
Wishing you a Mindful Mother’s Day! Whether you are spending time with your Mother, with your children, with your spouse, with your friends, with your pets, at work, time alone, or all of the above, you may find the following meditation practice helpful in experiencing greater joy and peace, no matter what your mothering experiences have been. This practice can be particularly helpful for those who have some pain associated with motherhood, perhaps loss of a mother or loss of a child, or painful relationship issues.
This is the practice of Metta, which means Lovingkindness. What better way to describe the qualities of true mother-nature? Loving…kind…nurturing. To begin the meditation, take several slow deep breaths and let go of mental and physical tension on each outbreath. Make a conscious choice to set aside judgments, release all past stories about being a mother or having a mother and embrace the qualities of this meditation, even if it is just for now.
This abbreviated version of the original Metta meditation is simple, sweet, and powerful. We start by mothering ourselves, blessing ourselves with lovingkindness so that we have lovingkindness to share.
Slowly and peacefully, say silently or out loud:
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be free.
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Because of human conditioning to be mentally ‘anywhere but here’, we find it isn’t easy to simply be present. But when we can have just one moment of acceptance of ‘what is’, one moment of internal silence, one moment in the Now, there is an indescribable peace that we recognize as wisdom and truth.
Thursday, April 29 is Poem in Your Pocket Day. Here’s the one I’ll be carrying:
‘Tis a gift to be simple,
‘Tis a gift to be free,
‘Tis a gift to come down
Where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves
In the place that’s right
‘Twill be in the valley
Of love and delight.
–Nineteenth-Century Shaker Hymn
What’s your favorite poem?
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