Mindfulness From The Heart
Sharing mindfulness from my heart to yours
Winter 2016
Winter 2016
Sharing From The HeartThe road your self must journey on lies in polishing the heart. Welcome to this first semi-annual mindfulness newsletter. I thought hard and long about the format for this newsletter. Initially, I pondered a more academic, informative approach, but with so much readily available on the internet where you can easily find whatever information you are seeking on mindfulness, I thought the best contribution I could make should be less head-centric and more heart-centered.
What emerged comes not so much from my thinking mind but more from what has touched my heart and what has cultivated a more spaciousness of being and expansiveness of heart in my own journey of late. I hope what follows invites a similar spaciousness of being and expansiveness of heart that cultivates more mindfulness and helps you, as it has me, in your own, unique journey. I celebrate how our journeys intertwine by sharing mindfulness from my heart to yours. What emerged comes not so much from my thinking mind but more from what has touched my heart, and so I share from my heart to yours. I hope what follows invites a more spaciousness of being and expansiveness of heart that cultivates more mindfulness and helps you, as it has me, in your own, unique journey. |
Mindful IntentionsHappiness is an optimal state of being. Matthieu Ricard The sound of the ocean waves lull me into a restful state - day or night- here in the tropics where I write from my Costa Rican beachside home. The layers of thinking, being productive in the professional sense, and other ways and layers of doing are also lulled into a calmer, more soothing way of being. The concept of pratyahara - a natural inclination to withdraw from the stimulation of the senses; literally, ahara, “the food or anything we take into ourselves from the outside” and prati, a preposition meaning "against" or “away,” is a way of being extra mindful, a way of being extra vigilant in the choices about what kind of stimulation we feed on.
How does pratyahara help cultivate a more joyous heart? More joyful happiness? This kind vigilance protects the soft vulnerability of a tender heart. It invites in a more spaciousness of being and expansiveness of heart - a greater sense of wholeness that touches upon the sublime sense of optimal being - our innate joyful happiness. |