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Found this wonderful 'Mindfulness clock' photo at the Emotion Machine site.
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It reminded me of one of my better photos;
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Saturday, 13 August 2011
Friday, 12 August 2011
The Deeply Moving love story of Paul and Mary
Click HERE to read the deeply moving love story of Paul & Mary by an outstanding documentary & street photographer.
Edinburgh - Ruby Wax ' theatre as therapy or confessional cabaret?' - asks Jackie McGlone
As feisty and outspoken as ever, Ruby Wax is on a mission to smash the stigma of mental illness, ably assisted by her best friend Judith Owen.
It’s four years and one month since Ruby Wax last plunged into the dark depths of the manic depression that has plagued her since childhood. “It’s cyclical,” she says, spooning honey into her tea.
“So I usually get an attack every five years,” continues the erstwhile fearsomely mouthy and audacious TV interviewer of Pamela Anderson and O J Simpson among many others, and the co-author, with Jennifer Saunders, of Absolutely Fabulous.
Does that mean the ballsy broad, who made a career out of shooting from the lip, is living in fear that the black cloud will descend upon her again in 11 months’ time?
via edfestmag.co.uk
Great article - click on link to read it
Depressed? consider Rumi's view of our shadow self
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Published by:Harper San Francisco, 2004, ISBN 0-06-250959-4 From "The Four Fs" to The Four Immeasurables
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MINDFULNESS BREATH-MANTRA:
With the in-breath - I breathe in wholeness
With the out-breath - letting go negatives
or simply
Wholeness (in-breath)
Negatives (out-breath
MEDITATION: Many people suffer from the belief that they are 'bad', defective, cursed or some such thing because the shadow side throws up thoughts that are violent, inappropriately sexual or otherwise 'wrong'.
We now know that our brains are each a history of human evolution and that they contain a part that people refer to as the reptilian brain. This most ancient part of the brain is solely concerned with the Four Fs = flight, fighting, feeding or mating. That's the animal in us. The unbridled animal pops up in dreams or in the conscious mind. It's not a defect, but it is the lower self which in civilized people is socialized into socially acceptable forms.
The question arises as to how to reduce the effects of the lower self. Repression, suppression and destruction are likely to produce distortion or even perversion. The first and most important thing is to recognize that all four are part of our history and part of our nature and more to the point God-given - not to indulge but to learn from as with all dualities, sorrow teaches us to appreciate happiness.
The key is first acceptance, secondly recognition that it is all part of God's great learning plan and thirdly an accentuation of the positive - dilution not suppression.
One way to work at this process of balanced integration is to not repress what comes up but just to say 'high, welcome, thanks and goodbye' - as if the though was a character that appeared from stage left - and exits stage-right.
It is always astonishing and delightful to find that great teachers in earlier times understood these phenomena of the human heart-mind and gave solutions. Here is Rumi on welcoming visitors from the negative side;
THE GUEST HOUSEThis being human is a guest house.Every morning a new arrival.A joy, a depression, a meanness,some momentary awareness comesas an unexpected visitor.Welcome and entertain them all!even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,who violently sweep your houseempty of its furniture,still, treat each guest honorably.He may be cleaning you outfor some new delight.The dark thought, the shame, the malice,meet them at the door laughing,and invite them in.Be grateful for whoever comes,Because each has been sentAs a guide from beyond.
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RUMI
(Translation by Coleman Barks)
Karen Armstrong writes wonderfully in Shambhala magazine about this area;
From "The Four Fs" to The Four Immeasurables
Why do we find it so difficult to make compassion our reality? I did some reading on the neuroscience of compassion, and what I understood the science to say made a lot of sense to me, because I recognized it in myself. We’ve inherited a sort of reptilian brain from our distant ancestors, which still contains a lot of ferocious drives that helped our species survive. Often these drives are called the four Fs: fighting, fleeing, feeding, and… reproduction (laughter).
These drives are automatic, and they are powerful. If a lion suddenly ran into this theater, we’d be right to immediately abandon our high-minded deliberations and run for our lives. These drives are about survival, and they are all about “me.” When people were freed from the desperate struggle for daily survival that dominated the species for thousands of years and had the leisure to reflect upon their experience, they began to explore ways to enhance the more positive emotions of the so-called mammalian brain and put the four Fs in their place, to keep them under control. Because we have a duty to protect each other from our destructive impulses, whether that involves killing somebody or uttering an unkind word that remains lodged like a piece of ice in the heart for years to come.
Go HERE to read more of her article.
The picture SOURCE and the top of this post?
it is Abraham offering hospitality to angels - the trick is to see apparent negatives as angels, because through them we progress and learn to grow more into our true Self.
All is God - the dangly bits, the squidgy bits as well as our highest thoughts and our most self-less acts! All parts point to the Whole - that infinity of which we are an infinitesimal, temporary, form. But the Self is eternal - now.
Step into heaven.
MINDFULNESS BREATH-MANTRA:
With the in-breath - I breathe in wholeness
With the out-breath - letting go negatives
or simply
Wholeness (in-breath)
Negatives (out-breath
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Thursday, 11 August 2011
Could you do this? - to help Stop the Traffik?
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Dr Roger Prentice - Professional life-coach, Speaker, Writer, Workshop provider - TEL: 07 724 062 875
Personal Development & inter-spirituality - 'Soul Needs - spirit moves - join the discussion HERE!
WEB: New stuff posted most days HERE - Archive of 1600+ past posts HERE
SunWALK: a human-centred learning, education & development model/PhD HERE-0-
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
12 years in Evin prison Teheran for asking for equality & justice
Dear sister/brother this is a heart breaking letter by a brave Iranian woman “Bahareh Hedayat ” to her husband Amin from prison on a piece of tissue: from my dear Iranian friend Farbia…
” I long to know where you are and how you are spending your days. What time do you wake up in the morning? When do you arrive at work? What do you wear? When do you take a shower? Are you impatient? Do you think the whether is too warm or too cold? If the weather is polluted or dusty do you feel it? I want to know how you get to the office. I yearn for the light that illuminates the steps to our house. I have forgotten, what did you say were the color of the walls of our apartment building? I yearn to know where you sleep. How do you wash your clothes? How many new people have you met that I don’t know? Who have you argued with that I am unaware of? What are you reading? What are you listening to? Do you still stay awake until the early hours of the morning surfing the internet?
I want to know how you are and what you are up to. I want to know where you shop. Do you eat any fruit? It is summer now. Have you eaten any watermelon, strawberries, green plums, apricots or cantaloupe? Were they delicious? Did you enjoy them? I yearn to know if you still get a headache if your afternoon tea is delayed. Does you cell phone still need recharging all the time? Do you still forget to take it with you? Do you still wash you hair some mornings in the bathroom sink? Do you still sometimes eat yogurt with dry bread? Have you still not bought yourself a new bag and a new shirt? I yearn to know what you think of when you think of me. What do you want to know? What do you think of when you shop for me? What do you remember of our past together? Do you still pay attention to our anniversaries? Do you still remember that June 22nd and June 23rd in 2003 the first time I came to Majidiyeh? Do you remember that you showed me Esfahan for the first time on the 25th and 26th of June in 2002?
Do you recall the days when we went to the streets so we could be together? Do you still remember the afternoons we spent at Saati Park? Do you remember Zav? Do you remember way back when you used to take me to Darband? Do you remember that we went there the last time with Ahmad in the spring of 2008? Do you still remember the taste of my cooking? I don’t remember it anymore… Do you recall how we slowly bought all our furniture together? Do you remember the new year in 2008? Do you remember that we went to the Caspian Sea and went to the beach? Ahmad was with us too. Do you recall June 6th in 2002 when you gave me an ultimatum and told me to move on with my life? Do you recall the first time I was released from Evin in June 2006? Do you recall March 9th, 2007 when I went to the Central Council? Do you recall August 8th, 2007 the afternoon I was released from prison when on the doorsteps at my father’s house you said: “Wait a little longer…” You said: “In this one month I finally came to the realization that I can’t live without you.” Do you remember March 7th? I know you remember it. It was 7 1/2 years ago.
Amin I miss everything… every single thing… ever cell in my body is in pain as a result of my longing… I am tired of the small dreams that are draining me of air… Envy… envy … do you know what it is? I know that you do… but you don’t know what it feels like to be held in this damn cage and watch three people buried in front of your very eyes; two of whom, particularly the last were angels with exemplary character… You can’t imagine what it feels like… and I hope you never have to experience it…
I yearn for your calm embrace…
Forever Your Bahareh
June 2011
Evin Prison
( Please re-post this letter, as was requested by my Iranian friend to bring awareness to Bahareh as a political prisoner. Often times world awareness can be an important variable in keeping the prisoner alive. May the best possible outcome come for Bahareh and her beloved family and friends.)
This is a video of Bahareh when she was nominated for a peace award for her work……
http://iranpy.net/articles/716
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Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Mouth yoga: Breathing, smiling, healing Thich Nhat Hanh on meditation & mindfulness
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"In, out
Deep, slow
Calm, ease
Smile, release
Present moment, wonderful moment.
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I have posted before about the astonishing profundity and simplicity of Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. Nothing encapsulates that simplicity and profundity more than this short 'meditation poem' to be found in his book; The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching,Quotation from The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh
-0-"The fourth element of our body is air. The best way to experience the air element is the practice of mindful breathing. "Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out." After saying these sentences we can abbreviate them by saying "In" as we breath in and "Out" as we breath out. We don't try to control our breathing. Whether our in-breath is long or short, deep or shallow, we just breath naturally and shine the light of mindfulness on it. When we do this we notice that, in fact, our breathing does become slower and deeper naturally. "Breathing in, my in-breath has become deep. Breathing out, my out-breath has become slow." Now we can practice, "Deep/slow". We don't have to make an extra effort. It just becomes deeper and slower by itself, and we recognize that.
"Later on, you will notice that you have become calmer and more at ease. "Breathing in, I feel calm. Breathing out, I feel at ease." I am not struggling anymore. Calm/ease." And then, "Breathing in, I smile. Breathing out, I release all my worries and anxieties. Smile/release." We are able to smile to ourselves and release all our worries. There are more than three hundred muscles in our face, and when we know how to breath in and smile, these muscles can relax. This is "mouth yoga." We smile and are able to release all our feelings and emotions. The last practice is, "Breathing in, I dwell deeply in the present moment. Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment. Present moment/wonderful moment." Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment fully alive and aware.
"In, out
Deep, slow
Calm, ease
Smile, release
Present moment, wonderful moment.
"If you use this poem during sitting or walking meditation, it can be very nourishing and healing. Practice each line for as long as you wish.
"Another practice to help us be aware of our breathing is counting. As you breathe in, count "one" and as you breathe out, count "one" again. Then "Two/two," "Three/three," until you arrive at ten. After that, go back in the other direction: "Ten/ten," "Nine/nine," and so on, until you arrive back at one. If you do get lost go back to "one" and begin again. Relax. It's only a game. When you succeed in counting , you can drop the numbers if you like and just say "in" and "out." Conscious breathing is a joy."
Posted 9th August 20111 - after the third night of the London Riots.
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Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk born in 1926. His lifelong efforts toward peace -- particularly during the war in Vietnam - inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.
Plum Village, in France is where Thich Nhat Hanh lives in exhile and teaches, writes, gardens, and works to help refugees worldwide.
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