Getting Focused
This week is directed toward calming the mind and doing just one thing at a time. The breath is your anchor this week. You can use it as an ally to quiet the mind, maintain presence and hold your attention on a single object.
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Watch this first.
Mindfulness lets us see things in a new light and believe in the possibility of change.
Ellen J. Langer
Mindfulness
Monday
Just after waking up
Three Breaths
Just before practice
Curiosity
Just before sleep
Gratitude
On the one hand, we're teaching ourselves to surrender to the moment, to inspiration, to intuition, to imagination. On the other, a huge part of our day is about discovering and mastering the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of how to reproduce in the real world the stuff we have encountered in the sphere of the imagination.
Stephen Pressman
The Artist's Journey
Tuesday
Just after waking up
Watching Breath Cycles
Just before practice
Focus
Just before sleep
Awareness
The unknown is like a magnet that both attracts and repels. Fear and discomfort turn us back because we don't see a beaten path to lead us to our destination. An anticipation of reward pulls us forward toward the clues that one by one unveil the solution.
Todd Skinner
Beyond the Summit
Wednesday
Just after waking up
Box Breaths
Just before practice
Patience
Just before sleep
Motivation
Things of the conditioned world are constantly changing and are infinitely variable; they have different qualities, quantities, and positions in space. Our minds cannot handle such complexity, so we have to learn from simplicity. We study something as ordinary and seemingly insignificant as normal breathing.
Ajahn Sumedho
The Mind and the Way
Thursday
Just after waking up
Out breaths
Just before practice
Excellence
Just before sleep
Release
...forgiveness is fundamentally for your own sake, a way to carry the pain of the past no longer. The fate of the person who harmed you, whether they be alive or dead, does not matter nearly as much as what you carry in your heart.
Jack Kornfield
A Path With Heart
Friday
Just after waking up
Counting Breaths
Just before practice
Self-Kindness
Just before sleep
Forgiveness