Mindfulness, or Bodyfulness
Watching an old video of a talk by Jon Kabat-Zinn, I very much enjoyed a question he asked. He reflected upon how so much of our education is focused on teaching one how to think. But, he asked, how often have teachers in formal education sought to help others explore how to be aware? Thinking happens above the shoulders. It is an activity of the brain – neural networks, creating, analyzing, categorizing. In contrast, awareness, is something that involves our body. Our whole body. Our hearing and sight, our sense of smell, taste and...
read moreA Rite of Change
I just opened a book, The Fruitful Darkness, by Joan Halifax. This is the passage I just read: When we sever ourselves from society in a rite of change, there is an invisible door that we pass through that has no words on the other side. On this side of the door, says Garcia Larco, “Our eyes remain on the surface, like water flowers behind which we hide / our trembling bodies floating in an unseen world.” It is this door to the depths that opens when we die. When we pass through this door, we always lose something. Something must...
read moreA New Park
I’ve been going for the best walks lately. Circles upon circles within circles. Around and around the Mapleleaf Reservoir, which was just recently “topped” with a big open park. Grass and trails now. It’s about a half-mile around, though there are offshoots from the paved path that can make it shorter or longer. It has become my new religion to walk around that park. Walking, reflecting, unwinding, realigning, settling, walking. It can become a ceremony so easily. I think that’s what I like about it. I find myself feeling more present. The...
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