You Just Never Know

One day you are worried about what you will do for fun. You try and find what it is that makes you ‘happy’. You discuss what is the best choice for travel, for daily happiness. You do what people in America have been trained to do. You prioritize. You might make a Bucket List of all those ‘things’ you want to see, do accomplish. I think all these ‘doings’ are really useful as you step through the moments of your life.

And then, something changes. Someone you love, maybe even you, gets slammed by life. Maybe you fall and break your neck, like my friend Alex. Maybe you find out that you have heart disease, and need a bypass. Maybe you find out that you or your loved one has cancer. Maybe your best friend dies suddenly. Maybe your dog got out and you don’t know if you will ever see him again.

I am not trying to sound like the voice of gloom and doom. Life happens, and if you live long enough, you will look in the face of illness, and death. What will you do in those moments?

You have absolutely NO idea, until you are in the middle of such an experience. I can tell you that having this meditation and mindfulness ‘practice’ is an advantage, a gift, and I will also tell you that your human heart will break, and fear will very likely run through your veins.

You really never know ANYTHING until you experience it. So, enjoy all of your moments, consider how you want to live, set your priorities, and be prepared to face mortality in variant forms. It will happen. What will you do then?

A Fast from Thinking

What else can you do?  I don’t think we have a choice.  No matter ‘what’ we are ‘doing’  eventually we will step back, shake our head from side to side and talk to ourself.  ”This is not the way it should be.”  ”This is so wrong.”  ”How did I get soooo out of practice?” “There must be a better way!”

No matter what the project looks like, you will probably come to this point of head shaking and analysis.  Such a moment may be filled with a dash or two of human emotion.

This is a no brainer, because it is life.  ”HOW” you behave at this point of  realization is what I call the WAY, or the PATHWAY.   You can throw an adult tantrum filled with rage and expletives, which is a choice that has some gratifying release, and by the way is a common choice.  You can pretend ‘it’ doesn’t matter and stuff it.  Or, you can use this moment as just another place to restart your practice.

Take a deep breath.  Do it again, and follow your breath.  Take a three minute brain break where you simply breath slowly and focus on your breath.  You can focus on your in and out breath in your nostrils, or in your belly.

This three minute brain break is intended to be like a breakfast.  YOU FAST FROM THINKING.   Just for three minutes.  As you breath slowly and deeply, your sternum relaxes and oxygen circulates more efficiently.

This may be all you have to do.  When you refocus on your project you may ‘see’ it differently, resolve a problem, or accept the project and continue.  Imagine for a moment that you are a personal computer.  You are never turned off, 10 programs are running simultaneously, and you poor thing, there are four ‘users’.  You do it all!

You provide your users with speed, choice, efficiency and inspite of all this, you are verbally abused by everyone, and ‘they’ never ever give you a break!  They never turn you ‘off’, or even let you ‘sleep’.  Finally, you give yourself a break, you ‘CRASH’!

I advise, that before YOU crash an ugly human CRASH, you take a break.  Give yourself a FAST from thinking. Disengage and let yourself rest!  There are so many ways to take a break.  Try the 3 minute brain break, anytime, anywhere!  Try it many times a day, and observe any changes in your life.  Try it.  It is simple, and powerful!

On the Road Again

Traveling on the 95 North of Las Vegas through the edges of Death Valley, I stopped in the small town called Goldfield.  You know, it is one of  those towns that you pass through anywhere.  You take your foot off of the accelerator and cruise through at 35 mph, looking out into the town that you pass through in less than 5 minutes.  You wonder, who lives out here, in the middle of absolute nowhere?

Not many people make that choice.  Why do ‘they’ choose to live at the edge of the thorough fare?  Why do the choose the middle of nowhere?

I stopped at the general store and talked to the owner.  I asked her where Area 51 was located, and in addition to simple directions she added her stories about the continued military testing sites, and the mystery of  the restricted area.  I left her store with some new information about Area 51, and a little more understanding about at least one person who made the choice to live in a little town that travelers pass by.

San Diego Mind Spa

I know that you don’t have time to take care of yourself.  You are busy taking care of other people.  There are people out there in the warm California Sun who are taking care of a son, daughter or spouse who has a DSMV diagnosis.  Those care givers have sometimes 24/7 stress and can’t leave their family member alone.  Maybe their aging mom has dementia.  Maybe their adolescent has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia.  Maybe someone is going through chemotherapy.

Whatever your personal obligations, whether you are JUST a mom or dad, or you have a whole list of people to care for, it really is important to take care of yourself.  Without strategies in place to ‘GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK’ you will break.  Your energy will get low, you will get sick, and depressed.  Taking care of you, although I know you are last on the list, is crucial.

Come join me in January, 2012 at Dharma Center in Ocean Beach.  We will have a relaxing class together, and you will learn some simple meditation and mindful practices that will give you peace and energy.  Inside of your stressful days, you will learn how to create moments of power and peace.  Hope to see you in January!

Reset on Enlightenment

Are you getting lazy and complacent.  RESOLVE NOW:  ”I resolve to take care of myself. I reset my focus on enlightenment. I reset my practice on daily meditation and clear light mindfulness. I am going to spend time having fun on adventures with my sangha, my spiritual family.”

Hope to see you somewhere in dreams, or the desert, or in silence where you and we can play and merge into the eternal divine.

The Master of Light

Rama, thanks for the adventures .  Waving back at you!

Awake in the Night

I left the window open, and the wind has come up. It is blowing the pleated drop-down shade, and the wind touches my face softly.

They are all asleep. I don’t sleep much some nights, and as I sit here in my bed, my only conversation is with the keyboard and the wind.

She flows into my quiet room, waking me with her cool caress. Is she trying to tell me something? Maybe if I listen with a whisper of mystic I will hear.

The last time I was in Hawaii the windows were open and the wind blew through the room. Tonight, it is like that. The wind is sultry and damp, and powerful gusts make the shades tap against the window pane. I wonder if I will ever find peace? The wind seems to be at peace, although she is not always peaceful. Sometimes she is the balmy island breeze, other times and places she is the hurricane that churns up the seas and tears down the trees.

I love the wind. She is powerful, and invisible, but her touch is magical.

Caregivers Need a Break

It is not easy, is it? Are you taking care of someone who is ill? That someone could be mentally ill, or physically ill, or aging and just losing their ability to be independent. If you are a care giver, YOU can get low in energy, and short on happiness.

I recommend that you find a way to recharge. There are hundreds of ways to recharge. Meditation is a way. Exercise is a Way. Doing anything that makes you happy and takes your body and mind away from the ‘job’ of caring for someone is a way.

I hope that, if you live in San Diego, and you want to recharge you will join me at Dharma Center where we can talk about ways to shift your attention and recharge your energy. I hope you will consider adding meditation to your toolbox that is just for YOU>

Road Trip

There is nothing like a road trip. Something about the wheels on the pavement and moving through space, watching the world change as you pass by.

The farther I go, the less I know. Maybe that is the reason a roadtrip is so soothing, you leave all traces of yourself along the roadway, rotation by rotation.

I watched the scenery change today from twisting pine studded roadways to rolling wheat colored hills that were the home to many oak trees. Nature was there, I passed by, and another piece of me fell under the wheels of the car. Freedom comes in many packages, today mine came in the sitting, in the car, while the wheels turned and the world went by.

Live in the Tao

Life. Who Knew? Sometimes it is the people closest to you who let you down. I guess that is obvious, right? People who are acquaintances or distant relatives can’t let you down. It is those people with whom you have a history who can surprise you. When that happens, you just take a look at your life, wash your dishes, and keep on going. What else can you do? You might be surprised that stepping just a little to the left and forward creates a whole new world that you never even noticed!

Be mindful as you realize that people are doing the best they can.  Learn to live in the tao, the flow.  Let it Go!