"Welcome."

A shorter, one-step way to practice the Radical Acceptance that Tara Brach writes about is to respond to life's ups and downs with a simple "Welcome".

I find that when I welcome my experience, no matter how difficult, a tenderness is stirred inside toward myself, and toward life itself. I've expanded the "Welcome" by adding a gentle reminder to myself, "This too, is life." Life is precious, and all that I experience is affirmation that I am alive. When I welcome my experience, I welcome life.

The certainty of eventual death is something that I have always struggled with. By welcoming my experience as Life, I am present to my Existence. Perhaps a lifetime of being Present to Life will enable me someday to face Death with acceptance, too.

radical acceptance

I am experiencing a foundationally transformative book right now, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha. The author, Tara Brach, writes beautifully and profoundly about a practice born out of Vipassana (mindfulness) meditation.

The practice is Radical Acceptance, and as I have used it in my life over the past few weeks I have been amazed at its transformative effect. You'll be reading a lot on this blog about radical acceptance, but in this post I'd like to share about its surprisingly simple core.

Tara describes two steps in Radical Acceptance, and the first is simply Mindfulness; checking in with ourselves and noticing what we are experiencing in the present moment. We observe our physical sensations, our emotions, and the stories that run through our minds about our present experience. For example, if someone cuts me off on the freeway, I might immediately experience fear. This might feel like a balloon blowing up inside my chest, or my muscles tightening while my heart beats fast. I might feel angry, with a churning feeling in my stomach. I might notice that there is a story going through my mind saying that the person who cut me off doesn't care about my life or about their dangerous actions.

The second step is to accept this immediate experience non-judgmentally, and with compassion. Taking a kindly approach to ourselves, we do not push away uncomfortable sensations, nor do we grasp after pleasant ones. We accept what is, in the present moment, and give to ourselves the same compassion that we would to a cherished friend. This is very different from my previous practice of telling myself sternly why I should "get over" something, which often led me to resentment or guilt that I wasn't "getting with the program" and moving on. When I accept my present experience with compassion, it is as though I am sitting down next to myself, and offering the friendship of silent, loving companionship.

Putting these two steps together, my practice is to say in my mind, "I notice that I am feeling __________." And, I accept this with compassion.

Something happens inside me when I do this . . . it's as though the emotions and sensations that have been consuming me recede a little. I am not longer anger. I am no longer sadness. Anger or sadness is present, but I am detached just enough to make this experience manageable. Frankly, my experience has been that once I've practice radical acceptance in a given situation, about 75% of the time the discomfort just disappears. Always, it's made more bearable. Unbelievable.

There is so much more to share, but I'll save it for future posts! I'll be posting much more regularly now, so stop by again soon! :)

coming together of opposites

I recently read in Ivan Richmond's book Silence and Noise: Growing Up Zen in America that the Zen Buddhist motion of bringing the palms of the hands together across the chest (as in prayer, or the yogic tradition of "namaste") is meant to symbolize two opposites becoming one. I like this, because even while I was a practicing evangelical Christian, I had a reverence for paradox and mystery as profound and beautiful--not puzzles that need to be solved or questions that are useful only once answered.

I am learning that within the thought life of Zen Buddhism is an ease with opposites. It seems to me that all great spiritual leaders who have stood the test of time also embraced paradox. If I can accept paradox, I begin to be able to see what is real.

My body is a good current example. I weigh more than I ever have, but I am also the most psychologically healthy with regard to my body, and I am implementing more physically and emotionally healthful habits than I ever have before. I am eating better, exercising well, and choosing to pursue health rather than a particular figure. I look one way; I feel another. I seem one way on the surface, but inside I am another.

Once I was able to name this seeming contradiction, I began to feel a greater peace about it. Richmond notes that the hand motion that symbolizes the coming together of opposites is called the "jewel-holding mudra". He writes, "We imagine that between our hands is a jewel. The jewel is enlightenment, because true enlightenment comes from seeing beyond the opposites."

when "now" could be better

I was just pondering the practice of mindfulness when "now" is unpleasant or uncomfortable. While it is important to be present, observe our discomfort, and make adjustments if possible, what do we do when the present is still painful? Here, I believe that the field of somatic experiencing has something to teach us.

Somatic experiencing (SE) is a type of body work that is becoming increasingly prominent in the field of psychotherapy. Although formal training is essential in order to develop the competence to provide SE, one does not have to be a psychotherapist to receive that training; it is also open to nurses, body workers and a host of other helping professionals.

In SE, one is encouraged to identify resources, and apply those resources to discomfort in the moment. For example, if you have back pain, focus on an area of your body that feels good. Perhaps your calves feel relaxed and grounded, planted on the floor. Focus on the positive feeling. In imagination, take that relaxed, grounded feeling in your calves, and apply it to your back. Let your back receive healing from the stronger parts of you.

If you are experiencing an unpleasant mood, think back to some wonderful memory; one that only has positive associations and does not pain you to think about. Let's say that you remember a wonderful camping trip you took. Further refine the memory by picking one moment from the trip. The day you hiked to a waterfall and experienced the exhilaration of the pounding water. You felt completely at peace. Take that feeling, that memory, and let it become Now. Remember it in detail. Allow yourself to be exhilarated again. You aren't denying your present difficulties, you are simply introducing a Resource into the mix that you can draw positive energy from.

What do you currently feel that could benefit from a Resource? I'm exhausted after waking up too early; so I plan to lie in bed for at least a few minutes and Resource! :)

real-time accomplishments

Here's an idea: What if we spent more time identifying positive steps we are already taking?

So often, I look to the future in the hope that I will produce brand-new positive habits. This is good, but I also think I might have something to gain from reviewing my day and observing what I am already doing well.

Today was a classic case of over-work in my life. I stayed at the office much later than my goal, tending to this and that. However, here's a list of things I did well:
-I focused on one task at a time.
-I included fresh fruits on my grocery list, which I am about to enjoy.
-I set reasonable boundaries when I needed time to myself.
-I just took some time off from the computer when my cat informed me that it was time to cuddle.

What did you do well today? Whether it was an accomplished goal, or a healthful action that you took automatically, congratulations!

the practice of narration

Lately I've been trying to practice narrating what I do in my mind as I'm doing it. This helps me do only one thing at a time, and be present to each moment. I've resisted the urge to catch up on phone calls while driving, stating instead to myself, "I am driving." As I walk from the car to my office, I think, "I am walking." Once at work, as I embark on each task, I state in my mind what it is that I am doing. I am trying not to multi-task, but to approach each job deliberately and with focus. I plan to start using this approach with eating, too; observing not only that I am eating, but what the experience is like (the tastes, fragrances, textures, etc.) Though narrating each task may sound infantile and even maddening, it has had the opposite effect; I feel more centered, and find myself slowing down.

vision boards

During yesterday's coaching session, Cezarina taught me about vision boards as a tool of intentionality. I already know how powerful intentionality is, plus my creative self has been under-expressed lately, so I was enthusiastic.

A vision board is a piece of paper or cardboard that you collage with images which represent your vision for yourself. These are images of things yet to be, and the creation of the vision board is a statement of intentionality. Afterward, the vision board becomes a powerful reminder, and a visual affirmation. The board can be carried with you (if it is small or fold-able), or placed in an area of your home or office that you will encounter often.

I created my first vision board on the theme of eating and food. A few weeks ago I bought a large amount of fruit and ate several servings every day. I felt great! I now want to convert my diet to a mostly whole / raw food diet. The vision board is now posted on my refrigerator, where I can see it as I make my food selections.

The figure at the top represents physical health, mobility and flexibility, traits that I desire to deepen. The text in the center is Khalil Gibran's chapter On Eating and Drinking from The Prophet. Throughout the midsection of the board are images of the lovely, healthy, mouth-watering foods I want to incorporate into my diet.

At the bottom of the page, something beautiful and profound eveolved without me planning it. Among the magazines I was searching for images, I found a picture of an elderly, wrinkled woman whose keen eyes reveal cleverness and astute awareness. I began looking for more pictures of older women. My sister talked to me last weekend about life as "elder training", with achieving elderhood as the pinnacle of one's life. I want to live to be old enough to be an elder. I want to make healthy choices today both for the present and the future. I wrote these lines toward the bottom of the page (the first appropriated from an awesome Kaiser commercial):

"When I grow up, I want to be an old woman.
When I grow up, I want to be an ELDER.

MOMENT BY MOMENT BY MOMENT BY MOMENT...

ELDER."

on eating and drinking

-From The Prophet, by Khalil Gibran

Then an old man, a keeper of an inn, said, "Speak to us of Eating and Drinking."
And he said:
Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.
But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother's milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship,
And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man.

When you kill a beast say to him in your heart,
"By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.
Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven."

And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart,
"Your seeds shall live in my body,
And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,
And your fragrance shall be my breath,
And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons."

And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyards for the winepress, say in you heart,
"I to am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,
And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels."
And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each cup;
And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress.

waiting for instinct

“Do you have patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?”
- Lao Tzu

should [not]

I am finding that "should" is the greatest enemy to my own personal mindfulness. I am learning to observe and respond to my body, mind, and spirit based on my own needs and cues. "Should" removes me from the realm of attunement to self, and has me behave according to some external, fixed principle. When I act on "shoulds", I am ceasing to be responsive to my own intuition and instinct.