Inspiration

inspiration

n

...the act or process of inhaling; breathing in

I was researching the topic of mindfulness for my Meet-Up tomorrow night (come on by) and I was looking for a quote to put on the worksheet.  Needless to say, I found an amazing array.  As I read each one, it became its own meditative experience.  I felt a sense a shift from thinking to feeling as I read through the quotes.  Some I met with curiosity, others - a knowing, and still others with a deep wellness as I read page after page.  It then occurred to me that this act in itself is a simple and practical tool for centering the mind and nourishing the heart.   So, I have posted five inspirational quotes below.  Let's use reading the quotes as a mind-full? mind-less! exercise. Mind - full?  Ah, such a common experience.  Here is a quick, simple and fun way to focus, relax and be inspired.  Mind your mind. 1.  Breathe.  Feel your breathe.  Hear your breathe.  See your breathe. Relax and let the breathe settle you in your body.  Notice how your body feels as it is breathing. 2.  Read through the quotes.   You are free to read through all five quotes and return to read again or read one at a time. Notice where your attention is as you read each one.  Did you notice a shift in your observations when you read through the quote the second time? Did you find your mind wandering?  If so, gently re-focus on experiencing each of the quotes. 3. Be the observer.  Did you feel something as you read the quote?  If so, where in your body did you notice this feeling?  Did you find that you were inspired by the quote and if so, where did this inspiration take you?  What thoughts, ideas, images, places did you go and what did each place feel like, what mood did it evoke? 4. Breathe the quote - Be the quote.  Imagine the words as a fragrance that you are inhaling, and notice what fragrance accompanies the quote.  This is a powerful experience to bypass the cognitive mind and our sense of smell evokes powerful memories and feelings that can be deeply relaxing and restful.  5.  Reflect and release.  Let the words fall away and move into your day.  Notice where you have become the quote in actions, thoughts or experiences in the following hours and days. How did it feel to breathe in words; to smell the images and paint pictures in your heart?

The following quotes are from Good Reads at www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/mindfulness.  Here are the five for today.

“In the end, just three things matter: 

How well we have lived 
How well we have loved 
How well we have learned to let go” 

― Jack Kornfield

“We too should make ourselves empty, that the great soul of the universe may fill us with its breath.” 

― Lawrence Binyon

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” 

― Thich Nhat Hanh

“Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” 

― James Baraz

“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.” 
― Pema Chödrön

Share your inspirational quotes or your experience with this quick and simple way to shift from the thinking mind to the experiential self.  

Brava!