January 29 – The path we’ve travelled

Dear Friends,

So now that we’ve zipped through four weeks of material, and we’re nearing the end of January, I thought we could take a step back and have a big picture of what we’ve been cultivating this month.

• 1 – What’s your why – setting an intention can help us stay oriented in our practice and life
• 2 – Mindfulness is… – I presented my definition of mindfulness – in the course of this month, how have you refined your understanding of mindfulness?
• 3 – How did the rose ever open its heart? – kindness is an essential part of our mindfulness practice, allowing us to open to our inner goodness, and to meet experience with less resistance
• 4 – Taking your seat – some posture pointers for meditation
• 5 – Exhale and inhale – mindfulness of breathing
• 6 – Embodied awareness – bringing mindfulness to the body in motion – like when we’re washing dishes or making tea – what you notice with your mindful task?
• 7 – Body as the doorway to mindfulness – body scan meditation, formally or informally
• 8 – Step by step – a couple of styles of walking meditation
• 9 – Nourish yourself – bringing mindfulness to eating
• 10 – We must risk delight – the importance of joy in practice, that we can “borrow joy” when we resonate with others’ happiness, and that joy is a way to build resilience in our work against injustice
• 11 – Noticing the flavor – is an experience pleasant, unpleasant, or not really either, and notice our habitual response
• 12 – When hearing just hear – sounds as objects of meditation
• 13 – Try to love everything that gets in your way – some of the common challenges that we notice when trying to be mindful
• 14 – Transforming challenges to objects of meditation – and various strategies for responding to the challenges that may arise
• 15 – Emotions come with being human – including emotions in our mindful attention
• 16 – Welcome and entertain them all! – using the practice of RAIN to meet emotions
• 17 – Give back your heart to itself – self-compassion and the MUK practice
• 18 – Reflecting on emotions – how do we relate to emotions – includes some reflection questions
• 19 – The peace of wild things – the STOP practice to respond to more difficult emotions, which may include skillfully turning to something more neutral and grounding
• 20 – What do you think? – turning attention to thoughts can help us notice some of the common patterns our minds fall into
• 21 – Thinking about thoughts – applying the 3 Rs (Recognize, Release, Return), and a meditation with the Thought Game
• 22 – Working with worry – an approach to work with sticky thought patterns (like worry)
• 23 – Here comes the judge – tools to work with the self-critic
• 24 – Responding from a broader perspective – cultivating equanimity, steadiness, stability
• 25 – Spectrum of awareness – from a focused awareness on a single object to inviting a broad resting into awareness itself – and a practice with Diana Winston to explore these
• 26 – Being present – open or choiceless awareness practice
• 27 – Cultivating kindness – the benefits of including a kindness practice, including a practice with the use of phrases
• 28 – Short moments, many times – looking at ways we can incorporate mindfulness into daily life
• 29 – And here we are!

Is there something from the month that you’ll be taking with you as you continue your journey?

With good wishes,
Andrea