meditation

Mindfulness Challenge Week 26: Stillness

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pool w

Life is never truly still.

Slight movements surround us, always.  There are interruptions to our meditations, sounds and distractions.  Breath means movement.

While practicing using my neutral density filter, I left my camera focused on the pool for a few minutes to go help my son clean the car.  I had just tripped the shutter on a 30-second exposure when he called for me.

My daughter, thinking she’d be funny, attempted to capture a selfie on my camera while I was gone.

The stillness of the shot captured her movement in front of the camera, a faint purple haze in front of the pool.

When I was choosing a photo for this entry, my initial thought was to use this first image, as I felt it showed stillness well:

pool 2 w

However, it occurred to me that the challenge of being still is to accept the constant movement surrounding us.  Instead of ruining the image, my daughter inadvertently created a metaphor.

Nothing – not even stillness – is perfect.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

#createmindfulness2017

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Create Mindfulness

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I’ve fallen away from my photography a little lately, so I’ve been looking for something to spark my creativity in 2017.  There are so many 365 challenges (too ambitious for this teacher), and 52-week themes available, but none were quite what I was looking for.

This past summer I began practicing yoga regularly and absolutely love it – and want to benefit even more from the practice to be more mindful.

It’s nearly 2017, so a little late, but I wanted to share what I came up with today:  “Mindfulness Challenge: 52 weeks of mindful themes for photography, poetry, journaling, and creating”. 

Please feel free to print/try/share.  If you’d like a PDF version ($1) – and an editable PowerPoint version, please click on the image below and you will be taken to the link:

52-week-mindfulness-creativity-challenge

Enjoy, good luck, and Happy New Year!  Wishing you and yours health and happiness for 2017.

#createmindfulness2017

Learning to Breathe

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white-flowers

Yoga changed my life.

I used to carry this tension with me everywhere, all the time. I’d worry about the most trivial things. Then, the stress would cause more tension and I’d worry about the tension. It was crazy.

Until I learned how to breathe properly.

I’d done yoga a few times, but one instructor really taught it well. Now, when I feel any tension coming on, I focus on my breath. Now, I have control over it.

Now, I breathe.