when we slow down, when we settle, when we become quiet and listen, we allow space for life to speak to us, or rather for our awareness to open to what life is saying.
in every case, it is love. we are being asked to love. once we awaken to this, there is only one question and that is how to love best, how to love in a way that brings most benefit, that ends harm, and that heals wounds.
sending out lovingkindness to all life in all directions, and especially to the people of Ukraine who are embodying incredible courage and resilience in the face of such destructive aggression, and to the Russian protestors who even knowing the potential cost of their bravery, are standing up and speaking out against their government’s catastrophic actions. they are moved by love for family, for neighbor, for community, for humanity, for life.
may love prevail.
may this invasion, this war of provocation, of aggression and violence end. may the loss of life, the harm and suffering emotional and physical end. may the power held by dictators and authoritarian forces in all corners of the earth come to an end.
may sanity prevail.
may clarity, resilience, balance, open-heartedness, and fierce compassion arise in every heart and mind out of the ashes of harm and suffering, that we may aspire and commit to the needed work, to bring healing and a new day of light, love, and harmony for all life.
every step of the practice is one of attention and care. our aspiration and ability to place our attention, to be mindful, to allow space for our awareness to arise, to befriend our mind and open our heart is an act of caring. a path and a practice. it is the foundation we need to care for ourselves, others and this world. the foundation we need to end harm, bring justice, transform suffering into healing.
it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. it’s okay to not know what to do. whatever you are feeling, it is okay to feel it.
so what to do? we can begin, by simply taking care of ourselves, by holding this moment with tenderness and compassion. we can come home to ourselves, by placing our attention on our breath, allowing the breath to carry all. as we breathe in we can note all of our experience, all we are feeling, with gentleness and love. as we breathe out, we can loosen and release our grasp, allowing space. this space, is the opportunity for clarity, for resilience, and balance to arise. this is a practice of love.
breathe.
~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻
if you’d like to learn some simple techniques and practice meditation together, join me for Self-Care Saturdays or Sundays at 9am PT. sessions are free or pay-what-you-can donation. $10 suggested donation.
contrary to the life we embody, to the love we are called to embody, to offer, to serve.
even as some descend into madness, may we rise up with minds of focus and clarity, luminous as stars across a darkened night, with strong backs, open hearts, and fierce compassion to end harm as generations have before us.
may this moment bring forth the bodhisattvas in the world and the bodhisattva within each of us.
may there be an end to ignorance, an end to aggression, an end to harm, an end to suffering.
learning to become friends with ourselves and relate to the world and others in a more open-hearted, calm and steady way is a beautiful and beneficial skill we can acquire through meditation practice. but this isn’t the only benefit a consistent meditation practice can bring. did you know it has numerous benefits for your own mental, emotional, and physical health as well?
a consistent meditation practice has been shown to reduce tension, lower blood pressure, reduce stress and stress related illnesses, improve sleep, and increase happiness.
it’s a skill and practice we can learn that can benefit our relationship to others and to ourselves, a beneficial path we can travel in our daily lives, and a refuge to return to again and again.
if you’d like to learn the practices of Mindfulness Awareness and Lovingkindness, join me this coming weekend for either Self-Care Saturday or Sunday at 9am PT- or both. the sessions are offered for free or pay-what-you-can, with suggested donation of $10. www.linktr.ee/jaysenwaller
have a great week!
~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻
if you’d like to support my teaching and art sharing with a donation – thank you! you can do so through one time donation on Venmo or PayPal, or through regular giving on Patreon. there are 7 levels of support beginning at $3/month with various unique and beneficial rewards. www.linktr.ee/jaysenwaller
we don’t have to be Buddhist to sit like a Buddha.
we sit upright with confidence and dignity, with an open heart and humility, breathing in and out with awareness, attentive to the present moment, not lost in distraction, or grasping, or aggression.
it may take practice, but it’s possible, because we are embodiments of life, of love.
~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻
if you’d like to sit together and practice, consider joining me next weekend for Self-Care Saturdays & Sundays at 9am PTeither day for Mindfulness Awareness Meditation practice and Lovingkindness Meditation practice. sessions are free or pay-what-you-can donation, with suggestion of $10. visit www.linktr.ee/jaysenwaller for links to join 👍🏻
if you find this post, my writing, photography and/or art beneficial, please consider supporting my practice and sharing, with one time donation on Venmo or PayPal, or regularly monthly giving through Patreon. visit www.linktr.ee/jaysenwaller for links 👍🏻
one of the hallmarks of meditation practice is beginning again. when our attention drifts away from our breath and we become lost in thought, once we are aware of this, we simply return to placing our attention on our breath. we begin again without judgement or criticism. we are practicing gentleness, rather than harshness.
we can take this practice into other areas of our lives as well. whatever it is, we can take an attitude of gentleness, of grace, and just come back, returning again to our commitments, to our vow, to our choice to be present, open-hearted, and embody love.
and yes, even if it is a thousand times and more, just return, begin again.
~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻
if you’d like to practice beginning again within meditation, join me this weekend for Self-Care Saturday or Sunday or both. donations appreciated. www.linktr.ee/jaysenwaller
if you’d like to consider ongoing support for my art and teaching, please check out my Patreon. www.patreon.com/jaysenwaller
when we meditate we often use the breath as our object of observation or as our anchor for our attention, touching the feeling of our breathing and staying with it as it cycles in and out. this is mindfulness. and sometimes while having our attention placed on the feeling of our breathing, we also open our awareness to sights, sounds, sensations, thoughts.
we can also use nature for this. we can place our attention on the sounds of birds or the breeze flowing through the trees, or keeping our attention with the breath we can open our awareness to these sounds of nature. and though we may not know what the birds or the breeze are saying, we can still feel a connection, and even awe. afterall, we too are nature, are life – though we often forget,- so when we pay attention to other life in nature, we are in a way also paying attention to ourselves.
nature can also be a comforting reminder that we are a part of something much more vast than we are often aware of. we don’t have to feel alone. we are a part of a beautiful tapestry, each thread a part of the whole. life is at once both intimate and vast. ⭕️❤️🙏🏻
The Metta Garden 