Mindfulness: first 2 days

Yesterday was the first day of the Mindfulness class which was awesome.  I loved the introduction of the class and the first lesson.  Sylvia says " Mindfulness is the balanced, ongoing attention to what is happening (physically and mentally), including the mind's perceptions and reactions, to what is happening."  You can still sign up for the class if you haven't already.   If you're already in the class, please comment so I know who you are.

I am to meditate for 10 minutes twice a day.  I have practice Centering Prayer off and on for around 20 years. However, I seem to practice more off than on.  Therefore, for me to choose a sacred word is automatic. My word yesterday for my morning meditation was "trust." I choose trust because it's a word that has come up continually especially when talking about God and faith and seems to jump at me.  Even though my mind wandered, I was always able to easily bring it back to "trust" in the way Father Keating taught.

Then, I reread the instructions and realized I am to concentrate on my breathing, to feel it enter my nostrils, to feel it go drown my throat, how my chest expands, and the sensations when it exits my body.  That is what I concentrated on during my second meditation last night.  Again, my mind wandered, but I gently brought it back to my breath.

Also, yesterday I listened to Judith Ragir's talk on mindfulness which is really great.  I had heard it before, but it's been at least a year or two.  She discusses several kinds of mindfulness. I guess I subconsciously implanted in my habits what I heard years ago because I noticed during her talk that I occasionally do those things she said.  One is paying close attention to what I do. That is to say, I would think: I'm walking, I'm sitting, etc.  I would do this in hopes that I would become more aware. It could be from the lecture she did on Koans which I loved. "When you're done eating breakfast, you go to the sink and wash the dish."

I'm really looking forward to this class and will try to tell you my experience with it. I hope you take it with me because you will get so much out of it, if you're into learning about mindfulness.

The other thing that happened to me is I was putting together a phone list for a group in which I belong.  At the end, I added a couple of quotes at the end. I chose ones for Hope.  Later, when I opened the thought for the day that I receive, it was on  Hope and included the same quote that I used on the phone list email.  I don't believe in coincidence.  I believe it was God/the Universe working.

Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.

HOPE = Heart Open Please Enter
Image is from Understanding Mindfulness.