A moment to pause

A moment to pause

I was pedaling toward The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, a year ago today as my wife and I completed our cross-country adventure. 
There were so many emotions percolating within me it was impossible to acknowledge them all, but one thing was evident, a feeling of trust. 
 
Trust is vital for your well-being when you're physically or mentally suffering, but when you're hurting, many demons look to tarnish it by sowing seeds of doubt as you wonder if you'll feel normal again. 
 
Trust, along with gratitude and generosity (last week's MTP), is one of the nine attitudes of mindfulness. It's about getting out of the way to strengthen our intuition, agency, and belief in our ability to heal. 
 
Many people told me that getting back on my bike was impossible. So, they couldn't begin to process the idea of me cycling across the country, but the impossible became a reality through mindfulness and trusting the long game that healing demands while acknowledging that not everyone heals in the way they desire. 
 
With any journey, there will be days when we will take a few steps forward without any steps back, but there will also be days when the opposite is true. These days ask for our trust as we slog through the muddy moments of life toward the promise of a spectacular lotus. 
 
One way to enhance your practice is through mindfulness of the body. Here's a five-minute body scan that can help you strengthen your relationship with the body so you can hear its whispers before it starts to shout. 
 

New Meditations

You'll find a number of short practices on the app that were recommended by our community. Thank you for your suggestions and co-creating this community. 

New practices: What Do I Truly Want, Worry Less, Cultivate Acceptance, Behold the Ordinary, Zooming Out, It's all Happening Now, Getting a Shot, Gratitude for Life, Gratitude for the Body, Letting Go, Overworking, A Peaceful Ripples, Self-Kindness, Shutting Down Devices, This Moment Too Shall Pass, Ubuntu, Upsetting People, What's Important Now, Win Some, Learn Some, Night Sky, Dealing with Today's Chaos, and Sleep Affirmations. 

Also, this week, you will find three practices to help us investigate our relationship with dying and how we wish to pass, because eventually we all do. It's part of our we live. 

Live Practices:

During August, we will continue expanding ways to practice mindfulness with our mindful eating practice on Thursday and a walking meditation practice on Tuesdays. If you haven't joined one of our live practices yet, I hope you will during August. 

This Week's Poem

"I haven't written a single poem
in months.
I've lived humbly, reading the paper,
pondering the riddle of power
and the reasons for obedience.
I've watched sunsets
(crimson, anxious),
I've heard the birds grow quiet
and night's muteness.
I've seen sunflowers dangling
their heads at dusk, as if a careless hangman
had gone strolling through the gardens.
September's sweet dust gathered
on the windowsill and lizards
hid in the bends of walls.
I've taken long walks,
craving one thing only:
lightning,
transformation,
you."

"Transformation" by Adam Zagajewski

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