Meditation for the soul… 8

Resilience is not the absence of distress or difficulty. Resilience is the ability to adapt and grow following adversity. __unknown

Hello Everyone! We have now been with each other over a week! I thank you all for sticking it through and being engaged! I do hope you have made the efforts to journal the tasks, complete tasks, and participate with the videos posted! We are doing this as a team, I show up to give you these mindfulness activities and you complete them! Let’s start with some food for our thoughts:

Today I travelled to the grocery store and watching individuals arrive with masks, protective gloves and rarely any contact with each others, was so surreal. We quickly changed the way we socialize with each other within hours and days! We are more like walking zombies with a plague. IN SAYING THIS… my point is…. We are still able to smile, say hello, give a kind gesture and just acknowledge each other.

I am upset to witness how much control the news and government has had on our population! We are ready to give someone a dirty look cause they have coughed, call 911 because people were seen socializing, and we are okay with individuals being jailed for not social distancing. On no level will I agree with this ever, a complete totalitarian form of governing. I encourage people to be conscious but to continue to question and acknowledge each other still as just human beings. I completely understand peoples fears and their decisions. I have my own thoughts, ideas as well. I just can’t justify the things I have mentioned, that is where I begin to question not the virus but the whole process. There is a lot we can do to remind people, as we have those who are afraid of the virus and there are those who are afraid of a totalitarian government. However, we want to view it, it is some sort of fear people are responding too.

I am ASKING us to create kindness where you can, be compassionate, help each other and stop governing others! Our governments are not on the grounds, we are. We are still needing to work, get groceries, suffer lack of resources and funds. We are not each other’s enemies, please remind yourselves of this.

Also being out today the young lady behind the plexiglass at the grocery store, stated to me… I really hope this is not how life is going to be as I will not live in this type of world. I was so perplexed, as I have said the same. I would much rather die in fighting for a cause versus being held in my home because the government has made us all afraid of death. These were my thoughts 💭! Okay let’s begin our mindfulness activities and our meditation for the day/evening! The FUN stuff that helps us cope with all these words in our minds as each day passes!

Tasks: the Body Scan begins with the participants lying on their backs with their palms facing up and their feet falling slightly apart. This exercise can also be done sitting on a comfortable chair with feet resting on the floor

Mindfulness activity: Step 1: step out of “auto-pilot” to bring awareness to what you are doing, thinking, and sensing at this moment.

• Try to pause and take a comfortable but dignified posture. Notice the thoughts that come up and acknowledge your feelings, but let them pass. Attune yourself to who you are and your current state.

Step 2: bring awareness to the breathing for six breaths or a minute.

• The goal is to focus attention on one thing: your breath. Be aware of the movement of your body with each breath, of how your chest rises and falls, how your belly pushes in and out, and how your lungs expand and contract. Find the pattern of your breath and anchor yourself to the present with this awareness.

Step 3: expand awareness outward, first to the body then to the environment.

• Allow the awareness to expand out to your body. Notice the sensations you are experiencing, like tightness, aches, or perhaps a lightness in your face or shoulders. Keep in mind your body as a whole, as a complete vessel for your inner self;
• If you wish, you can then expand your awareness even further to the environment around you. Bring your attention to what is in front of you. Notice the colors, shapes, patterns, and textures of the objects you can see. Be present at this moment, in your awareness of your surroundings.

When you are ready to finish the exercise, open your eyes slowly and try to carry that mindfulness with you as you go about your day.

Below is a meditation with just sound. Lay flat in your back and allow the meditation do its work and just keep bringing your thought back to the meditation.

Mantra:

• Shanti (shan tee): to restore peace and harmony
• Anandam (aan an dam): to restore inner joy and contentment

Say the above mantra as you listen to the video. Say them out loud but in a quiet voice.

Last task: In your journal write your current thoughts and acknowledge them. Understand where these thoughts are coming from and then throw them away. As you have given them space and those thoughts are no longer needed! As I have done so myself with my thoughts above, I have now thrown them away!

Enjoy tomorrow, when you see someone smile or say hello! Let’s be human, let’s be kind and let’s love! 💕

With love,

Lucylu