Heart-Based Mindfulness

with Kate Mitcheom - CNM, MSN, RYT, EMP

#mindfulness

Travel and mindfulness

Recently I had a 4 hour delay at Midway airport in Chicago, yikes!  

The trouble with so many trips and too many fights lately is twofold. Flying wreaks havoc on the body and the carbon footprint wreaks havoc on the planet

My good fortune, however, was that amazingly enough the airport had a yoga studio. I was a happy camper!

I found myself in the yoga room on the mat with perhaps a middle-aged business looking type woman on her mat beside me. She did legs up the wall in her striped cotton dress and blonde ponytail while I eased my way through a few rounds of salutation to the sun. I suspect we both appreciated the quiet serene environment.

As she ended, I smiled and said “isn’t it wonderful to be able to stretch between flights?” She replied “yes, I was going to do some OMs but I didn’t want to bother you”.  My response “no worries, go for it”.  At which point she boomed out 3 hearty Oms.

I reflected for a moment and realized, if I had seen her hustling to her gate rather than standing in Tadasana with hands in prayer pose, I might have mistakenly made assumptions about who she was: or who I thought she was. I still don’t know who she was/is except that her beautiful practice touched my heart right there the Chicago airport.

I might have forgotten that just like most of us, quite likely she longed for ease and peace and connection.  Maybe even a deep feeling for something beyond our usual routines and superficial conversations.

I gave gratitude for all those trying to make our world a better place and for those who thought to provide a space in the midst of the noise and bustle of an airport to turn inward and care for our bodies, and for the magical gift of a moment of connection

Resistance and Surrender

One thing about the new year is that the beginning of 2017 combined with the darkness of the season just naturally invites inner reflection.

I sometimes wonder about how much we miss because we are in the habit of saying “no”.  No thats not the way I do it, No, I don’t like it that way, No, I don’t care for that or her or him or them….etc

It can be refreshing to pause for a moment when “No” arises and check it out, not with any expectation of change but just with curiosity.  How does “No” feel in the body, notice especially the jaw, the belly, the shoulders, the forehead. Maybe there is tension in the brain. It can be helpful to be aware of how different states of mind feel in the body. Simply gathering information to be able to see and then to choose.

We can use “No” to keep the status quo in place or we can use “No” to give ourselves a sense of safety or boundries.  Those boundries can turn into walls and those walls not only keep others out but keep us locked within.

I offer this poem for your reflection…..

The Healing Time


Finally on my way to yes
I bumped into
All the places
Where I said no
To my life
All the untended wounds
The red and purple scars
Those hieroglyphs of pain
Carved into my skin, my bones
Those coded messages
That send me down

The wrong street

Again and again
Where I find them
The old wounds
The old misdirections
And I lift them 
One by one
Chose to my heart
And I say holy
Holy
-Peshawar Bertler-


Why won’t other people change???

*”When I was a young man (woman), I wanted to change the world. I found it was

difficult to change the world,so I tried to change my nation. When I found

I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t

change the town and so I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man (woman), I

realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that

if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family.

Then my family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact

could have changed the nation and I could **indeed have changed the world.”*

*~ Unknown monk*

I have noticed that in interpersonal relationships there is often a rub.  That rub in my experience has to do with my own wanting things to be a particular way, as though there was one right way for things to be.  I find no peace when I persist with this and my relationships suffer.  If, instead, I become an observer of my own desires and attachment to having things be a certain way, I can relax, respond and let go.  

Week 5 – Taking Care of Yourself

Welcome back. Many people start this course because …

they are a carer. Maybe of someone with an illness in the family, an elderly relative or friend, or a child with special needs.

Remember, you cannot pour from an empty cup. You need to learn how to take care of yourself and find coping strategies.

Now you can download Heart Based Mindfulness Chapter 5

Click here to download and print Chapter-5

or read it online below

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