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Engaging in Focusing and Bearing Witness

Can keep depression away…

191205 Gandolf focused on the hanging crystal while bearing witness to all that is.

Why? Because with mind training the negative self-talk, stagnant qi and isolative behavior of depression is put in the back parking lot of your mind to rest.

Make this your own personal experiment:
Let your eyes focus on an inanimate object. Notice. Keep focusing. Notice what arises in you? Keep focusing. Bear witness on your world just like Gandolf the Cat is doing. What do you notice about your thoughts? Keep focusing in tandem with bearing witness. What do you notice now?

To know more about how mindfulness can be an antidote to depression enroll in The Art of Engaged Mindfulness class. Here’s the academic calendar link to view our Winter, 2020 classes.

Academic Calendar
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The In-Between State

Between the inhale and the exhale is….the gap.
Let yourself rest there.
What do you witness?

Between the exhale and the inhale is…the gap.
Let yourself rest there.
What do you witness?

How is the In-Between State a metaphor for your life?

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A Question and a Challenge

Question: What dilapidated and out-of-date mindset is not serving you?

Challenge: Name it. Cut the cord in your mind’s eye. Consciously breathe into this liberating moment as the old mindset floats away.

What are you aware of?

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When the moment is all about laughter!

Ann-Marie back in the day…

Take 30 seconds and laugh. Laugh strong. Laugh loud. Laugh for no other reason except to laugh.

After 30 seconds go into silence and notice what arises. (Do this now before you read on!)

Laughing meditation alters the dopamine and serotonin levels in our bodies resulting in a decrease in depression, stress and anxiety.

In other words: Aliveness vibrates. Attitudes shift. Joy seeps in. Beginners Mind reigns. Life becomes vibrant.

WARNING! Watch out for the Inner Critic! When we are not feeling up to snuff we will put off Laughing Meditation. This is only an excuse from IC telling us we need to suffer through whatever we are experiencing first.

Not so! Many meditation practitioners choose to do Laughing Meditation in the midst of suffering. For instance, joining together in Laughing Meditation when our Beloved is dying is one of the highest moments for all…especially the Beloved who is passing.

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Strong Energy Medicine…from you!

I encourage you to read the Strong Energy Medicine Words out loud. Consider each word and the energy it gives off. Notice how your body and mind respond.

Creating
Courageous
I love you
Please forgive me
I’m sorry
Thank you
Deep bow
Grounded
Cultivate
Contribution
Welcoming
Aliveness
Highest excitement
Surprise

Thanks to all who participated. There are still more! I’ll continue sharing our strong energy medicine words…keep ’em comin’!

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Strong medicine

Energy thoughts are strong medicine that we paint into our lives. They give birth to vibrant qi, they can also foster stagnant qi.

Always your choice…vibrancy or stagnancy…you are the artist!

How shall you paint your life today?

I paint my life with energy thoughts of my choosing.
I am learning to turn away from energy thoughts that do not serve myself or others.
I am the artist of my creation.

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Seeing through

Today as you interact pause quietly and look into the unique face in front of you. Imagine you are able to read this face like a book.

Reading the joys that have been experienced. Reading the hardships and suffering that have been lived through. Reading on the face the grace and serenity, the welcomings, the rejections, the wholeheartedness and the fears.

As you read the face watch for the evolution. It’s embedded there too.

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Story Lines

Story Lines can be invaluable when it is time to learn something. But when the teaching is over, the need for the Story Line is over. By letting go and moving away from the story we open up into even more of who we are.

Story Lines of Glass.
Ann-Marie McKelvey

A Mindful Practice for Today!
•Choose the Story Line that has stopped serving you.
•Firmly order your Monkey Mind to stop juicing the Story Line with attention.
•Tell your Inner Critic to walk away from it and find another Story Line that will serve you.
•Watch your Gremlin put the unneeded Story Line on the back parking lot of your mind.
•And now…settle into the aliveness within you…what do you notice?
•Keep me posted! I’m doin’ it with you!

“It’s only in the looking back do we see the straight and narrow.”
Darrell Scott – Crooked Road.