Wishing you a happy, safe and joyful Christmas and Festive Season!
Christmas snuck up on me this year!
It has been such a busy and intense few months at home, with many family changes and transitions. And as we all know, change is always challenging .. even positive change.
So, I have had to consciously surrender to not getting it all done
Surrender to the busyness and the days racing past, to not getting done what I thought was needed .. and realising it will all be ok regardless.
In Australia, it is also Summer: and the warm wind calls us to pause and rest, to read on the beach, play in the surf, eat seafood and fresh tropical fruit, stay up late, stay in late. There is a sense of ease and playfulness in the air.
I shall continue to surrender over the next few weeks .. to family, sunshine, reading, pondering and wandering. I may write a blog post if the urge arises and I will try to share some of my Summer on Instagram and Facebook.
I wish you time to surrender
And if you feel drawn to experiencing a clear and deep inner surrender .. starting or reigniting your meditation practice .. I have some suggestions for you.
If you would like to know a little more on The Science of Meditation from the Catalyst report that aired on the ABC on 7 June 2016. There are a lot of very positive insights and brain science presented in the report.
Some shares from my blog:
- Gravity Meditation: watch these two amazing video’s all about the magic art of what is being called ‘gravity meditation’
- Setting a Sankalpa: the yoga practice of setting an intention vow or goal which is a great activity to start a New Year (I do this every year) and I have included a downloadable PDF to guide you
- Fly Meditation: a great little video and wonderful reminder of how we might handle distractions
- Wrong Hand Exercise: a fun and insightful mindfulness practice, with some recent science behind it
- A Mindful Moment: a 5min guided mindful moment practice; and we all have 5 minutes!
And a guided meditation that I share on Insight Timer:
- Last year I was invited to share a beginner’s meditation practice on the global Insight Timer which you can listen TO HERE (15 minutes)
And, if you would like to join a class and learn more about meditation (and start a personal practice), there are a few classes and workshops listed already for January and February – see our Summer Series
Or, join us for our next 31 Day Quiet Mind Meditation eCourse STARTING 1st JAN 2018 – this ecourse is always super popular at the start of the year, and a great way to start the year with a host of life skills and stress management tools.
I wish you a safe, joyful and peaceful Christmas
I would also like to THANK YOU for your support this year .. new friends who have participated in one of my meditation classes, joined our Meditation Collective weekly meditation session, read (and commented) on my blog, the tribe from across the globe that I reach through Facebook and Instagram .. those who receive the free Monday Meditation Musing, Lunchtime Enlightenment and Quiet Mind e-newsletter. Thank you all!
So many wonderful and inspiring individuals that I am so grateful to have in my life.
May you be happy, May you be safe, May you be peaceful, and at ease, May you be free to live and love fully ..
These are the profound phrases from a Loving Kindness Meditation .. where we silently repeat classic phrases offering loving-kindness first to ourselves .. then a loved one .. a dear friend .. a neutral person .. and finally, to someone, we find a little difficult .. and then to the entire world.
The most challenging part of a Loving Kindness Meditation is often the extending of love to ourselves. But we need to love and care for ourselves first if we wish to be there for others. This reminds me of the often quoted adage that, ‘in the case of in-flight turbulence you need to first attach the oxygen mask to yourself before you can assist your child beside you’.
Please remember that the greatest gift you can give yourself (and then others) is your mental and physical health.
And of course .. find some time to meditate
Just sitting for a few minutes, closing our eyes and shifting our awareness to our breath, allows our mind and body to be still, to refresh and to heal.
Please pass this newsletter on to anyone that you feel needs a little ease and calmness.
Sarah, Quiet Mind Meditation