Every morning a new arrival

A joy, a depression, a meanness

Some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor

Welcome and entertain them all

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows

Who violently sweep your house

Empty of its furniture,

Still, treat each guest honorably

He may be clearing you out

For some new delight

The dark thought, the shame, the malice

Meet them at the door laughing

And invite them in

Be grateful for whoever comes,

Because each has been sent

As a guide from beyond

Breath in Mindfulness

It is a human tendency to jump constantly from one thought to another. We do not pay much attention to breathing, since it happens automatically. We can live for months without consuming food, and days with no water; however we can only survive for a few minutes without breath.

Breath is life, and there is no life without breath. Mindfulness breathing meditation techniques positively affect our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations. Mastering the art of working with breath is an important start towards our overall well-being, stress reduction and gradually our self-healing.

Mindfulness breathing enables us to reverse the symptoms resulting from stress, emotions and negative thoughts and create a sense of calm in our mind and body. Mindfulness breathing engages the abdominal muscles and diaphragm. We feel the abdominal wall rising, which expands the lower parts of the lungs. The rib cage expands, gently openingand raisingthe chest and collar bones in each inbreath. After a pause we exhale gently and the abdominal wall gently contracts and pushes the air out of our lungswith each out-breath. This is the miracle that exists within us. Everywhere we go there is a breath, there is life, there is a miracle.

Mindfulness breath practice makes us aware of our breath, moment by moment. Breath enables us to return to the present moment each time the thought of the past and speculations of the unknown future have taken our focus from our life experience. Breath anchors us with the present moment – connected, aware and alert.

Mindfulness breathing practice also assists us in sending our breath to any part of our body that feelstension and stresswith compassion. Mindful breath practice enablesus to reduce our bodily and emotional stress.This is another miracle that exists within our own breath–the” intentional breath of healing”.

When we are mindful of our breath, we connect with the oxygenated cool air when it goes into our body with each in-breath. We also connect with each warm outbreath which pushesthe waste, stress, negative thoughtsout of our body.

Mindfulness breath meditation skills and techniques positively empower and energise us. Mastering theart of working with breath leads to self-healing and stress reduction, and gradually radiates life to any cells of our body.

Attention to the breath is fundamental in mindfulness meditation. This practice calms the mind andstrengthens focus and concentration. Breath almost always is the best place to return to present moment.

This awareness moves from one area of our body to the next, with patience and understanding.

With body scan meditation we give ourselves time and space to connect with our body, to observe it and tune in to each area of our body in turn, in a state of awareness. We rarely allow ourselves to have a relationship with our body for our overall health.

Regular practice of body scan meditation enables us to not only have a close relationship with our body, but also to learn to respond to and counterbalance stress, anxiety, and the effect of physical and emotional difficulties on our body before they cause further illnesses.

Body scan meditation also allows us to understand the importance of our body at a much deeper level than just seeing our body externally and how we look outside.

It is best if we lie down on the floor for this practice,in a safe place where we wouldnot be disturbed for the duration of the meditation.

We Direct our attention to the place in our body that we want it to be.

We Pause our attention so our attention remains in place for the duration we want it to stay there

We Move attention away to the next area of our body.

Some of my experiences with mindful body scan meditation:

Through body scan meditation I learned to respect and accept my body, including my limitations, ability or disability at a deeper level. It was only through regular practice that I gradually embodied a stronger, grounded, and harmoniously balanced mind-body posture. I mostly tuned in to my body to acknowledge its signals without having judgment around it. Breathing in and out from eacharea in the body and releasing the tension allows me to calm my body and mind in each moment. It is important to be present with body, mind, thoughts, and feelings – yet relaxedand connected.

I sharpen my awareness and concentrate my patience and intentionin total awareness to parts in my body as if I can see each area of my body insideout. This practice has empowered me to work skillfully with my physical experiences, rather than worry about them.

As a result of this practice I now know how and when to respond to my bodily sensations. My dedication to skillfully irradiate my body and release the tension provides mea much deeper relaxation and freedom from pain, stress, and ultimately brings me relief.Practicing body scan provides insightful guidance and direction towards healing,in the midst of allmy challenges.

To learn to pay attention, acknowledge, and express your full range of emotions such as anger, sorrow, and guilt with a conscious mind,you can transform an unpleasant experience into a pleasant one.

To believe,you must up-beat yourself, all the time. To be a positive thinker can also can be an overriding judgment that may cause some more stress.

Mindfulness emphasizes how crucial it is to graciously understand and accept your emotionsin improving your overall well-being. Understanding the complexity of life experiences can be a fruitful path to your destination. Supressing your emotions can back fire on your psychological welfare and can harbour more problems.

Mindfulness skills and meditation, helps you become aware of your present experiences without having judgment. Practicing mindfulness skills and meditation empowersyou to cope better with emotions. See the problems with clarity and with acceptance in order to proceed through the path to recovery.Release and shake off the shame and guilt; the should have, must have.

Mindfulness teaches us to turn towards our unpleasant emotions, experience and thoughts and

• Recognize it for what it is
• Name the emotions for what it is
• Gently and kindly explore your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations
• Softly and gently open up to what is
• Be aware of the opening, in each out-breath
• As best as you can determine where the emotion come from
• Identify it for what it is,
• Becoming aware if there are any irregular bodily sensations you may experience
• Breath into and out from the region in your body that you feel the intensity the most
• Allow each out-breath to release the tension
• When you are ready sit with the breath
• Develop calmness and composure
• Feel the clarity of mind and connect with the present moment
• Be aware, the unpleasant feeling won’t last forever

Having opened yourself to the emotions in the field of awareness, it allows you to accept your own pain and suffering and work through it mindfully and skillfully.

Using this technique enables you to develop calmness and composure. It gives you the ability to remain less reactive and less judgmental and respond to situations effectively with a greater sense of acceptance andunderstanding of ourselves and others.

The skills we practice cultivates more patience in more harmonious relationships to help prevent relapse into your habitual auto-pilot moods and behaviors.

My life experience;

The wound is the place

Where the light enters you    

Rumi

 Now that I look back at all the suffering, physical and emotional pain that life presented to me, I see them as my alchemy; As a friend whispering into my ears, it is a difficult time that doesn’t stop just looking at light. My pain and suffering were like the alchemical stone and robbed against my entire life. (Whencopper becomes gold, or when it is gold already, it doesn’t need alchemy).

 To be wise, I see my pain as a blessing because it is an opportunity, face it and to purify my intelligence, and entire being. How easy it is to perceive this now while all these words of wisdom in time of my endeavor to find healing was so far distanced and out of reach. I was rubbed against many hardship, to find my golden heart who guides me to remain centered and steadfast. looking for the ways in each event as a blessing opportunity to practice my mindful skills and mastering them.

Life is about series of ups and downs. I learned the role of pain and emotion. I learned the meaning of the old saying “my pain was inevitable however my suffering was my choice”. My biggest difficulty wasn’t just the physical pain, strong addictive medications, depression, anxiety financial stability … my biggest difficulty was my mental reactions toward my tough life experiences.

Using the mindfulness skills had been my alchemy, the more I use them the more I see the opportunities to become gold. This is my wealth of knowledge which enables me to live a health life despite the inevitable ups and downs of life.

Welcome to my new website!  We are all on a joureny together.  Through my health issues, pain and advococy I have learned many tools that have greatly helped me heal. This website is where I would like to share them with you so that you too can benefit from them in your life. Please come back and visist often as I will be making posting.