Artwork: Françoise Gilot
Good morning beautiful people,
Every time I struggle to access the flow of words that enable me to write to you, I have a voice inside my head that says: “Keep it Simple.” So I am going to try to do that, just for today, keeping it simple after an intense week.
I sometimes wish that meditation would completely stop the complicated thoughts and stories that go on in our head, but for the majority of us, it doesn’t.
What it does instead, is enable us to observe those familiar thoughts and stories, with compassion and somehow start looking at them from a different angle.
As we get further acquainted with the stories inside our head, the trigger that makes us react instantly to a thought begins to loosen and for a split second, we can choose how we want to act instead of react.
Practice and acceptance, are the antidotes to feeling stuck in old patterns.
Sitting down, feeling our feet on the ground, our hands laying on our thighs, our sits bone connected to the chair we are sitting on, and our breath moving through our nostrils. Such are the anchors we can use to access the present moment, to come back to what is, especially when we notice complication creeping back in and our heart contracting.
Do you have it in you to start sitting? One breath at a time, slowing everything down so that you can watch the stories that are crippling?
Eventually it’s when we take our time to inquire and start meeting the different parts within, that simplicity gently comes in.
If you feel called to know more about this practice, I will be guiding a meditation in London town, next Thursday November 14th, at 730pm. I will also be in Paris on November 16th, joining force with Thierry Cardoso for an afternoon on mindfulness and meeting the different parts within. You can sign up for both on the events page.
Lastly, I have also recorded a new meditation called Finding Stillness While Moving, which was recorded in movement.
Please remember that meditation can be formal when you are siting down, or informal, when you walk or are in any kind of movement. Its only aim, is to be present to it all and is a doorway to sanity in a world that often feels a little out of control.
Wishing you a beautiful day, and thanking you for support.
With Love,
Vanessa
