4-Minute Guided Mindful Body Awareness Meditation

I offer myself tenderness 🌻

 

Sufie (the Indie-dog)and Fifi (the pigeon)were rescued from the street as babies and offer tenderness to each other.Fifi lost her vision, when she was less than a month old to pigeon pox.

 

Today,I am watchful of leftovers- the residues of past, the bits, and pieces I thought were over and perhaps stayed back somewhere somnolent.

Today, I choose to be watchful, curious and kind, non-judgmental overall of all that follows in the flashes, specks, memories, and words.

Tenderness begins right from where I am and in the whatever challenging manner I meet myself, let tenderness be my offering.

 

Smooth Rowing, My Friends!

In this deep and colourful,

sea of human emotions,

every day has something

beautiful to hold

and intense to practice with,

a  consistent check of

intention and attention

is such a canoe,

wish us all:

smooth rowing, my dear friends.

Holding and watching,

holding and walking,

holding and sailing,

smooth rowing my dear friends.

Sifting and watching,

sitting and holding,

smooth rowing my friends.

Lulling and waking,

yawning and preserving,

carrying what we can,

not ordering, not punishing,

not deluging, not arguing,

navigating and holding,

smooth rowing my dear friends.❤🌻🌷🌿

 

In Goa, introducing two beautiful friends 🙂                                                                       Image (c)                                                                                                                                                      Sarabsri

 

 

 

 

 

Painting our hearts: Mindful Kids

From the Meditating Dogs

Shakespeare and Morning times

Took this in Goa, long ago.The early morning beauteous vibes and this dear friend-sitting and watching the waves dance their hearts, sitting and holding his self, watching and playing with no losing, drowning and changing.I used to call him Shakespeare(I know, I have a bizarre naming sense).So, Shakespeare and I used to meet every morning for food, love and take notes on how to journal the rest of the day.This is how I used to notice him every day.His sit would anchor my presence, lull me to slow down and watch him gently without disturbing a thing.

Meditation is a state of being present with whatever it is and my dear friend could do this, every morning: sitting and watching, the rising and falling, the coming and going, spacing and welcoming life as it is.

Spending a few minutes with self in kindness and tenderness is the most active and beautiful ways of offering self-compassion.

May we be drenched with self-compassion!May we experience calm and ease!May we smile!May we offer ourselves, a few minutes of silence!May the beauty of self-compassion sink in!May a sense of good, kind wishes reach our heart!May we allow warm-heartedness to our self!May we meet ourselves with empathetic support and compassion!May we be easy and kind to our past and present!May we recognize our suffering with compassion!May we not get lost in the narratives but hold ourselves with all the care that we need!May we be kind!May we offer ourselves what we often give away to everyone else!May we be the source and beauty of what we yearn!

 

Plum Village :Summer Mindfulness Retreat (1)

 

This Summer, I attended Mindfulness Retreat at Plum village in South France.It is the first of its kind zen monastery established by the revered Vietnamese teacher, Thich Nhah Hanh in the West.

I have been reading and listening to Thay for years.He is an inspiration, an emblem in the world of Mindfulness teaching.In the year 1967,Martin Luther King,Jr.nominated Thay for Nobel Peace Prize,referring him as the gentle Buddhist monk,an apostle of peace and non-violence…cruelly separated from his land and people.Interestingly,this nomination was cancelled, for the nominations can’t be openly discussed.I am sure,the weight of Nobel Prizes,is something Thay would have seriously not burdened himself with, for he has remained a monk in action, an activist of peace forever.The real leaders are teachers in action and go beyond their designated times, labels to strive for peace.

Plum village, is one such place that not only calls for peace and diversity but is also a  creative culmination of Zen, traditional Buddhism and the universal, ethical values we can all identify with.It is an all-encompassing, embracing and nurturing abode, where anyone can easily feel belongingness and home.

My room in the dormitory, where I stayed during my retreat was a few minutes walk from the meditation hall of the  Lower Hamlet.Every day, my walk added inexplicable joy to my presence, the beaming Sunflower fields along the road kissed my eyes as I watched them in reverence.

In many of his talks and writings, Thay has mentioned about the Sunflowers at the Plum Village and here they were, a gift to watch everyday-youthful, alive and welcoming.Some stood in their grace, some leaned onto the other, some rows just transcended to one’s heart as the flowers bowed towards the azure skies.

Every flower spoke, every blade gleamed, every movement of these flowers brought the words and philosophy of Thay to my mind that: we don’t know the nature of the seed.We offer it to the earth without expecting it to bloom at our will.We let nature do its role and do ours.We allow the flowers to bloom.

This was my first lesson, first insight-allowing the self to be, to bloom or be under the ground.Everything is welcome.Every moment is fertile.

This was my walking meditation, the Sunflower meditation-watching the melting skies, the clear blue patches of blue, gray, black in the various hues overlooking the green, golden yellow floral orbs.At times, I washed the self in their presence, at times I offered my presence,at times I melted in-between to dance in dawn and dusk.At times, I too stood like a sunflower on my stalk, weighing my presence with no rationalizing and jargon, at times I just became the sunflower inside and noticed nothing with closed eyes outside.

 

The Blue whale in us:A mother-son conversation

I was talking to my kid about the perils of the Blue Whale Game and assuring, how support is always near and we can ask whenever we want,for more than adults children often bottle up with hesitation.I wanted to assure him that his voice is heard and if he has anything about the game, he had heard from his friends, it was utmost important to share with adults.So, I coaxed him to talk and he said yes, I have heard about the game and I know how to be safe but my friends say,there are agents of Blue whale game, they are spread all over the world and if a child doesn’t submit to the task they ask for, they can find you and take you away.
First of all,I was relieved that he had shared. Then, breathing, holding our hearts, I said-No, kiddo.The kids in the school are not right.It is just not possible.Nobody can dare do this to any child.Nobody, yes.I stressed and said- there is law.There are cops, see what happened to Ram Rahim.Nobody is above the law.
He listened to me deeply, wisely and said-What about Salman Khan?He could go free, like that.He could, right?
My moment, oh yes!Thank you for saying it out.
I was speechless and awakened.Gathering my self and breathing into this painful acknowledgment of the harsh, criminal truth, I said but you know-I am here and together, we can take care of all the demons.Let’s breathe and sing our songs.Shall we?I am watching you,you are watching too.We will keep ourselves safe.
And we did sing our song but I know my answer was not enough, my words were not complete but my work was-he could cogitate and wonder at what the world was capable of-not just the inventions, beauty, and marvels but also the extremes of cruelty, violence and injustice.
Our children are watching-the world we have created,the world we have decimated.
Though,we could sing our song for a while but I know that he knows that there is a much deeper poison than the blue whale that has choked us all out of our very essence of being just, humane and conscious or kind.
Every breath meets many heart breaks,every day is a challenge.It is so tough holding the centre,it is so tough to see through this mania,division and justice taken on a ride.And yet, I choose,I do, consciously I do to hold myself in full presence with compassion and calmness, swerving and shaking for we need hearts and hopes, shoulders to lean,for courage to manifest from our deepest sorrows and breakdowns.As I said-I am here,we are here,you are here.
Sending us all equanimity,peace and calm!Breathe on!

 

Clicked at Plum village,France.Calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Holding the Centre, holding the Self : A Prayer for Presence

A few weeks ago, a 16-year-old boy was lynched by a mob in a train in North India.He was coming home to celebrate Eid with his family. While my Pakistani friend and I were sharing our grief at the tragic dousing of more than a hundred people in the oil-tanker episode, another close friend in the UK  battling her personal health issues shared her online request for sponsoring baby clothes for a homeless Romanian woman selling magazines in the streets of Liverpool.

Our lives are so full.In a moment, there are multiple moments of hate, prejudice and charity.There is bleakness and uncertainty over political leaderships, there is flag-waving nationalism on the one side and there are xenophobic rages to wipe out the ‘other’ on the second.

We are in the crisis of choosing, holding and living.Adapting the meaning of life to mental, physical, political seismic currents; holding is the toughest exercise in disaster but utmost for survival.

I am shaken, saddened and petrified on a daily basis.Yet, as a Mindfulness practitioner I draw an image of circle around myself and ask: What does this current time of killing, chaos and bloodshed mean to me.How do I see out of the circle when enough darkness and madness envelops my entire being.How  do I to tend to parts and pieces with trembling hands and not let the house, the planet, the country, the body, the voice, the skin, the friendships, the shakiness fall into the jams of crushing voices, noises, words and newsmongering.

The news media is filled with venom, the social media is replete with fear and abuse.

The times are challenging.I see many of my friends – protesting, posting, reaching Social  Media, joining people in the streets, holding placards and some  sitting confounded at their homes, some working in front of their computer screens- discussing how this is just not the way, asking relevant questions-how can this be averted,echoing-how can we do better at where we are now, feeling this  collective social distrust, fully within themselves and others.

The media is at war, the perceptions are unapologetically unleashed.There are questions and there are interminable tales of anger, anguish and skepticism.Everyone is hurt, the injuries are valid. It appears, no more criminal to serve hatred and vainglorious war of words.Crime is played,used, made a selective tool to  feast on some unquenchable thirst of human grandiosity, a historical crime we should know by now- how it serves none and destroys all.

Gathering ourselves like scattered pages from albums: the one who questions, the one who answers and the one who watches with eyes huddled , our hands crossed in fear, doubt and grief, we experience the depths of our sadness, no matter what opinion we hold and  where we are in the world right now.

The hub of our  presence is -harsh, shaky and glum.We appear deeply terrorized by humans,by each other.Measuring whatever we have, let’s- hold our hands, our hearts and  invite our minds to preserve ourselves and offer our presence as a gift to ourselves, a gift that can be automatically shared by its beauty that has no agenda except compassionate flowering.

To cultivate our presence,to tap into our inner capacities,we can allow ourselves to  be open to a minute of STOP-a calm moment ,a token to  just be with our breath and hold our heart to affirm-I am okay to be with myself in all that I am in,I am okay to be with others if needed to be and be a vehicle of support if necessary to be but foremost I am okay to be with my presence.

We can assure ourselves of our presence.May I hold my peace.May I hold my trust in myself if not in anyone else in the moments of deep internal and external war.May I nourish myself to be fully alive, awakened and healthy to do all that I wish to in these moments of strife.

Here is my Breathing prayer for us all:

Breathing in,I am peaceful.

Breathing out,I am centred.

Breathing in, I recognize my deep pain and anguish.

Breathing out,I offer myself care and support.

Breathing in,I read uncertainty and chaos.

Breathing out,I offer deep compassion to all of us.

Breathing in,I see the world in pain.

Breathing out, I offer to be mindful and giving.

Breathing in-I touch,hear,see and smell my pain.

Breathing out,I tap into my heart and offer moments of joy.

Breathing in,I am fully present for myself.

Breathing out,I am fully present for you.

Breathing in,I am fully present for myself.

Breathing out,I am fully present for you.

–

Fifi,our companion pigeon perched on a tree in Genjpauram village, I have been volunteering and teaching for six years.It was a delight to sit back and watch Fifi explore the branches,the ruggedness,the hopping and yet keep her mind focussed on my voice crying in happiness, guidance and affection.Fifi is blind,she is  an inspiration to feel,see, hear and believe.We may not have the capacity to define darkness but we have the capacities to explore, accept and live in it differently.Thank you, Fifi, for holding us in the murkier times and more so holding yourself through everything to be our support.

 

Are we coming?Yes,we are!

There is no end

to arriving,

there is no end

to opening.

Every wait

is a longing

in  its own making,

Every wait

stitches the songs,

bandages the soul.

So,are we coming?

Are we walking

following,running rippling ,

denying,judging,walking,

forgiving,fluidic and falling.

Are we coming?

Yes,we are holding:

laughing, meandering and suturing,

wearing our oceans and

washing our fears,

grieving and celebrating,

yes,we are catching,

look no behind,

we are walking,singing,

forgiving,running.

We are…

Sarabsri (Copyright)

 

Framing the Dark

 

 

The dark has a banquet

of

intimacy and depth,

of  mystery

and  passion,

of wholeness,

and flow,

in not differing,

in not knowing

anything else,

another color,

another emotion

of

rawness,intellect,sensation

or sense.

The layering after layering

is an invite in dark,

a marriage of steps,

a symphony of

rest,

a walk in the womb,

a pause in the talk.

just dark and

dark.

In all the attention,

in all the gap,

no awakening,

no call,

no  brighteness,

no light,

just dark and

dark.

In all the sameness,

in all the cellullarness,

in the wetness,

in the birthing

before the dying and

deconstructing.

Just dark

and dark.

COPYRIGHT-Sarabsri