Eirenicole (m4a Feed)

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I began this podcast with a 10-day mindfulness challenge. I thought the start of Lent a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention.

Since taste is highly dependent on a sense of smell, some of the experiences of smell are also associated with taste. I am allergic to dairy, but before I knew dairy was a major cause for my chronic bronchitis and pleurisy, ice cream was my go-to treat. So when a soy-based frozen dessert company issued a mint-chocolate-chip “ice cream” alternative I was immediately transported back to the times my best friend and I would, on a summer’s day, ride our bikes up to the Häagen-Dazs shop and I would savor the intense flavors and cold relief of mint chocolate chip ice cream on a sugar cone.

But when I lived several months in Turkey and mid-stay after consuming a fair quantity of honey-soaked confections I became violently ill, to this day, anything with honey makes my stomach flip out.

Ps34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in God.” I will paraphrase Ps119:103 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey (chocolate mint) to my mouth!” Song of Songs 2:3 “As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.”

To really taste something, I need to slow down, to sit and pay attention to what I’m eating. Taking in a breath automatically draws in the fragrance from the meal. And if I take a few breaths before taking a bite, I might distinguish some of the ingredients used in the dish.

Taking time with my meal allows my body to digest the food – enough time to provide the sense of satisfaction and fullness so I do not eat more than I need.

So try this today. Every time you are about to eat, make sure you are sitting down. If it is a meal, sit at the table – even if you are alone – and turn off the TV and keep away from the computer and phone. Breathe. Inhale the aroma, feel the warmth of the just-cooked meal. Exhale a prayer of thanksgiving for this food. Breathe again before taking a bite. When you take a bite, test to see if it is cool enough not to burn, then let the portion stay in your mouth for a few extra moments. Allow the flavor to fill your mouth, coat your tongue and notice. Are your salivary glands exploding? What is the texture of the food? Chew slowly and notice. Do more flavors squeeze from the morsels? What are they? Do they remind you of something? As you swallow, notice. Can you feel how the food travels the esophagus? How your stomach welcomes the nourishment? With each bite, do you notice more flavors? Sweet? Salty? Bitter? Bland? Slow down. Notice. Access your hunger. Are you satisfied?

Choose a meal or snack time each day – be consistent – wherein you practice mindful eating. Experiment with different spices, mix flavors you might not have thought to mix before. Sign up to receive tips and recipes from a blog such as www.chewandtaste.com.

Also, there are resources and links on my website eirenicole.com and I offer wellness coaching that integrates mindfulness practice, nutrition and exercise via a “virtual office” also found on my website.

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

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I began this podcast with a 10-day mindfulness challenge. I thought the start of Lent a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention.

Smell is a powerful sense. In fact, psychologists and neuroscientists believe it is the most powerful of all the senses to evoke emotion and memory. This is because the olfactory bulb, which starts inside the nose and continues along the lower part of the brain, touches two areas important for processing emotion and memory: the amygdala and hippocampus. The other senses do not run the same course, so they do not have the same impact on memory and emotion. A smell is more easily linked to an event and the associated feelings of that event.

Often when I take my morning run in the springtime – when lawns have begun flourishing and the mowers begin their chore, that first whiff of freshly cut grass blasts me with a flood of emotion and memory like nothing else can. I am transported back to my childhood home on Cornell Avenue and the times I would flip and cartwheel gymnastics on the lawn as I dodge the chord and mower my dad is pushing. They are beautiful memories of home and family and love and anticipation of summertime.

Smell is a powerful sense. In fact, psychologists and neuroscientists believe it is the most powerful of all the senses to evoke emotion and memory. This is because the olfactory bulb, which starts inside the nose and continues along the lower part of the brain, touches two areas important for processing emotion and memory: the amygdala and hippocampus. The other senses do not run the same course, so they do not have the same impact on memory and emotion. A smell is more easily linked to an event and the associated feelings of that event.

Just as smell can trigger a memory of something beautiful or special, it can also trigger memory of negative events. And several studies confirm that we have a special talent for remembering negative events in far greater detail and intensity than positive ones. This is precisely why mindfulness of smell is especially important for healing and well-being, for the possibility to remain open to God’s truth to speak, God’s love to saturate and dwell within.

In the Song of Solomon, the groom sings to his bride “How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride! how much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!” 4:10 and the bride to the wind, “Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.” 4:16 In John 12:3 Mary anoints Jesus with oil “and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Jesus’ presence filled the house, the mutual love between Jesus and Mary permeated the space. We are the aroma of Jesus to God among those we encounter today (2Cor2:15).

So let us be mindful of smell today by using a similar method we used for seeing, but this time sitting with each of 5 fragrances, searching for 5 distinct odors.

Begin by breathing, but only paying attention to your breath. In and out steady, unrushed. Notice each inhalation. Sense the air moving through your nose and exhale.

Now with your next breath, as you inhale notice what you smell. What is the first fragrance you notice? Is it a strong odor? Or familiar? Is it pleasant or foul? What does it remind you of?

Take in another breath and as you inhale notice a different odor. Is it familiar? Perhaps you haven’t really noticed it before? Does it change your perspective of the 1st fragrance?

You may need to move around, perhaps go for a walk, unless you have a bag of food to go that has plenty of fragrances from which you might distinguish. Take a third noticing breath in. What do you smell? Does it make your mouth water? Or turn your stomach?

2, 1 . . . How does it make you feel? Notice other sensations in your body as you inhale. Perhaps it is an allergic reaction?

Notice. And throughout the day, practice mindfulness of smell and be thankful.

As always, resources used in these episodes, along with the transcript can be found on my website: eirenicole.com

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

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I began this podcast with a 10-day mindfulness challenge. I thought the start of Lent a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention.

As Flesh and Blood beings, we feel through a variety of modes. I can touch something with my fingers and detect its texture, walk outside in the middle of Oklahoma’s August and feel the heat and moisture; someone tells me that my painting is profound and I feel a sense of accomplishment, or dismisses my opinion and I feel shame.

Often, we feel things without seeing that joy or pain for what it is. Rather, it is internalized and becomes part of the self, often in very physical manifestations.

In a book I read last year the author writes a brilliant insight about the protagonist’s mother:

“Her great and constant fear . . . was that if anyone came to know all of her, the real her, the true, deep essential Faye, they would not find enough stuff there to love. Hers was not a soul large enough for her to nourish another . . . .

Sometimes a crisis is not a crisis at all—just a new beginning. Because if a new beginning is really new, it will feel like a crisis. Any real change should make you feel at first afraid. If you’re not afraid of it, then it’s not real change.

Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our story that we don’t see how we are supporting characters in someone else’s.” The Nix, by, Nathan Hill.

Change can feel like a crisis. Instead, I might take a few moments to notice my physical reactions and see it rather as exciting, hopeful. Vulnerability reminds me of times someone exploited my trust so I fear someone’s interest in me, thinking, I’m unlovable, or I see that feeling as related to a past experience and recognize this person in front of me does actually love me.

St. Julian of Norwich suggests that the realm of history “is composed of the ‘little things’ that are held in existence by God’s love, and that can only be properly known and loved in relation to God. . . . The soul, rather than being an enclosed space, insulated from history, is radically ‘exteriorized’ by the indwelling of God.” The life of Jesus is God’s presence within, and we imitate Jesus outwardly, physically, through acts of compassion.

I love the Message translation of John 1:14­—“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Parent, like Child, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.”

We are meant to feel. We are made to distinguish texture, wetness, warmth, the touch of another.

The touch of someone close to you releases oxytocin, a very tangible hormone that initiates a feeling of well-being, even love. Applying physical touch methodically can be even more healing. Acupressure is based on the Chinese concept of “chi”, the life-flow that can be interrupted by illness, stressors, etc. and inhibit healthy circulation and metabolism. The terms are associated with Asian language and designations while easily understood as referring to the very physical reality of how stress and illness wreaks havoc on/in our bodies.

Today we will do a simple self-acupressure sequence to help alleviate headache. As with all of these exercises, pay attention to your breaths. Take slow, unrushed, breaths.

Find the space, the flesh between your thumb and forefinger on one hand and gently, yet firmly, apply pressure by grasping with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand. Hold for a count of 5 steady breaths in and out. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 And switch hands. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

The 2nd point is on the outer tip of the eyebrow in front of the temple. Apply pressure on both sides and hold, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5.

Throughout the day, pay attention to how things feel to the touch. Try one or more of these:

Walk barefoot. Pay attention to the ground underneath your feet. As you walk, notice how the sensations make your feet feel, are sensations sent up your legs?

As you dress, feel the texture of the sock, the embrace of the fabric around your hips—be thankful, loving (vs admonishment for expanded area)

As always, resources used in these episodes, along with the transcript can be found on my website: eirenicole.com

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

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PC: Samantha Nicole Snyder

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I began this podcast with a 10-day mindfulness challenge. I thought the start of Lent a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention.

#seeandbeknown I have found that every time I have moved, I become more ill than usual. I learned quickly that each new place harbored new bugs, and the first year is one of accepting new illnesses while my body’s immune system learns how to fight them.

When I finally discovered some of my physical pain was due to autoimmune disease, I began a life-long journey to finding a balance to supporting my immune system. Autoimmune disease is basically an internal overreaction. Certain sectors of the immune system no longer focus on disease but attack healthy cells. So, many “normal” modes of targeting a virus can trigger a heightened attack on my joints and nerves. It requires listening to my body, noticing how it responds to certain supplements and foods, exercises and activities. It is a mindfulness practice that, for me, holds some urgency.

It seems as if we do a similar thing to ourselves psychically. That is, maybe I am overreacting to an internal judgment about my inadequacy and undermine – attack – the healthy strengths I do possess, and render myself socially or professionally infirm. Also, perhaps we do this as a society by passing judgment without thought, without real insight, and attack the whole of another’s position. In doing so, we debilitate constructive civil conversation.

The German-Jewish philosopher, Hannah Arendt, writes about an “inner dialogue, that happens before we speak and act with others. “What she called ‘the banality of evil’ was the inability to hear another voice, the inability to have a dialogue either with oneself or the world, the moral world.”

She also elaborates on a concept she coined, “organized loneliness.” And here we move from yesterday’s practice of hearing to today’s practice of seeing. It is this experience of living in a society in which individuals are unseen and disconnected, of feeling superfluous in the world. It is certainly something that I wrestle with as I dive into year 50. And it seems to be an overarching universal experience in our globalizing world—more connected and more isolated. But just as I cannot really see a truth about my capabilities until another person observes it, sees me as I am, so as a society we cannot see our system for what it is until we can understand it from another cultural perspective.

Of course, that is certainly an oversimplified observation. Still, though I feel like I cannot really change a political system, I can be a part of changing myself in the context of culture. One way is to open my eyes to see another person, another culture, another belief system. And when my eyes are open, they remain open for another to return that gaze. It is vulnerable. It is frightening. It is thrilling. How beautiful it is when two people extend trust and really look at one another. I am changed, and just maybe, we can change the world.

So, let us begin today with really seeing. I like this practice because it reminds me of the childhood game of eye-spy.

Begin by choosing a color. Let us say blue. Look and see 5 different things that are blue. Notice the variation on blue – are they different hues, shiny or dark?

Next look to see 4 objects that move. Name them. Notice how they move (does it fly, float, move with the wind, roll).

Again, let us choose types of trees. Find 3 different trees. What distinguishes them? What are the shapes of the leaves? Are they changing color yet? Notice the variations in color and visual texture. If you must snap a picture for instagram, go ahead. Just edit after your done!

Now look for 2 people you didn’t notice a moment ago. Do you know them? If not, are they ones you would feel comfortable getting to know? Consider why.

Finally, find 1 object that is less than an inch.

How do I need to change my perspectival lens so I can really see someone today?

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I began this podcast with a 10-day mindfulness challenge. I thought the start of Lent a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention.

It is certainly true that in order to center our hearts and minds, quiet is extraordinarily important. But sometimes you can fight fire with fire, and with a cacophony of sound a single tone, a chime or gong can serve to draw the mind away from the chaotic noise – toward a center, and truly hear.

When I am overwhelmed and it seems everyone is vying for my undivided attention and it feels like the sky is closing in on me, all the sound I hear sets my teeth on edge, my head ready to explode – or implode. And what comes to mind is the scene in which the Grinch ruminates on what rankles him about Christmas in Who Ville, “That’s one thing I hate is the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!”

It is certainly true that in order to center our hearts and minds, quiet is extraordinarily important. But sometimes you can fight fire with fire, and with a cacophony of sound a single tone, a chime or gong can serve to draw the mind away from the chaotic noise – toward a center. As the sound dissipates, it is easier to follow the quiet into that space in which Jesus waits, love dwells – the heart.

Not only does the sound help to draw the attention to center, it can also be healing. There is a fair amount of research that suggests different frequencies modulate particular areas of the nervous system – one wave pattern will work to regulate a particular pattern of synapses in the brain, another pattern influencing a different area. And if you pay attention, you might notice that one tone or chord when played can bring a certain alert sense to the front, while another might loosen a sense of heaviness in the back of the brain. There may also be a scientific basis to the assertion that certain brainwaves affect certain emotions.

Whether one might prove the efficacy of applying a certain range of tones to alleviate specific emotions or provoke others is not especially important. What is important to note is that music is transcendent. Music transcends time and culture and language and politics (though there is some research suggesting a correlation between certain styles of music and political affiliation, but that is for another discussion!) We love to make music. We are moved by music.

Many communities in every continent throughout history have used music and tonality to bring a balance to disequilibrium, often falling back onto the precision of Pythagoras’ frequency intervals (a chart can be found on the website).

Paying attention, being mindful of sounds is much like mindful breathing. And in this way, we begin with paying attention to how we breathe. Are you sitting in a position that is comfortable and relaxed, at the same time, alert? Open while not forcing each breath.

I will strike a chime, and I would like for you to listen all the way through the sound. We will do this three times, and each time I will guide you to attend to different things.

Listen

Allow the sound to center you, to draw your attention, your inner sight into focus.

Sense the sound acting on your brainwaves to calm and order them.

Listen

Loosen the chaotic fragments of distracting noise (destructive self-talk, injured feelings, your lists to check off). Let them fall away and hear the sound.

What tone surrounds the note? Does it bring to mind a memory? A feeling?

Listen

as God draws you more deeply into God’s presence, with that memory, that thought, listen for when sound ends and the silence begins, where the voice of God can be heard.

What did you hear?

As you go about your day, listen to the sounds. What do they look like as you imagine their sources? Listen past the sound to the person making it. In these next moments, can you pick out four distinct sounds? Maybe one you haven’t really noticed before?

Listen

As always, resources used in these episodes, along with the transcript can be found on my website: eirenicole.com

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

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I began this podcast with a 10 day mindfulness challenge. I thought ash Wednesday a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these next 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention

Breathe again.

When I am rushing around trying to get all the things done that seem so urgent, or twirling around in my mind the circumstances in which I find myself that feels overwhelming or impossible to endure, I find that I am nearly holding my breath, my breathing is so shallow. Because I am so focused on everything I’m concerning myself over I cycle through inhalation and exhalation at the minimum to . . . still be breathing.

Jesus told his disciples, “I came that you might have life, and that you might have abundantly.” When I am breathing in this way, I am clearly not abundantly breathing, and in this way I cut off the life-giving potential my body has with the kind of breath my body was intended to receive. It is also evidence of my lack of belief that there is this More Than that is mindful of me, and mindful of each person that intersects my life—even the ones that are the source of my distress. The poet Rumi wrote:

This being human is a guest house

It is the very unexpectedness of joys and meannesses that disturb us. So today’s breathing practice will be about acknowledging those stressful things in our lives—they are very real and just as present—seeing them for what they are, welcome them as part of your day, your formation, and breathing past them in these moments. In doing so, you might find it easier to think about those situations a little differently. I will revisit that last point in a later episode. For today, let us focus on the essential act of breathing.

Remember to consider that the words breath and spirit are often used interchangeably in sacred texts, and by breathing you acknowledge the spirit of God present in you and around you.

One of the most helpful breathing exercises for me, a shallow upper-chest breather, is to be attentive to breath filling the lower part of my lungs – evidence of which is the expansion in my belly. If you are helping a child pay attention to breathing in this way, a useful technique is to ask the child to lie down and place a favorite stuffed animal on her belly, or a small pillow on his stomach. You are welcome to do the same if that is appealing to you and you are in a suitable space. Otherwise, you may place your hands with fingers interlaced on your abdomen if you are lying down or back against a chair (or one hand if you are driving, or standing in line, etc).

As you breathe in a steady breath allow your belly to press against your hands.

Notice the tension of your fingers as they begin to pull apart as you breathe in.

Feel the fingers nudge back together as you breathe out.

As you draw in another deep breath, Notice how your shoulders pull back and down.

While pushing out the air trapped deep in your belly Accept the loosing of your neck.

Breathe in, expanding your abdomen.

Breathe out, pressing today’s sense of urgency out of the body.

Breathe in, the abundant space that is life – transcending time.

Breathe out an expression of faith that the Source of life makes all things well. All will be well. All is well.

Throughout the day and stick with the one that is easiest to use given where you are (alone, in a car, at work, in a stressful conversation, etc.)

As always, resources used in these episodes, along with the transcript can be found on my website: eirenicole.com

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

“Meditation,” violin: composed and performed, by, Kaaron Waltz Gross

Ukulele, performed, by Samantha Snyder. Bird chirping, performed, by Balinese birds.

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I began this podcast with a 10 day mindfulness challenge. I thought ash Wednesday a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these next 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention

Breathing is as natural as, well, breathing. Unless, of course, you have a cold or some variation on asthma, or sticking your head out the window of a fast-moving vehicle . . . . If I am breathing it means I am alive. With each inhalation oxygen fills my lungs to maintain my body’s metabolism. As I exhale, the breath removes the byproduct of the metabolic processes in the form of carbon dioxide.

Breathing also plays a significant role in physiological and psychological regulation. It affects my ability to walk or lift my arms or move my fingers across a keyboard. The efficiency with which my breathing operates regulates the plasticity of neurological function – that is, healthy, unrestricted breathing helps me process thought and emotions well.

I do no think it is an accident that the Hebrew word for breath, ruach, is also the word for Spirit. So, because breathing is foundational to any mindfulness practice, this first exercise will be about noticing how we breathe. And since a primary objective for this podcast is to bring the spiritual back into the practice, I will incorporate reference to the Spirit of God.

Parker Palmer writes, “Breathe in my life, breathe out my gratitude.” Generosity of spirit is life-giving. I do not know what this looks like exactly. It certainly has as many variations as there are unique individuals. I do know it requires space and time—to know who I am most truly amid the suffering, the joy, the pain and delight—so I am enabled (with time) to recognize those same in others. It is a commitment. It is action. It is love.

God breathed. Life happened. It is beautiful. It is good.

You may wish to revisit this episode several times before moving on to the next, or following one or two episodes. Do whatever you need to make this a habit. My challenge then, is that you follow my direction here now, and continue to practice mindful breathing throughout the day – pick a reminder place-marker (washing hands, opening the car door/house door, putting shoes on) an action you are already doing everyday, and be mindful in that action by paying attention to your breathing.

I will lead you in a basic technique to try today and we will revisit breathing tomorrow with another technique.

I have heard this way of breathing called “square breathing” because the count is: in 4 and 4 is the count out. So, begin in your space whether sitting, standing or lying down, be comfortable yet alert, calm while attentive. With mouth closed (unless you’re congested, then leave lips slightly open), slowly breathe in: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – and hold for 2: 1 – 2 and exhale at the same rate: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 and hold for 2: 1 – 2. Again. Breathe in the life giving oxygen, clearing your head; breathe out the toxins generated by the stress of the day. Again. Breathe in God’s presence into your being, hold 2, breathe out the remnants of that hurtful remark by another today. Breathe in the joy God has that you are, you exist. Breathe out those ideas that you are alone in all of this. Breathe in knowing that countless others breathe the same air. Breathe out in gratitude for life-giving breath.

Continue, at your own pace. Do not rush, do not push. Be gentle with your breath. Notice.

You may continue practicing this mindful breathing, perhaps in a prayer, even after you turn off this podcast. Remember to choose a place marker to evoke mindful attention to your breathing.

As always, resources used in these episodes, along with the transcript can be found on my website: eirenicole.com

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

“Meditation,” violin: composed and performed, by, Kaaron Waltz Gross

“The House of God Forever,” music, by, Jon Foreman, performed, by, Samantha Snyder

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I began this podcast with a 10 day mindfulness challenge. I thought Ash Wednesday a fitting time to return to it. I encourage you consider using these next 10 episodes to begin or renew a habit of mindfulness practice for your Lenten season intention.

How do you react when someone you know makes a statement with intense conviction – and the thesis of that statement is utterly at odds with your own principles?

We are often offended by an alternative viewpoint. It is especially difficult when the person suggesting this other worldview is forceful, unyielding in delivering it. I am not usually convinced by such an approach and I imagine none of you are, as well. When my perspective shifts, it usually happens after hearing a discussion about those views and then I take time in prayer and mediation in which I hold those points loosely before God. In quiet reflection my heart can be reached, my spirit hears the softest whispers (versus clamoring of earnest truth-tellers) and I see myself in that other’s eyes.

Mindfulness is bandied about a lot these days; from hospital recovery rooms to 2nd grade classrooms, as a guide to controlled eating and as prescription for today’s angst. But just like the countless quick-fixes and 3-steps-to-freedoms, mindfulness as a technique or tool to hatchet away at something more profound – habit that holds you hostage to living fully, it might work for a moment, but does not change much long-term.

Jon Kabat-Zinn popularized mindfulness as a methodology for health and healing in the US in 1979 when he founded the Stress Reduction Clinic and developed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. This 8-week program is shown to be clinically effective to ease stress, pain and illness through soi-disant“moment-by-moment awareness” strategies. But just like Kabat-Zinn himself, the program separates the principles of mindfulness from their spiritual origins, diluting its impact on the life of the practitioner. Mindfulness becomes an exercise scheduled into the day (if even that) rather than transforming, changing ones perspective – a way of existing – a lifestyle.

My faith tradition is Protestant Christian and my faith reference is Jesus. If you do not share the same belief framework, or that of Buddhist philosophy, I have found a majority still orient toward a More Than, a sense of awe and wonder that intuits being part of something bigger. It is this context in which we are changed – when I know that I am not alone. Not only are there countless other souls marking this journey with me, there is something More Than us that holds us together, that draws us toward one another and toward this larger space, that is also intimate, personal, internal space.

But to inhabit that space and be moved by it, in it – it takes time. It takes time for my thoughts to be drawn together so I can bring my focus to center. And then more time to rest in that space. And then a little more to listen – to hear in the deafening quiet as Isaiah once inhabited, the whisper of God.

So I begin this podcast with a 10-Day Challenge. My challenge is for my listeners to spend 5-10 minutes each day developing a habit of mindfulness – one that is more than just an exercise, but one that seeps into your day. I will begin each episode with a short instruction to explain the purpose, what it is meant to accomplish, and then guide you into the mindfulness practice for that day. I want you to understand how the practice works, what mechanism are engaged that elicit change – because even knowing how it works will help make it work more effectively.

My hope is that we will grow together in becoming better at listening to each other, hearing the heart of someone different than me, than you, more willing to hold our thoughts and opinions loosely – in the presence of one another, in awe and wonder in the presence of the More Than.

You can also find more information and resources at my website EireNicole.com.

Today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

“Meditation,” violin: composed and performed, by, Kaaron Waltz Gross

Jazz Shuffle Blues by texasradiofish (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.

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Imperfect Perfection: focus on the current excellent thing, strength and beauty of the whole.

I just returned from leading a workshop in Santa Fe on Developing Creative Leadership by incorporating mindfulness. The travel was long and more taxing that I anticipated, and my focus was compromised through the first half of the workshop. So I came back with mixed emotions.

On the one hand, I found my groove, had beautiful conversations with the educators present, and received a couple of new ideas to make the workshop more useful. On the other, I berated myself for not being better prepared, for loosing confidence and allowing myself to be distracted by thoughts of what the participants assumed about me. “I should be better than this,” I mused, “I’m the expert, for heaven’s sake, lead like one!”

One thing I know about myself is that my standard for perfection is that my performance ought to be perfect from the get-go. For some reason, while I understand intellectually that one must repeatedly perform a thing in order to improve, it is massively difficult to actually go through the initial efforts of not-so-good to get to the better, and still more efforts to get to the good and great.

But the truth of the matter is that I lost my focus, not on the content, but on the true goal I wish to have: an attitude of seeking to understand before being understood, a desire to learn as much as to teach. My goal truly is to know the people whom I travel to be with so that I might better share myself with them.

“Give no offense to the Jews or Greeks or the church, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t look after my own advantage, but for what is best for others . . .” (1Cor10:32-33)

Last night was the Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The focus for participating athletes is most definitely perfection. At the same time, since the games are held in South Korea, the ceremony centered on describing Korea’s culture and history. The performers described the yin-yang as 2 sides of the mountain peak, both necessary for wholeness, a complete peoples; the circle, or enso, symbolic of unending, perpetual unity around the source of life and sustenance for the country.

Then, there was this Toyota commercial. It followed one person in particular who was born without a majority of her legs and part of one arm. With loving support of family and the resources of technology (some of which Toyota seems to manufacture) this individual grew to become an athlete and compete para-olymics skiing competitions. The bi-line: “When you’re free to move, anything is possible.” The message: People with so-called physical disabilities are given resources and freedom to be – focused, trained, free to be strong, successful physically, empowered to exist as fully human when others consider them incomplete, limited – will.

And the President of the IOC eloquently stated: “United in our diversity, we are stronger than all the forces that want to divide us.” This totally encapsulates the Korean cultural community ethic and the sense that it takes resources and family (in whatever form that takes) to accomplish anything important – and perhaps we have lost sight of what is truly important. I certainly did this week.

One of the educators participating in my workshop shared that she will often remove all of the erasers from her classroom. She views every attempt her students make as important, precious. None are failures. Rather, each attempt, while part of the process toward excellence, is also the current excellent creation. And I would not have received this beautiful wisdom had I not been leading this workshop with these specific individuals!

Each of us has a rich history that shapes us – unique while part of a whole that needs everyone else on our formation field to make more complete. Each of us have disabilities – aspects of who we are that have the potential to limit our efforts – making some tasks more difficult alone, but with infinite possibility when provided resources and support. Each of us is unique – and that is our strength when we unite in that diversity, celebrate the gifts and difference and so-called shortcomings – a beautiful, complete wholeness.

If you are in a space where you can write or draw on something, will you practice a kind of focus with me? You may do this in your imagination for now, but when you are able, please try this:

Take a marker or pencil or crayon – whatever you find at hand. Draw a large circle on a piece of paper. Do not trace. Do not erase. There is beauty in that so-called imperfection!

Take your finger and trace around the mark.

Notice there is no beginning, no ending.

Feel the ridge make in the paper. Perhaps there is a smudge from the pencil, or crumbs from the crayon. Maybe a less rounded part that needed overcompensation in order to complete the circle.

Consider these anomalies, irregularities.

Contemplate how these affected making the circle.

Did you not still join the ends together?

Depending on when in the day you are listening, where in your day have you noticed an overcompensation or veering off the curve a bit?

How does it affect where you are now.

Can you see it as part of a beautiful completeness in your day? (an unexpected connection with someone, an opportunity to consider something you would not have otherwise?)

Trace your circle.

When you are ready, consider a word or phrase or image that comes to mind and sketch it into the center of your circle.

Be grateful.

As always, you can find a transcript of this podcast and resources on my website, eirenicole.com.

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

The post Imperfect Perfection: focus on the current excellent thing appeared first on Eirenicole.

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Today is Groundhog Day, and I immediately think of the Andie McDowell and Bill Murray film in which Murray plays a weatherman [meteorologist] who repeatedly wakes up on the same day only to relive it. He returns to the same sequence of events, but in doing so, is invited to alter his behavior – recognize his jerkish conduct toward others, and become more, to become better, to become who he is more truly.

Speaking of bad behavior.

Behavioral psychology researchers are beginning to understand that, while rigorous study of specific psychological conditions is useful and important, a larger picture that identifies underlying symptoms – ones that cross diagnostic boundaries – convey greater understanding and better treatment.

For instance, when those who present with anxiety and depression are given the task of perceptually judging the number of one color of dots compared with a 2nd color, these individuals were generally quite good at accurately assessing the larger group of dots. But, confidence that they chose correctly was decidedly low. At the same time, judgment of their actual accuracy was good across the number of tests.

Those who present with compulsive behavior and intrusive thoughts, however, were confident in their ability, but less accurate in judging themselves as such.

That is to say, anxious and depressed individuals generally possess lower confidence in the ability to do certain tasks, according to this study. While compulsive behavior tends to be supported by overconfidence in actual ability. In both cases, it is an error in self-judgment.

Mindfulness is typically defined as being present, without judgment, in each moment. It is returning to the self and remaining there – to see – to notice more accurately what is true about who you are. To see with God’s eyes what my being in God’s image looks like.

It is returning – the Jewish practice of teshuvah, or, repentance – is about returning to the wholeness of your original nature that we’ve strayed from . . . it’s about honesty and truthfulness. It’s about being true to who we really are.

By straying from my true self – over-estimating or under-estimating who I am – I have sinned against the one whose image I bear. Repentance is returning to that space at the very center of my being where Jesus resides, where I am most truly – and being that.

Perhaps we are not reliving the same day today. But we are invited to live each day, and to live it with increasingly greater authenticity.

Will you practice teshuvah with me now. To welcome the houseguest of joy or meannesses. To live into the questions.

Settle yourself.

Breathe deeply. Count the fours of square breathing, or notice your belly expanding – whatever works best for you.

Listen to the chime –

I will strike three times to help bring us deeper in toward the center. Allow it to draw you closer to what is true about you – whatever the case. Notice what you strive to be. Then, notice what isn’t quite right. Then notice further what is divine.

Listen for the space where the sound ends and the silence begins.

Chime.

Listen again. What do I want to hang on to? How can I live into the truth of my being today?

Chime.

As always, you can find resources and a transcript of this episode on my website eirenicole.com.

And today, may you walk at the pace of grace.

The post Groundhog Day and Doing Teshuvah appeared first on Eirenicole.