DeborahBurkeHenderson.com

NOVEMBER 2024 – OPEN TO SPACIOUSNESS

Take the opportunity every morning, if you don’t already, to open your awareness and set an intention for the day. Scan your body. Notice how you feel. Breathe in three centering breaths. What qualities might you want to bring along as you move through each hour of this day? Kindness? Patience? Deep listening? Service?

Mindfulness encourages us to see that our full attention is really 360 degrees of awareness. We learn to see the world around us as well as the world within. Take it all in—the good, bad, the beautiful, the ugly.

Allow yourself what meditation guide Tamara Leavitt calls a “lighthouse” experience. Imagine you are on a cliff’s edge, near howling seas. No matter the conditions, a lighthouse stands tall through it all, unwavering, shining its light in all directions.

When facing intense and changing times, shift into this same kind of full seeing and stability.

Let the bigger picture offer a wider perspective. Be a witness to all directions. If we consistently train our mindfulness muscles of concentration and clarity, over time, we will learn to calmly shine our light, without and within, and like a lighthouse, weather any storm.

Life is full of uncertainties and unknowns. There’s no way of knowing what is around the corner.

Don’t fall into a kind of tunnel vision, fixating on a particular challenge. Learn to live with the quality of acceptance and a generous heart. No need to react, resist, nor judge. This is where our practice comes into play—remembering to breathe when fear takes over and making the effort to go inward to better support ourselves and the world.

Relax with the unknown; see yourself in the bigger picture. Open to spaciousness. Become as wide as sky. The ancients have shown us the way. You, too, can experience a new-found inner stability and sense of clarity.

Developing this mindset doesn’t happen overnight; it’s about taking baby steps to find our way. Allow yourself moments of quiet and stillness each morning. Even if it’s only a micro-meditation of ten seconds or a single minute.

As Indian-American author Deepak Chopra reminds us, “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside you.”

You have the freedom to choose. Keep practicing your inner largeness. Be bigger than your reactions. This is how we learn to change our behaviors. Find that place of peace within you. Be that peace and shine it outward.

Blessings to you and yours,

Deborah

  ________________________

“Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make

makes you.”

         —John C. Maxwell, American author & speaker                                                            

My morning mantra:

"I arise this morning with a smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. 

I vow to live fully in each moment and to greet every being I meet with compassion."

        ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist 

                                                                                    [1926 - 2022]