January 2011 – Page 8 – Mindfulbalance

Thank you for stopping by

January 11, 2011January 11, 2011 Karl Duffy2 Comments

Around New Year we tend to take stock of things and so this is just a brief yearly update post to thank all of you who stop by and read the blog, those who visit each day or who drop in from time to time. Numbers have increased significantly over the past few weeks and I would like to welcome all who have come. I am pleased if you find some things which help you reflect on life and on meditation practice.

This time last year I posted that there had been 1,000 visits to the blog in the three and a half months since it had started. Already, in the first week of this month we had 1,002 visits, which is an encouraging increase and a motive for expressing my gratitude. For the last six months of 2010 there were 10,500 visits. As I have said before, these figures are small compared to others on the internet but the intent of the blog is simple – to post some personal reflections on whether mindfulness practice – in the modern world and in the light of psychological insights – can help in my search for deeper meaning and happiness in life, in the hope that this may be of support to others. Please continue to drop by, and feel free to participate by leaving a comment at the end of each post.

Photo: Rachel Hale cards, Smurfie Jim

How we are changed

January 11, 2011January 10, 2011 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

There is one constant in life, and that is that things change. Sometimes we have to accept changes that happen, like serious illness in people that we know. Other times we deliberately initiate changes ourselves. However there are times when a change happens that we knew was needed, but did not have the awareness to bring it about ourselves. There is a wisdom deep down in our inner selves which conspires to bring about that which it knows is right for us.

So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp; it has its inner light, even from a distance—

and changes us, even if we do not reach it,
into something else, which, hardly sensing it, we already are;
a gesture waves us on, answering our own wave . . .
but what we feel is the wind in our faces.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Illness and the essential

January 10, 2011February 21, 2011 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

When we are visiting someone who is seriously ill we can find that words fail us. Simple gestures, like hugs, often work better. It spreads to the rest of our life too. We see more clearly what is essential and authentic. We move away from the masks we normally hide behind, the silly ways we relate. We reach out.

Now is the time of dark invitation beyond a frontier that you did not expect.
Abruptly your old life seems distant.
You barely noticed how each day opened a path through fields never questioned
yet expected deep down to hold treasure.

When the reverberations of shock subside in you,
may grace come to restore you to balance.
May it shape a new space in your heart
to embrace this illness as a teacher
who has come to open your life to new worlds.
May you find in yourself a courageous hospitality
towards what is difficult, painful and unknown.

May you use this illness as a lantern
to illuminate the new qualities that will emerge in you.
May your fragile harvesting of this slow light help you
release whatever has become false in you.
May you trust this light to clear a path
through all the fog of old unease and anxiety
until you feel a rising within you,
a tranquility profound enough to call the storm to stillness.

May you find the wisdom to listen to your illness,
ask it why it came,
why it chose your friendship,
where it wants to take you,
what it wants you to know,
what quality of space it wants to create in you,
what you need to learn to become more fully yourself,
that your presence may shine in the world.

May you keep faith with your body,
learning to see it as a holy sanctuary
which can bring this night wound
gradually towards the healing and freedom of dawn.

John O’Donohue, A Blessing for a Friend on the Arrival of Illness

More health benefits of mindfulness: Mindfulness, therapy and getting over our fears

January 10, 2011January 10, 2011 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

There was an article in last Sunday’s Wall Street Journal on how increasingly Mindfulness is being used to help people overcome negative thoughts and feelings, or what the article terms, “the Voice” – that nagging, persistent commentary in your head. It describes mindfulness as an effective way of doing therapy with these negative, judgmental thoughts, by training us to simply observe them, rather than trying to deny them. Getting frustrated with aspects of our lives – such as our weight, our relationships, or our self-confidence – and suddenly trying to change them, (a frequent strategy around New Year), often only strengthens the grip of negative thoughts. Mindfulness, on the other hand, is based on us becoming non-judgmentally familiar with the stream of thoughts and emotions which pass through our mind every minute and – this is the key – observe them without getting involved, almost as if we were observing a parade on the street or a soap opera on television.

The article concludes with a quote from Marsha Linehan, who was one of the first to apply mindfulness principles in her work with Borderline patients. She speaks about the importance of not judging ourselves, of simply being with whatever arises in the mind as a thought or an emotion: “Most of us think that if we are judgmental enough, things will change. But judgment makes it harder to change. What happens in mindfulness over the long haul is that you finally accept that you’ve seen this soap opera before and you can turn off the TV.”

The whole article is well worth the read: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059823679423598.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_health

The sea

January 10, 2011 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Went for a beautiful walk yesterday along the long golden strand at Portmarnock. Looking out at the sea to the islands and the horizon in the afternoon sun. The movement of the waves bathed in sunshine, their energy, and the force of the wind, was not as impressive as the unbounded vastness of the sea. It is greater than me and my story. We are held and contained by our experience. Life teaches us. We do not need to be afraid. We just need to let go.

There are no footprints on the sea
and no road-signs, not a single
guard-stone or post, and no
bends, only paths of light and dark
from which to choose, the choice is always
a difficult navigation
and the storm’s wingspan immeasurable
as the depths and the horizon, but
the sea holds you in its mighty hand
your life is a sea-blue tale
of love and death.