Mindfulness Training & Advocacy | Asia Pacific
This practice is about not taking ourselves too seriously whenever we find it difficult to sit — a practice of not taking life too seriously when things don’t go our way. Playfulness helps cultivate patience. And when we can sit with that quality, we see things with clarity. What’s clear is clear, what’s veiled is veiled – nothing more.
Haiku by Matsuo Basho
A day of quiet gladness,
Mount Fuji is veiled
In misty rain.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Nina Mercado, Unsplash
Patience is said to be a virtue to help us deal with distress or when things are not going our way. Underlying patience is humility, and so here’s a practice on humility. Humility is not about cancelling out our voice or lowering our self-esteem. Rather it’s the quiet confidence that we can go about our lives without needing overt validation. When we become like the bald eagle that flies towards the storm, only then can we go above it and become more.
surrendering like an eagle, Noelle Lim
if we remind ourselves of our imperfections
tell us we’re not good enough
punishing the fragile ego
life becomes a suffering
but what if we can be for changing
if answering setbacks
means leaving outside the ego
the enemy of courage locking us in a wallow
instead, why not surrender and accept
on hand, a willing heart
to life’s irregular cracks and weathering
we’ll see the play of her seasons
and witness the glory of her possibilities
let life not beat us down
instead, accept her grand invitation
to climb onto her big, strong wings
like those of the bald eagle
that flies towards the storm
gliding higher, gathering more strength, more speed
soaring above rain clouds
why let the ego keeps us on our knees
when we can fly above the gust
an eagle
does not dwell on the size of her claws
nor apologises for her flaws
instead she opens up to the call of life
accepting a lift from the stormy winds
going higher, going further, she becomes more.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Karina Vorozheeva, Unsplash
The breath represents life, it’s the first thing we do when we become a life. Being conscious of the breath also has the benefit of activating the parasympathetic nervous system that restores us to equilibrium and calms us down.
It’s also possible that the breath can be triggering. If you find it difficult to focus on the breath, just do the best you can as an observer, bringing to bear just an intention to observe and nothing else.
Breathing (extract), Thich Nhat Hanh
Breathing in,
I have become space
without boundaries.
I have no plans left.
I have no luggage.
Breathing out,
I am the moon
that is sailing through the sky of utmost emptiness.
I am freedom.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Erik Jan Leusink, Unsplash
Exploring courage starts with preparation – how we are starting and then continuing in the practice with a strong back (signalling confidence, conviction), soft front (care) and paying attention moment-by-moment (the little ways).
Courage (extract), Anne Sexton
Later,
when you face old age and its natural conclusion
your courage will still be shown in the little ways,
each spring will be a sword you’ll sharpen,
those you love will live in a fever of love,
and you’ll bargain with the calendar
and at the last moment
when death opens the back door
you’ll put on your carpet slippers
and stride out.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Manel Sean Kcl, Unsplash
Saying yes to all our experiences—thoughts, emotions, moods, physical sensations—is not a weakness. This is a practice of just saying yes to our unfolding experiences as they are and noticing how our resistance and tension ease thereafter, when we no longer all these moments to have a grip over our sense of wellbeing.
Saying Yes (extract), RoseAnn V. Shawiak
Life falls, sliding through a side door, one that has not
been marked, but opens quickly when given a second chance.
An entire world opens up to an invitation, love is emanating
from people everywhere.
Splendidly opening upon a new shore, being rinsed clean, a
pure and newly sprung life.
All around sounds of nature are pouring forth in tribute of
our lives and experiences.
Bowing down, kneeling on one knee, saying yes with a gentle
happiness and a joy so great it cannot be contained.
Flowing out upon others who are in need, filling them with
the love and peace of a new world without war.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Erik Jan Leusink, Unsplash
Turning towards, opening to the feeling pain spot by spot, moment by moment with kindness and gentleness instead of running away and avoiding.
On Pain (extract), by Khalil Gibran
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses
your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the
daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem
less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart,
even as you have always accepted the seasons that
pass over your fields.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Chris Abney, Unsplash
Using the phrase “let me be grateful for this moment” as the anchor whenever the mind starts to wonder and we get lost in the busyness of our thoughts. Gratitude is probably one of the most powerful healers.
The Gift, Mary Oliver
Be still, my soul, and steadfast.
Earth and heaven both are still watching
though time is draining from the clock
and your walk, that was confident and quick,
has become slow.
So, be slow if you must, but let
the heart still play its true part.
Love still as once you loved, deeply
and without patience. Let God and the world
know you are grateful.
That the gift has been given.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Liang Wang, Unsplash
Cultivating peace of mind by letting go of thinking, thinking to intentionally choosing when we want to place our attention.
Peace, Sara Teasdale
Peace flows into me
As the tide to the pool by the shore;
It is mine forevermore,
It ebbs not back like the sea.
I am the pool of blue
That worships the vivid sky;
My hopes were heaven-high,
They are all fulfilled in you.
I am the pool of gold
When sunset burns and dies–
You are my deepening skies,
Give me your stars to hold.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Vinicius Henrique Photography, Unsplash
In mindfulness meditation, we’re cultivating the quality of non-grasping, non-driven-doing by staying with the breath or the body, and letting go the need to rise to the bait of our impulses to act. Often times, we could be reacting for no good reason.
In Blackwater Woods, by Mary Oliver (extract)
To live in this world
you must be able to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it against your bones
knowing your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Borna Bevanda, Unsplash
Thoughts such as judgments, beliefs, and assumptions are transient, impermanent, and mental events. The invitation is to simply observe our thoughts, and not get hooked, believe or act on everything that the mind suggests, and instead to practise
The Windy Day, Annette Wynne
The wind was very bad that day,
It blew my brand new hat away,
It blew and blew and blew—
It should have found some better things to do.
Perhaps the sailor on the sea
Wanted that wind that pestered me,
But the wind just stayed around and blew
My things about. When he was through
He went and hid himself away
And never came again that day.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Alvan Nee, Unsplash
The breath is closest to us, it’s what gives us life and sustains us. Using the breath as an anchor is one of the most powerful ways to stay anchored in the present moment. Breathing seems like the most insignificant thing we do every day yet miracles are in the smallest things if we care to observe.
Breath, Kabir
Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor in kirtans, not in legs winding around your
own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly—
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Timo Volz, Unsplash
Here’s a meditation of not rushing through today for tomorrow. You worked so hard to get here to this moment, why rush through it?
Each Moment Is Precious (extract), Patricia A Fleming
Live in the moment,
Just take it all in.
Pay attention to everything,
Right there and right then.
Don’t let your mind wander
To what’s coming next.
Cherish this moment
And give it your best.
Don’t let tomorrow
Make you rush through today,
Or too many great moments
Will just go to waste.
And the person you’re with,
In that moment you share,
Give them all of your focus;
Be totally there.
It can take but a moment
To change your life’s path.
And once it ticks by,
There is no going back.
In just 60 seconds,
You may make a new friend.
Find your true love,
Or see a life start or end.
You become who you are
In those moments you live.
And the growth’s not in taking
But in how much you give.
Life is just moments,
So precious and few.
Whether valued or squandered,
It’s all up to you!
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Anastasiia Rozumna, Unsplash
To be still is to conserve energy. To be still is not to react nor rise to the bait of our thoughts and emotions. We’re cultivating the ability and willingness to just sit with what’s here instead of getting stuck in the loop of doing, grasping.
Inspiration sought from Pablo Neruda’s I Like For You To Be Still
I like for you to be still
And you seem far away
It sounds as though you are lamenting
A butterfly cooing like a dove
And you hear me from far away
And my voice does not reach you
Let me come to be still in your silence
And let me talk to you with your silence
That is bright as a lamp
Simple, as a ring
You are like the night
With its stillness and constellations
Your silence is that of a star
As remote and candid
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Ege Mese
This evening’s practice is about noticing what’s here for us right now, how we’re holding our body, our posture, our feelings, moods, what thoughts are passing by, and how we’re reacting or responding to what’s arising, with kindness – do we tend to judge, do we tend to try to push away, do we try to dampen positive thoughts or shrug off negative thoughts. Here we are just noticing, not needing to react further to what’s arising within us. It’s a practice of letting be instead of having to resist and fight against our feelings or what might be unpleasant, or constantly needing to cling on to pleasantness.
Noticing, Aisha Sherazi
Notice the way,
Children laugh and play,
They notice these things,
Each bright new day.
So when you stop,
Seeing those things,
You know you’ve grown up,
And your heart no longer sings.
So take the time,
To look with new eyes,
At all that surrounds you,
To do so would be wise.
Because we are not here,
In this world,
For very long,
Let’s appreciate its beauty,
Let’s listen to its song.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Tina Xinia, Unsplash
Staying in the present moment and embracing the beauty and imperfections of the experience as it is. Words by Hafez.
The mountain’s face lifted me higher than
itself.
A song’s wink aligned me with joy. And a
tune paradise hums I came to know.
The forest, letting me walk amongst its naked
limbs, had me on my knees again in silence
shouting – yes, yes my holy friend, let your
splendour devour me.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Maiken Ingvordsen, Unsplash
Sometimes we take life, our experiences, our unwelcome emotions too seriously. This meditation is a reminder to live life with a sense of lightness and playfulness.
Let Your Life Lightly Dance, by Rabindranath Tagore
To the guests that must go bid God’s speed
and brush away all traces of their steps.
Take to your bosom with a smile what is easy and simple and near.
Today is the festival of phantoms that know not when they die.
Let your laughter be but a meaningless mirth like twinkles of light
on the ripples.
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew
on the tip of a leaf.
Strike in chords from your harp fitful momentary rhythms.
Worrying is a natural reaction of the mind and body. We de-compartmentalize by firstly noticing with equanimity and curiosity what and how we add to our worries – the stories we tell ourselves. Then, noticing how worrying is felt in the body, and breathing in and out of that sensation, taking long exhales. And finally as best as you can, letting be, letting go. The poetry “I Worried” by Mary Oliver comes to mind.
I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Diana Parkhouse, Unsplash
In this meditation, taking a moment to take a mindful pause, acknowledging and accepting whatever feelings are arising, and sending well wishes to ourselves and others including people who annoy you. We only need to bring to bear the intention of well wishing even if we don’t feel like it. And we end off with this poem by Emily Dickinson.
Hope, by Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
Rumination—thinking, thinking, going around in circles—brings us down the spiral, and causes depression, anxiety and stress. The invitation is to disengage from it, setting your thoughts free, and using the body to hold you steady.
Thoughts, by Myra Viola Wilds
What kind of thoughts now, do you carry
In your travels day by day
Are they bright and lofty visions,
Or neglected, gone astray?
Matters not how great in fancy,
Or what deeds of skill you’ve wrought;
Man, though high may be his station,
Is no better than his thoughts.
Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly,
Let each one an honor be;
Purge them, scourge them, burnish brightly,
Then in love set each one free.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Andreea Popa, Unsplash
In mindfulness meditation, the encouragement is to get curious about whatever experiences that arise, whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. This means with a beginner’s mind, noticing what is felt, where, how intense, what happens next, how we tend to react, and less about the “why”. By doing so, we’re allowing ourselves to process our emotions instead of judging and resisting which only compounds suffering. We’re less concerned about the “why” because emotions and sensations come and go – they’re impermanent and intangible.
Curiosity, by Alastair Reid (extract)
Face it. Curiosity
will not cause us to die
– only lack of it will.
Never to want to see the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
would kill us all.
Only the curious have, if they live,
a tale worth telling at all.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Manja Vitolic, Unsplash
Kindermind Center 