Tag: wednesdaypause

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Watching Thoughts

The practice of watching thoughts allows us to become aware of beliefs and patterns such as adding more judgments that tend to direct us to act or behave in a certain way, or are further hurting us. Awareness henceforth is empowering, granting us the power to stop what we are doing, understand the root cause of suffering, and giving us the space to choose a helpful response. When watching thoughts, look out for mental events especially extreme thoughts like “nobody loves me”, judgmental opinions “I’m lousy”, and then noticing our bodily and emotional response when these thoughts arise.

In the poetry below, I interpret “walk out into the woods” as a metaphor of in meditation, and it’s then we become enlightened or “see the full moon”.

Zen poetry, by Ryokan

I sit in meditation.

The affairs of men never reach here:
Everything is quiet and empty,
All the incense has been swallowed up by the endless night.
My robe has become a garment of dew.
Unable to sleep, I walk out into the woods—
Suddenly, above the highest peak, the full moon appears.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image: Heather M Edwards, Unsplash

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Embracing

As 2024 draws to a close, we take stock, embracing and allowing ourselves to feel. To feel life, to feel the journey we’ve embarked on thus far. Only then, can we live presently. And gratefully. Happiness is not about feeling joyful all the time. Happiness is being able to bounce back, responding humorously and allowing space for whatever that arises and finding grace. This poem seems apt to close the year with. Thank you all for your kind attention in the past five years of Wednesday Pause.

Sea Rock, by Elizabeth English

We sail a long time

Before reaching the rock,

Jagged and uninviting,

Grey sea and spume, which lashes

And sucks at granite edges,

Many thousands of years until smooth.

And here we are at last,

Against the odds,

Against currents and winds

And the pain of it all;

Straining against the elements,

Forced back for hours on end, way off course,

Many thousands of minutes

Until we feel what needs to be felt,

In the ocean of our lives.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Christopher Rue, Unsplash

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Feeling Pleasantness

The invitation in this practice is noticing and allowing yourself to immerse in pleasant feelings and sensations in the body, embracing their warmth and depth. As Elizabeth English writes in her book “Journeys to the Deep”, they may hold more than you know. These sensations often carry layers of meaning waiting to unfold. Taking your time, luxuriating, savouring the sensations, in the process expanding the capacity to feel what needs to be felt. Nurturing the capacity to truly feel and process what needs your attention and all that life offers, opening the doors to deeper self-awareness.

Morning Sunrise, by Elizabeth English

A luminous sunrise of red and gold

Reflecting from the ripples of the Cam;

Driven by day, and watching it unfold,

My restless thoughts that skitter on and on;

There’s nothing in this stream of thinking draws

Me, tempts me into mystery, offers peace,

That leads me onwards, lifting me towards

A place of quiet, where troubled thoughts all cease;

But with the turning of my mind within,

A gentle thing, no grand or special skill,

Likes a greeting, or a chance remembering,

I find the sunrise lingers in me still:

Dawn’s glorious colour that my body feels,

Touching me softly as it bathes and heals

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Alex Preusser, Unsplash

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Feeling The Life Force Within

In the rush of daily life, it’s easy to feel disconnected—from ourselves, from others, and from the present moment. Yet, beneath the layers of busyness and distraction lies something profound: the vibrant pulse of life within us, if we pause long enough to feel it.

This practice is an invitation to pause, feel ourselves breathing and tuning into this inner life vitality. Noticing how the chest and stomach rise and fall with each breath, feeling aliveness of the body, feeling re-energised at every new breath.

Feeling the life within is intended to be a grounding practice. It reminds us that even amid challenges, we carry energy within us that connects us to a greater universal force.

In this simple act, you reconnect with the essence of who you are—a being full of life, right here, right now.

There Is A Life Force Within Your Soul, Rumi

There is a life-force within your soul, seek that life.
There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that
mine. 
O traveler, if you are in search of That
Don’t look outside, look inside yourself and seek That.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Matiinu Ramadan, Unsplash

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Burnout

Burnout is a state of exhaustion, where you feel pushed beyond your limits, overwhelmed, not being able to keep up, impatient, and perhaps even a sense of desperation. It can arise from taking on too much, thinking too quickly, or engaging in work that is out of sync with your core values and interests. In this practice, we give ourselves permission to slow down intentionally. By breathing more slowly and focusing on one thing at a time i.e. the breath, we gently guide ourselves away from the overload, finding grounding in the pauses.

Burnout, by Elad Nehorai

In my heart
there is a beating energy.
In my mind
there is a truth
screaming
to be released.
In my soul
there is a mission
waiting
to be lived.
In my body
is the exhaustion
of trying to do it all at once,
and in so doing,
stifling it all at once.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image by: Darko Pribeg, Unsplash

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Each Moment Precious

This practice invites you to slow down and savor each moment as if it were your last. In doing so, you awaken to the true essence of living—immersed in the present, rather than rushing past it. Every breath, every second becomes a gift, a reminder that life is too precious to be hurried through.

Important, by Helen M Luke

We hurry through the so-called boring things
in order to attend to that which we deem
more important, interesting.
Perhaps the final freedom will be a recognition that
everything in every moment is “essential”
and that nothing at all is “important”.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Koen Eijkelenboom, Unsplash
 

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Patience

In this practice of cultivating patience, we begin by being aware of the present moment and learning to open to all experiences without rushing to change, control, judge or over analyse them. Allowing the world to unfold as it is moment by moment. This may mean observing thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and interactions as they are, simply just pausing, allowing space between a trigger and reaction. In our Wednesday Pause, this space might already exist for you.

Patience, Linnea Orians

The goodness of patience,

I took and bent to make me righteous;

Claiming it was good of me,

To be patient with the world.

/

Yet patience is not mine to declare,

Instead it is seeing the world around;

Revolving at its own speed,

Without the burden of waiting.

/

What a humbleness patience requires;

An outpouring of acceptance,

Realizing it is not our mountain to move,

But still believing it can be.

/

May my heart turn to be,

The purest form of patient,

Not in my own strength,

But in the greatest grace of all.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Anton Darius, Unsplash

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Our Automatic Tendencies

An aspect of mindfulness and transforming our lives and wellbeing is noticing our automatic tendencies. These are the habitual thought patterns and reactions that occur almost unconsciously, instinctively, shaping our perceptions, interactions and behavior.

You might notice how quickly your mind jumps to conclusions in a situation or how easily you fall into judgment, putting up barriers, worry or frustration. These automatic tendencies are part of the mind’s way of functioning, surviving, shaped by past experiences and conditioning. Some of these tendencies may protect us, or have negligible consequences, or may be harming us or hindering us from advancing in our studies or at work.

Mindfulness offers the pause to step back and observe these tendencies without getting caught in them. It’s not about suppressing, eliminating nor justifying them but about becoming aware of their presence. This awareness is the first step in creating choice—rather than reacting automatically, we gain the ability to respond intentionally and helpfully.

By bringing a gentle curiosity to these habits, we begin to see them for what they are—mental patterns, not truths, and not our identity.

During this practice, the invitation is noticing what automatic tendencies arise such as judgments, restlessness and what happens after that, how do they influence our experience of the practice? And then bringing the mind back to our breath as a way to interrupt the cycle of automatic reactions.

It Is Marvellous, Elizabeth Bishop

It is marvellous to wake up together
At the same minute; marvellous to hear
The rain begin suddenly all over the roof,
To feel the air clear
As if electricity had passed through it
From a black mesh of wires in the sky.
All over the roof the rain hisses,
And below, the light falling of kisses.

And from the same simplified point of view
Of night and lying flat on one’s back
All things might change equally easily,
Since always to warn us there must be these black
Electrical wires dangling. Without surprise
The world might change to something quite different,
As the air changes or the lightning comes without our blinking,
Change as our kisses are changing without our thinking.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Anton Lochov, Unsplash

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Acceptance, Recognition As It’s So

A lot of our mindfulness meditations is centred on accepting what’s here arising. It does not mean defeat but rather as a start to recognize upsetting thoughts, emotions and sensations as they’re so.

By Sandford Lyne

Whatever path you’re on

Walk it to the end

Exhaust its dust and streams

And seed the dividends

Control is a worried thing

Till surrender gives it peace

Belief is a thing of sand

Till knowing makes it glass

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Borna Bevanda, Unsplash

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Rising Above

This is a practice of rising above whenever we find ourselves caught in a swirl of never ending, unproductive thoughts, or feeling in pain. Remembering (being mindful) to rise above the pettiness that can form easily in our lives – the unnecessary thoughts, the judgments upon judgments, and taking life too seriously. How can we step back? What is your go-to practice?

Rise Above, by Taigu Ryokan
You must rise above
the gloomy clouds
covering the mountaintop
otherwise, how will you
ever see the brightness?

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Svklimkin, Unsplash

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Giving Yourself Permission

Giving ourselves permission to rest and just be whatever that is here allows us the space to regulate our nervous system and to process emotions. An overly activated system for a prolonged period of time, whether through fear and anxiety, will lead to chronic stress, burnout, exhaustion and a range of possible physical health issues.

we must stop, by Abi Winder (extract)

there are moments in a climb 
where you stop,
and put down the things you carry.

there are moments in life, 
where we must stop, 
and put down the things we carry. 

either to admire the the view 
or to heal the ache
of constantly living.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Tanmay Rohit Juogl, Unsplash

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Paying Attention

Attention is the beginning of devotion, Mary Oliver, the poet writes in her essay Upstream. It is the most beautiful quote ever, and in this age of distraction, it is a prescient message. Additionally, real attention, says Oliver, needs empathy; attention without feeling is just a report.

Indeed, when we are compassionately attentive, we truly live, taking in all that life has to offer, its ups and downs. The ups are cherished, the downs are embraced with love, humour and grace.

This practice is about bringing the attention back to the breath each time it wanders off to some path. We are strengthening the capacity to pay attention, one breath at a time, kindly, patiently and devotionally. The practice is also designed to respond to struggles in paying attention or attention deficit, and/or feeling hyperactive, easily stimulated (ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

Upstream, Mary Oliver (extract)

One tree is like another tree, but not too much. One tulip is like the next tulip, but not altogether. More or less like people—a general outline, then the stunning individual strokes. Hello Tom, hello Andy. Hello ­Archibald Violet, and Clarissa Bluebell. Hello Lilian Willow, and Noah, the oak tree I have hugged and kissed every first day of spring for the last thirty years. And in reply its thousands of leaves tremble! 

In the beginning I was so young and such a stranger to myself I hardly existed. I had to go out into the world and see it and hear it and react to it, before I knew at all who I was, what I was, what I wanted to be.

Attention is the beginning of devotion.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Freddie Marriage, Unsplash

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Checking Expectations

If you’re not enjoying your current experience like in a meditation, this is an invitation to check your expectations that are the sources of dissatisfaction. The “shoulds”, “musts” and “ought to”, the judgments can slip in easily because they are automatic, ingrained over time, and perhaps perfectly logical.

If you believe such views to be true, it can rob you of life and joy. Understandably, you want to get things right, as what society has dictated as norms. So instead of having an ideal in mind, this is a practice of discernment and sinking into your meditation as you find it, allowing yourself to open to new possibilities.

My Thoughts Like Crows, by Elizabeth English

Today, my thoughts remind me

of carrion crows, disturbing the peace

with harsh caws, with beaks

that tear into the flesh of a dead fox

the way that life tears into me.

But then I remember their black-

sheen fellowship, as they

strut along the rooftop

beyond my bedroom, as a child;

their strange sure patterning

in twos and threes

tell of hidden ways;

an animal kindgom,

I can never know.

And now, I’m strutting idly myself

off to the pet shop for puppy chews,

planning today’s excursion into

the world of ordinary joy.

And I marvel to discover

as I sit some moments more,

a stream of preciousness

that flows unbidden,

and delights me,

just because it’s there.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Anton Kraev

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Being In The Now

When the mind is restless, lost in thoughts, rumination easily sets in, henceforth anxious and depressive thoughts. This is a practice of bringing the attention back to the present moment, being intentional in noticing what one is experiencing, for example, “I am thinking”, “I am breathing”, “I am feeling this gentle breeze”. The simple act of constantly bringing the mind back to the here and now is about training the mind muscle to be still and steady, breaking out of our depressive and anxious cycle.

You Reading This, Be Ready, by William Stafford

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life –

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Nicolas Houdayer, Unsplash

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Curiosity

The quality of curiosity encourages us to observe thoughts, feelings and sensations without judgment, thus allowing us to see or appreciate more what is going on with compassion and acceptance. When we’re curious, we’re more likely to pay attention to the details of our experiences, fostering a more vivid awareness of the here and now. Curiosity also encourages us to be open to all experiences that arise without needing to resist or avoid. When we slow down to be curious, we interrupt the reactive process, giving us the pause to be more open-minded and to choose more skilful responses, thus transforming how we usually relate to our experiences.

The Quest For Wonder

In the heart of the night, where shadows play,
Lies a quest for wonder, in the break of day.
Curiosity, a lantern held high,
Illuminating secrets, hidden in the sky.

A path untraveled, a story untold,
In the quest for wonder, the world unfolds.
An unquenchable thirst, a desire to know,
In the garden of curiosity, wonders grow.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Paul Hanaoka, Unsplash

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Equanimity

Equanimity is having a sense of balance, calmness and steadiness regardless of circumstances. With equanimity in place, it is easier for compassion to take root, to accept others as they are without judgment, and to truly embrace the impermanent nature of life and its cycles. That we do not need to resist nor cling on.

Days of Equanimity, Jyoti Prateek

Days of sorrow and days of joy
Follow each other in some heavenly ploy
But days of equanimity are precious and rare
With neither hope nor despair

Filled with wisdom these days I seek
Neither too bright, nor too bleak
Where troubles melt in the fire of knowledge
And the mind is free from all its bondage

Where the heart is filled with love and grace
And the soul finds a resting place
On days of equanimity, the world is clear
The mind is calm and the heart sincere

A sense of peace and balance is found
A harmony with all that surrounds
The past is left behind, the future unknown
And in the present, all is shown

The beauty of life appears in all its forms
The joy and the sorrow, the warmth and the storms
These days of serenity show the meaning of life
As we embrace poise and let go of strife
Troubles and worries fade from sight
As we bask in tranquility bathed in light.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Haci Elmas, Unsplash

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Freedom

Freedom lies in going back to our pure, original being, unshackled by automatic thoughts, fleeting emotions, and physical sensations. They are after all just that – thoughts, emotions and sensations, not us, not our future.

Staying at peace, happy or steady regardless of circumstances empowers us to make choices based on our true values and intentions rather than out of fear and habitual patterns. We live life according to our rules, our voice. 

Freedom, by Langston Hughes

Freedom will not come
Today, this year
            Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right
As the other fellow has
            To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.

I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
            Freedom
            Is a strong seed
            Planted
            In a great need.
            I live here, too.
            I want my freedom
            Just as you.   

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Lynda B, Unsplash

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Losing The Ego

Reflecting on the ego—the part of us that is frequently concerned with self-image, status, and personal importance. Recognizing that the ego is not inherently good or bad. It is simply a part of our human experience while acknowledging that the fixation with it can also lead us down a path of self-doubt, anxiety, and desire to seek validation and control. This is a meditation practice of softening the edges of unpleasant feelings so that we can hold our desires with more lightness, to recognise that any unpleasantness is not the whole of you, and allow ease to fill your being. Strength and confidence comes from within, not from external validation.

Whenever the ego emerges, allow ease and lightness to enter like how Hengstler writes it.

Ego, Andrew Hengstler

My eyes are the ocean

My breath carries the wind

My palm holds the word

My essence is the light

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Paul Hanaoka, Unsplash

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Watching Thoughts, Watching TV

Often, we find ourselves entangled in the drama of our thoughts, stuck in a loop, and therefore feeling the emotional sting. To create some distance, try this practice of watching thoughts like a movie on a TV screen. Simply observing them like a neutral party without getting drawn in. Over time, we start to embrace that thoughts are just slide shows, pictures in a borrowed book, like what Misuzu Kaneko writes in her poetry. She lived almost more than 100 years ago yet her wisdom remains timeless.

Beautiful Town, by Misuzu Kaneko

Suddenly, I recall that town—
the red rooftops along the river bank;

and then, on the waters of that broad blue river
a white sail—quietly, quietly moving;

and on the grass of the riverbank
a young man, an artist
idly staring at the water.

And I? What was I doing?
When I think I can’t remember,
I realize it was all a picture in a borrowed book.

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Catherine Heath, Unsplash

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Stay

The ability to stay, to persist, to stay resilient can be trained through mindfulness training. Instead of giving up when we experience the first impulse to do so, we give ourselves permission to just stay and allow whatever that arises.

Always Stay Persistent, by Ronell Warren Alman

Always stay persistent 
Continue on walking in the right path 
Let no one deter you 
Keep it moving and stay on track 
The sun will eventually shine 
Greatness is within you 
Never give up hope 
Just travel along through 

Guide: Noelle Lim

Image credit: Kate Stone Matheson, Unsplash