What is Your Morning Ritual?

Currently I am giving attention towards grounding my morning rituals. Do you have morning rituals? What are your morning rituals? How do you open into or invite in each new day? Thank you for sharing any of your practice.

Updated: I'm curious about the balance between discipline and listening. Training ourselves through practice and following our inherent flow and rhythm.

We're Alive, Here Now

"Let there be no more holding back on
our commitment to our life on earth."

Quote by Helen Titchen Beeth in a comment at Seeds for a happy planet
Photo by St John found in Kids and Nature

Inspiration and Practice

A couple of inspiring posts in my feeds today:

"Change is not easy. It requires drive and commitment. It requires an unshakeable determination to overcome any obstacle."

These truthful words of inspiration come from Scott Rigsby. Last week he was the first double amputee to complete an Ironman Triathlon. That means he swam 2.4 miles without legs, then biked 112 miles and ran a 26.2-mile marathon with prosthetics.

"I started talking to myself: You have three miles to go; if you can just do three miles, you have an opportunity to really change the world. You can have an impact."

In an earlier interview, before having set this world record, Rigsby said,

"Since my last surgery, I have always had exceptional balance and an amazing ability to balance and run on prosthetic legs. In 2005, I started thinking of how I could use this talent to help pave the way and inspire other physically challenged athletes to reach their goals as well."

This inspires me to keep asking the questions:
Am I using my talents to help pave the way and inspire?
Am I reaching for my goals?

And then I read these practices offered by Jack/Zen, inspired by Thich Nhat Hahn’s breathing affirmation practices.

When feeling unhappy, disappointed, frustrated …

(breathing out) Everything in life happens
(breathing in) the moment it becomes fully possible

When feeling critical, crabby, annoyed, resentful, angry, regretful …

(breathing out) Whatever story I tell myself about reality
(breathing in) is only one possible story

When feeling stuck, anxious, distracted, bored …

(breathing out) Whatever I’m doing right now
(breathing in) is only one possible thing to do

When feeling procrastination, passive, stuck, uncertain, confused …

(breathing out) I don’t need a different reality
(breathing in) to do what else is possible right now

Do 8 rounds of breath then check to see what’s shifted. Be creative about which Truth to use with which situation.

I wonder what this would look like with some of the students I work with.


Thank you Cool Cat Teacher for the story about Scott Rigsby

"It's Up To You" to Share Your Gifts

If you haven't already heard, Radiohead has taken an inspiring step forward in the music industry. They recently released their latest album, In Rainbows. You can download this album and pay what you can. That's right, the price is "Up To You."

It's so exciting to see more and more people offering their gifts and the products of their passion out into the world in ways that invite others to engage in a mutual exchange of gifts and resources.

At Radiohead's website, they link to a new friend and incredibly inspiring artist Chris Jordan.

Above is Chis Jordan's work Cell Phones, 2007 which depicts 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day.

Chris was recently featured on Bill Moyers' Journal on PBS and can be viewed here. Last night he appeared on The Steven Colbert Report. You can watch that clip here.

Ahhhh... Sweet swirls of gratitude beckon through me in response to these inspiring artists who are communicating messages of great importance to such a wide audience .

Left Brain/ Right Brain

Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

According to the article The Right Brain vs Left Brain found in the Daily Telegraph, if you see it turning clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

What do you see?

Changes

moving along

with love in my heart