Beautiful Creatures

When I woke this morning, I sat on the edge of the bed and watched snow falling again out the sliding glass door. It felt especially unwanted after a lovely 53 degree day yesterday. I actually waved it away as I crawled out of bed and passed the window, thinking, “April 4 Tundra Land, we’re getting jipped on Spring. Someone’s happy about this right?”

Turning on my computer, I joined the Lotuses in the Mud Recovery Family morning mindfulness group. I lined up the bells for meditation and prepared to lead as we entered into our April theme, “Humor as a Practice Partner.” The meditation was on getting in touch with a “Light Heart.” Our checkin was a smattering of ups, downs and all arounds until we got to a chat prompt—what are the characteristics of a light heart? The entries were smile provoking:

silliness, a sense of the absurd, seeing the bigger picture, urge to dance!…and sing, unafraid, confident, grounded, in the now, “Baby mind” — I think about the giggles of an infant that isn’t speaking yet, relief and ease, appreciation and beauty, freshness, alive/aware of the unexpected, riding on the back of a horse with the wind flying through your hair 

We came back to our breathing, the foundation of our practice of mindfulness and in a matter of minutes the characteristics of a light heart were materializing in our own bodies and minds. I gazed out the window above my computer and experienced the snow propelled upward in playful, circular patterns. It was beautiful. The regulation of the body through a few in breaths and out breathes had opened and clarified my mind, my perspective had entirely shifted. A lullaby with no where to go, gently tumbled out. Closing the meditation with a poem by Hafiz, I could feel the calm center we had all arrived at:

There is a beautiful creature
Living in a hole you have dug. 

So at night

I set fruit and grains

And little pots of milk

Besides your soft earthen mounds,

And I often sing.

But still, my dear,

You do not come out.

I have fallen in love with Someone

Who hides inside you.

We should talk about this problem--

Otherwise,

I will never leave you alone.” 

― Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

Do you know how loved you are? And how absolutely expertly our living, breathing bodies can lift us up and out of the holes we manage to dig and fall into? Come join us on Thursdays at 7:45a Pacific if you need reminded: 

Zoom Meeting ID: 988 3428 9711
Passcode: LTMC