DeborahBurkeHenderson.com

MAY 2025 – MAKING SPACE

Do you sometimes hold yourself in a tight fist? We probably all do, at times. Of course, that kind of clenching and tautness does not favor well-being. Instructor Jeff Warren reminds us that meditation can be key to loosening the grip of our minds and bodies, so we might make space for ease and calm. From this space of flow, we are better able to navigate our way forward, responding more nimbly to all that is around us.

What are you holding onto that you might let go of right now?

It isn’t easy to stay with difficult emotions, but with regular practice, you can learn to sit with a heavy feeling. Lean into it and listen with intent. Consider the lesson to be learned. As you face the emotion head on, do so with tenderness, kindness, and nonjudgement. As you work through the feeling, release any tension. Let your shoulders relax and roll back. Can you feel a softening? You may notice a subtle difference, a shift, that is taking place in your mind, heart, body.

Poet and author Nayyirah Waheed says, “Feel it. Feel the thing you don’t want to feel. Feel it and be free.” And as the Buddha’s teachings reveal, once you stop resisting, your suffering will diminish.

When we move through discomfort with an understanding of impermanence, we see that all emotions come and go, although they may overwhelm us and at times sweep through us before departing. It is not an easy endeavor to greet difficult emotions and let them in, but by working with them, those feelings will begin to soften and subside, like the falling tide receding back into the ocean.

The late Thich Nhat Hanh, beloved Vietnamese monk and peace activist, guides a lovely meditation that may serve you well here.

Take your time with this sequence. To take full advantage, you might repeat each couplet very slowly two or three times, and as you do so, visualize the image that is being guided. Fully engage your five senses on this journey.

As always while sitting in a comfortable yet alert position, take in three deliberate, full breaths to start your mindful practice. Breathe in deeply through the nose to the count of four. Then hold your breath for four counts before breathing out slowly through pursed lips. (Make believe you are ever-so-slowly blowing out a candle.) Then hold for a four count again, before starting your next inhale. When you’re ready, the flow goes like this.

“Breathing in, I am mountain; breathing out, I am solid.

 Breathing in, I am a flower; breathing out, I am fresh.

 Breathing in, I am water; breathing out, I am fluid.

 Breathing in, I am sky; breathing out, I am spaciousness.”

This is one technique of making space to allow for calm and ease. I hope it might be helpful. As you hold this space, honor it. Be grateful. Come back to this mindful practice whenever you feel the need.

Blessings for your journey,

Deborah

    ________________________

“Learn to calm down the winds of your mind,

and you will enjoy great inner peace.”

—Ramez Sasson

My morning mantra:

"I arise this morning with a smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. 

I vow to live fully in each moment and to greet every being I meet with compassion."

        ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist 

                                                                                    [1926 - 2022]