Mindful Poetry
For a New Beginning
In out of the way places of the heart
Where your thoughts never think to wander
This beginning has been quietly forming
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire
Feeling the emptiness grow inside you
Noticing how you willed yourself on
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream
A path of plentitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.
The Guest House
by Jelaluddin Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
From an Embittered to an Awakened Heart
Raised on a diet of unworthiness and invalidation
Our hearts have no choice but to encrust in pain and resentment
Fear is our constant bedfellow
And IN-authenticity the map we follow
Our spiritual plates will never change unless we choose different food
Made from ingredients created with oneness and inter-being
Courage will then sleep with us daily
And our collective well-being will be the new destination
An awakened heart is our right
The destiny we have absolute ownership over
The only reason we fear claiming it
Is our own dis-belief in our power, worth and right to be here, right now
The Gift
May you be blessed with a child….
Who defies you
So you learn to release control,
With one who doesn’t listen
So you learn to tune in,
With one who loves to procrastinate
So you learn the beauty of stillness,
With one who forgets things
So you learn to let go of attachments,
With one who is extra-sensitive
So you learn to be grounded,
With one who is inattentive
So you learn to be focussed,
With one who dares to rebel
So you learn to think outside the box,
with one who feels afraid
So you learn to trust the universe.
May you be blessed with a child….
Who teaches you
That it is never about them
And all about you.
A Child
by Crysal Olds
I’m not a scaredy-cat, hiding under the covers
but I do get scared sometimes when I am new with others
I’m not a bully, all ravenous and mean
but I do stand up for myself – tall as a bean
I’m not shy, shrinking into myself and feeling hot
but I do take time to warm up to you, when others may not
I’m not a little toughie, when I don’t cry at a scrape
but when I’m focussed those things don’t phase me – I’m wearing my superhero cape
I’m not a woose, when I cry and I fret
but I do like to show the world how I’m feeling – have you tried it yet?
I’m not a clever clogs, whose to big for my boots
I am confident and I remember, because learning anything is a hoot!
I’m not lazy, loafing round the house all day
I just love having time to explore, inquire and integrate my play
I’m not snobby, when I don’t answer right away
I am in the middle of something, or just finding the words I might say
I’m not a chatterbox, when I talk all day long
I just love your company and want our time together to go on and on
I’m not naughty, when I do something that’s not your way
I am just doing the best I can and experimenting with finding my own way
I love you with all of my heart, because you are my world
and I know you love me that way too, because I’m your little boy or girl
So when I do things you don’t like, or embitter you
just remember to breathe down to your belly and imagine a gentle hue
Remember that I am still learning, just like you
And with love and kindness I will become my best version – that’s true
Love after Love
The time will come when,
with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
And say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
The Call
I have heard it all my life, A voice calling a name I recognized as my own.
Sometimes it comes as a soft-bellied whisper. Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency.
But always it says: Wake up my love. You are walking asleep.
There’s no safety in that!
Remember what you are and let this knowing take you home to the Beloved with every breath.
Hold tenderly who you are and let a deeper knowing colour the shape of your humanness.
There is no where to go. What you are looking for is right here.
Open the fist clenched in wanting and see that you already hold in your hand.
There is no waiting for something to happen, no point in the future to get to.
All you have every longed for is here in this moment, right now.
You are wearing yourself out with all this searching.
Come home and rest.
How much longer can you live like this?
Your hungry spirit is gaunt, your heart stumbles.
All this trying.
Give it up!
Let the Lover pull you to your feet and hold you close,
Dancing even when fear urges you to sit this one out.
Remember – there is one word you are here to say with your whole being.
When it finds you, give your life to it. Don’t be tight-lipped and stingy.
Spend yourself completely on the saying.
Be one word in this great love poem we are writing together.
Free Meditations
To really know mindfulness, it is best to experience it for yourself. So here are some meditations that may assist you in doing that.