the path – Biking the Path

Oh!

I will start a workshop on mindfulness next week. Some ask what is it that many people are talking about mindfulness.

Well, there are many good things about practicing mindfulness, but I can tell you that one that amaze me is the “oh!” or the “aha!” moment.

Let me explain. The continuous practice allows you to be more conscious. Conscious about what you’re feeling, how you are confronting situations in your life.

That’s when the “oh!” moment gets in. Suddenly, a situation makes you feel bad, or angry. But you realise that. So, instead of reacting to the situation, you are conscious of how it makes you feel. You make a pause, could be a small but conscious pause, and then you say to yourself: aha! I’m feeling angry, but – for example – it’s not the person that makes me feel angry, but what he or she said. So I can act according to the situation. I may say: I don’t like the way you are talking, I feel angry.

In doing that, one can approach the situation without an angry reaction, but knowing where you’re standing, and find a better way to solve it.

It could be a situation in which I am judging someone. The “oh!” moment gets in, and I can see that it is my own perspective that gets in the way of understanding other.

So, besides being a practice that help me with my attention, my health, my wellbeing, for me the “oh!” moment is a treasure.

Change

Español

This is a view from a corridor at my new work. Most of the weekdays a arrive before 7 in the morning. Usually, that was the time for meditation.

I’m happy with this work, teaching at another university. But it changed my schedule a lot. So I’m in the process of giving space and time to what I do in a regular basis.

Life offers us with reminders that change is something always present. In my last post I was talking about rituals and life. Somehow, they allowed me to have some order in life, one that stumbles with change.

So now I’m embracing change, testing when is better to do something, and when to do something else. At first I felt some discomfort, but as soon as I realised that, I drew a smile in my face and accepted the new situation.

It’s easy to forget that change is a constant. I tend to feel at ease in my confort zone, and be surprised with change. Impermanence is a fact of life, and to accept it makes the journey great.

Can you see it?

en español

I’m staying, for a few days, in a house in Dechantskirchen, Austria, up in a hill. In the morning, I usually watch outside my window, to get the feeling of the new day. And having a different view is interesting.

But even if I see through the same window, every day I can see something different. The light, the tree leaves, the weather, all have unique characteristics that can be appreciated.

So today, I looked out of the same window for the second day in a row, and had the chance of see the image presented here. I can see the trees near the window, down the hill, and to the horizon. The beauty of the clouds, a pale orange light between them and the horizon line, and some rain far away.

I take a look out of my window every morning, and I can see a different view. If you let yourself to watch what is outside, with attention, you may appreciate the small differences, with awe.

You may be wondered by a new view, and I thank the opportunity, but we don’t need it to be amazed by what we have in front of us.

A break

en español

Yes, it seems like I have stop writing. But on the contrary, I have been writing a lot, but not here.

I took some days out for me. I went away, to a different place, with different weather, different people. A break to think, write and draw.

I’m glad I did. I could review my activities and goals, and take some decisions on them. Well, not really on activities and goals, but on life and the path I have taken.

So here I am, ready to bike the path again.