Breathing, Calming, Present moment, Wonderful moment
Last week, I wrote about choices and how I often over-analyze what something means. When I first began taking yoga teacher training, so many of my classes used books from Thich nhat hanh, a Buddhist monk. I began reading some of his books and what surprised me most was how simple his wisdom is.
One of my favorite quotes that I would read at the end of a yoga class was:
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is a wonderful moment.”
He continues to say in his book, if it's too hard to remember all these words with each breath just say to yourself calming, smiling, present moment, wonderful moment. Just a few minutes of this breathing centers me, calms me and makes me smile. I love his teachings as they are simple, yet powerful.
This past week, Thich nhat hanh died, but left us with beautiful, simple words to help us love, heal, be mindful and be happy.
His words say more than I ever could, so please enjoy a few of my favorite:
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
“When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love.”
“Love needs to be nurtured and fed to survive; and our suffering also survives because we enable and feed it. We ruminate on suffering, regret, and sorrow. We chew on them, swallow them, bring them back up, and eat them again and again. If we’re feeding our suffering while we’re walking, working, eating, or talking, we are making ourselves victims of the ghosts of the past, of the future, or our worries in the present. We’re not living our lives.”
“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”
As we read the papers and watch the news feeling like the world is falling apart, perhaps take a few of these words of wisdom and begin each day present to the moments and people around us.
Wishing you peace and blessings this week!
