Tag: allowing
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Don’t Poop on the Dog: Zen Drop 27
So you stepped in dog poop. Now what? For starters, the world has enough shit to deal with. Don’t track it all over town. You’ll figure it out. Sometimes people say to “lean in.”Lean into dog shit? No thanks. Sometimes people say everything happens for a reason.Fine. You can explain that while I dig crap…
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The Workout Makes You Stronger. What You Add Makes It Harder.
What story are you adding that is making your experience more difficult? What happens when you notice? This mindful exercise practice can open the door to a new relationship with your workout and your mind. Exercise provides a clean testing ground for mindful training. Consider it a two-for-one. You work out the body, and you…
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Are These Gas Prices High or Something? — Zen Drop 26
Gas prices keep going up.So you’re standing at the pump, watching the numbers climb like it’s a horror movie. Suddenly, a wise old monk walks up and says,“Your resistance is only making this worse.” “Great,” you say. “Does that mean you’re buying?”Because then we might be getting somewhere. We’ve all heard it: grin and bear it.Which…
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Fuhgeddaboudit: Zen Drop 20—The Undeniable Presence of No One in Particular
Read time 1 minute. When you let it go and fuhgeddaboudit, you embody the undeniable presence of no one in particular. I seem to have forgotten something.I have to remember. What did I come in here for?What was I about to say? It’s on the tip of my tongue. What is this nagging feeling?I just…
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Active Awareness: Interested In Everything
Read time 5 minutes. Zen in not disinterested. Disinterest numbs. Active Awareness sharpens. Last week, while looking at acceptance, we discovered how easy it is to slip into subtle bias. We may force a kind of enthusiasm that isn’t really there, and when we can’t maintain it, frustration follows. Neutrality offers relief—but if we swing…
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Acceptance As Awareness: Goldilocks Gets It Just Right
Read time 4 Minutes. Acceptance reframed as awareness. In the ongoing effort to simplify the teachings, acceptance seems—at first glance—like the simplest lesson of all. Familiar, gentle, obvious. Yet if taken too literally, acceptance can lead to confusion or frustration. I know it did for me in the early stages of practice. So let’s revisit…
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Mindful Listening: A Meditation Game
Read time 4 minutes. Mindful listening is a stand alone article in our Blocked Energy series. We’ve spoken often about the importance of accepting and allowing. Most of the time the focus has been on mental attitude—how we relate to thoughts, how we lean into letting go. Today, let’s turn the lens slightly and look at the…
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Blocked Energy: The Birth of Unfinished Business
Read time 4 minutes. This is a stand alone article in our Blocked Energy series. The teachings speak often about the benefits of remaining open to whatever life throws our way. We hear it said: let go, don’t cling. But the deeper message is not to become some idealized open person. The invitation is to practice in…
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Perfect Composure: An All-embracing Remedy
Read time 3 minutes. See how presence and perfect composure dissolve ego’s clouds, offering both daily relief and lasting transformation Some of us arrive at practice with a burning hunger for enlightenment. Others simply want to find a way through the difficulties of the day. Both positions are valid. Both are human. From the stance…