Step #1, Smile – Day 3 The body responds to a gentle breath in the same way most of us respond to a smile: with allowance. In other words, we really want take it in. Smiles make us feel good on a physiological, emotional, and mental level. They inspire happiness. Similarly, the body is … More Allowance
Step #1, Smile – Day 2 There is a common misconception that meditation is about checking-out; that it is about going somewhere else. Ah, the floating meditator off in space. It’s not such an accurate image. A key aspect of meditation is checking-in; establishing presence. Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the many pioneers of meditation … More Consider a Smile
Step #1, Smile – Day 1 Welcome, or welcome back, to the Practice of Living Awareness. This new round of meditations will take us through the holiday season and into a new year and a new decade! That offers plenty to smile about. 2020. Have you pondered that number yet? It begs us to … More A New Round Begins
Step #1, Smile – Day 3 “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile is the source of your joy.” – Thich Nhat Hahn Happiness is a brainwave, and smiles directly affect your brain. It is a physiological fact. It’s revealed in the delightful quote above. The very fact that you can … More Respond with a Smile
Step #1, Smile – Day 2 The shape of a smile is quite common: raised at the edges and curved from side to side. It’s the shape of a bowl or a basin. It’s the shape of the hammock above… it has a similar function as well. A smile holds and supports; it contains … More Delightfully Held
Step #1, Smile – Day 1 “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” – Mother Teresa This is true… a smile has a vibrational ripple effect that extends far beyond our perceptive reach. But, we can sense quite a bit of the goodness that it brings by simply … More Smile and the World Smiles Back
Smile Meditation – Day 1 Welcome to The Practice of Living Awareness, or welcome back! We are excited to begin a new round of guided meditations… in fact, we’re all smiles! Meditation is a wonderful gift to give yourself. Your mind thanks you, your body thanks you, we all thank you. Right on! … More A Breath and a Smile
Smile Meditation – Day 2 Your smile will fill you with all that the present moment can bring… this is its design. It lifts and curves and catches. We’ll start every meditation with a smile so as to cash-in on this feature. What’s more, your time spent in meditation generates a universal smile in the … More A Smile is a Bowl
Smile Meditation – Day 3 Have you ever woken up in the morning to stressful thoughts about the day ahead which lead to a sour mood which then leads to obstacles great and small that seem to turn your whole day into a wretched mess? We all have. And then… someone graces you with a … More Choose a Smile
“Smile as the great benevolent being that you are. Smile, blessing everyone and everything in your day.” (from the meditation) To remind oneself of the truth of who and what one is sets the moment right. No moment is about impatience, harsh words, degrading thoughts or actions toward someone, or punitive thoughts about oneself. No … More 1c: Benevolence
A smile changes everything, meditation does too. Meditation has the potential to change a person from the inside out – but only if the person desires such change. Truth is that meditation will bring results into one’s life, but only if one cultivates the principles of meditation. And, of course, this would be so. Like … More 1b: Transformative
Peace and happiness can be the quality of this moment, if we bring them forward. Truth is, like the sky, peace and happiness are already present. Just as we can bring the expanse of the sky into a moment by looking up, we can bring peace or happiness into a moment with a smile. The … More 1a. a Wiggle and a smile
What makes you smile? How do you feel when you do? The sky makes me smile, as do leaves and children and snowflakes and wind. I smile with understanding a lot, grateful that something has context or meaning or purpose and that I recognize that. Kindness makes me smile: giving it and receiving it. Helping … More 1c: Goodness. How powerful!
Our biology tells us that we are hardwired for happiness and to bring happiness to others. When we smile a cascade of beneficial endorphins flow through our brain. With a smile, our parasympathetic system relaxes; and this happens both when we give a smile or receive one. Infants develop exponentially when in a happy, loving … More 1c: Smile. Happy people live longer!
This meditation combines Smile and Tip of the Nose. It is a joyous and sensate meditation. I’ll be traveling to Oklahoma to teach a meditation retreat for the week. There will be no live meditations until next Tuesday. Please use the blog to support your practice. Explore the meditations or simply re-do ones from the … More Feel it from the inside
Life can be messy. The toilet backs up, the kids are tired, the boss had too much coffee, the rain slowed down everything. And that’s the small stuff. We could live in a war zone, have serious life transformations going on due to terminal illness of a loved one or our self, a tornado or … More 1b: Smile: Life can be messy
The new round of The Practice of Living Awareness begins with the only thing possible: a smile. Smiling is a choice, and awareness is too. That’s the curious thing about being human: that happiness is the choice of how we interact with a moment, and that awareness is the choice of being Aware. The power … More Step 1a: Smile with Awareness
The Intermediate level of The Practice of Living Awareness has a two-fold purpose: to train a practitioner to accomplish deeper states of meditation and awareness, such that the practitioner lives the wider range of meditation and accessed awareness. The purpose of this is so that one’s life becomes increasingly the manifestation of one’s practice. This … More Translucent human beingness
Is it crazy to be happy or crazy that we are not? Humanity is at a turning point – joy and shared abundance or the way things are. This man with pigeons on his shoulders is living from the inside out. Something, in this life or in previous ones, helped him let go and, instead, … More Harmony from the inside out
Mahatma Gandhi smiled. He also cried when the moment was sorrowful, laughed, and was occasionally perplexed. Mohandas Gandhi became recognized as a world saint because he practiced the way of the smile, its patience, wisdom, and kindness. It became known as the Way of Non-violence. Doing so he inspired hundreds of thousands of people. He … More Change the world with a smile. 1e
Empowerment or disempowerment come down to simple components. Awareness, self-recognition of awareness, and self-volition aligned as Awareness. The first step in creating this habit is noticing the true experience of any moment. That can only bring power if and when the noticing is followed by acknowledging the true experience in a moment. We will discover … More Empowerment: 1b
It is that simple. Awareness is one’s choice. Smiling, letting go, letting be, rejoicing, celebrating, appreciating, understanding all are one’s choice. Patience, contentment, ease, composure also are one’s choice. Similarly, so distraction, rudeness, impatience, agitation, aggravation, denial, and heedlessness are too. Life is one’s choice. And giving one’s self this truth – Awareness is one’s … More “We smile, and take a long-slow-deep breath …”
The Practice of Living Awareness empowers you. Feeling frustrated? Breathe a long slow deep breath. Mind confused? Smile, breathe, then soften and open to what you are trying to control. Get in touch with the fact a control issue is actually what is going on. Feeling a churning feeling, judgemental, petty, or aggressive? Smile within … More * (Step 6/d) Create your day as you go
We begin every meditation with a smile. Here’s another reason why.
