October 10 2022

By: Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 10, 2022

As we continue our discussion of “Harvesting Your Thoughts,” we will talk about strategies to helps us believe that we can handle the difficult emotions of grief. One is the practice of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation is the practice of being fully present and releasing any thoughts, emotions and/or sensations when you catch yourself attaching to them. I appreciate a surrender form of meditation from the Christian tradition entitled Centering Prayer. For this form of meditation, you begin by repeating a “sacred word” you choose until it drops off and you’re resting in a contemplative space. When you notice that you are thinking or feeling thoughts, emotions and/or sensations, you “ever so gently” return to your sacred word. As author and Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault says, “Resist no thought, retain no thought, react to no thought, return to the sacred word.” This type of mindfulness meditation and others can help you when you’re experiencing the difficult thoughts and emotions of grief.

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

June 5 2023

This month our theme is “Holding onto Changing Love.” When we lose a loved one, the love we felt for that person doesn’t end, it changes. I recently found an anonymous quote that speaks to this: “W...

May 29 2023

We wish you all a meaningful Memorial Day as we honor all the men and women who died while serving in the military.

May 22 2023

This poem by Ellen Bass speaks to this month’s theme, “The Risk of Love Is Loss.” of “Tears are Sacred” with this week’s poem by JD   “The Thing Is To love life, to love it even When you h...

May 15 2023

I ended last week’s post about “The Risk of Love Is Loss” with the comment that being wholly human is experiencing the full spectrum of life’s emotions and looking for hope, beauty, and transformat...

May 8 2023

As we continue with our theme of “The Risk of Love Is Loss,” I’ll share again the Dan Moseley quote, “To live is to love, to love is to lose, to lose is to live.” This cycle plays out in our bodies...

May 1 2023

This month our theme is "The Risk of Love Is Loss." This is a reality. When we love someone or something, we risk losing it. As Dan Moseley wrote, "To live is to love,...

April 24 2023

I close this month’s theme of “Tears are Sacred” with this week’s poem by JD Stillwater. Tidal Pools Tears, like all prayers, trickle downhill to the sea, where they mingle with salted sorrows of...

April 17 2023

Continuing with this month’s theme of “Tears are Sacred,” I share these words from Eknath Easwaran in his book, Original Goodness: We can spend the better part of our lives attempting to construct...

April 10 2023

Here’s a poem by Jodie Senkyrik about our theme, “Tears are Sacred.” DO NOT WIPE YOUR TEARS AWAY Do not wipe your tears away. Let them flow down your cheek. Let them create a stream on your face t...

April 3 2023

This month our theme is “Tears are Sacred.” We all have opinions about tears. Some of us are comfortable letting them flow and others not as much.  Scientists have found that tears are healthy...