Tuesday

Ten Things You Can Do Right Now

1. Take a walk. Feel the ground with each step.

2. Enjoy the next breath with gratitude.

3. Watch your mind worrying as a mother watches her child in its crib. Is the mother in the crib?

4. No matter what is happening in your environment, no matter how much commotion fills the space around you, become aware of space itself - its stillness,

5. Gaze at the blue sky. See as far into that patch of blue as you can, until your eyes are completely relaxed and unfocussed on the infinite vanishing point. Now close them and feel that same depth inside you.

6. When you are with an angry person, look into that person's eyes as you would look into the sky, and pay absolutely no attention to what the person is saying. Breathe slowly. Breathe in the person's pain, and breathe out compassion.

7. Smile for no reason at all, simply as a physical exercise. Notice all the muscles of your face relaxing until you feel the face you had when you were a child.

8. Look into a flower, or a leaf, or a pool of water. Now take away the name, "flower," "leaf," "water," and just gaze.

9. When your mind is anxious and filled with thoughts, close your eyes and just observe the physical sensations in your brain. Feel the sensations before they become mental images or words, until you sense the silence at the source of every sensation.

10. Any time, any place, let your attention sink from your head to the space around your heart. Feel the sensations that arise there, whether they are comfortable or uncomfortable. Embrace these sensations as they arise, without judgment, until they dissolve into free energy.