As I sit down to write my newsletter each month, there is generally a topic or theme around which my thoughts and writing organize themselves.

Sometimes this is inspired by what I’m seeing while teaching, or by noticing what words I’m repeating most frequently when working with my students. Sometimes a theme shows up based on recent learning or a situation I’ve found myself in; sometimes the topic is the result of a suggestion. This month’s musings began with a request for a newsletter about meditation or yoga, and because I can’t separate mindfulness from either practice, the following is what has emerged.

As I was finding my way through the past few weeks, dragging my feet, trying to think of something, anything, that would be better to write about than mindfulness, life conspired (as it often does) to pull me back. People and books showed up in front of me, I had interesting conversations with strangers and friends (and even a couple with myself). I read, I wrote, I listened, and I taught. And in the same way that you suddenly notice all the red cars on the road after you’ve bought a red car, I noticed that I was walking through my life, looking through a mindfulness lens.

Mindfulness is such a broad word, isn’t it? It at first evokes to me images of a serene woman sitting cross-legged in front of a sunset or waterfall, thumbs touching fingertips, hands on knees. She’s usually 20 years younger and 20 lbs lighter than me. She looks so content, like she wouldn’t know a difficult day if it walked up and said hello; her family always gets along, and she never messes up and hurts someone else’s feelings. I hate her! Which is just as well because she’s an illusion that’s been designed to sell me something.

Jon Kabat-Zinn describes mindfulness as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally, in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.” That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? It is more helpful for me to reflect on something else he wrote: that the opposite of mindfulness is mindlessness. That is a more compelling reason for me to bring mindfulness into my life. When I move through life mindlessly, I am careless with my energy, my words, and my actions. I get hurt. Others get hurt. I don’t respond well to situations and often make matters worse.

Living life mindfully doesn’t mean we smooth out all the rough edges in life or aim for the perfect life of the woman in the picture I imagined earlier. It means we pay attention, acknowledge what is present and deal with it head-on instead of avoiding the difficult things and hoping they go away. Living mindfully asks us to pay attention to all areas of our lives – to our bodies, our spirits, our minds, our relationships with others and with the world around us. Living mindfully asks us to notice what pulls us away from our inner compass, what pulls us towards mindlessness, and to make choices based on that awareness and self-knowledge. 

I have come to describe my classes as “mindful movement” because when I pay attention the way I’m moving and what I’m feeling, I learn from what I’m noticing, and become more skillful at working with my particular issues and vulnerabilities. I want to bring this intentionality to other parts of my life, to get better at paying attention to the way I’m living, learn from what I’m noticing and become more skillful at navigating the inevitable challenges that I will encounter.

Living mindfully often goes against the grain of the Western culture in which we live – in the face of all the messages we receive from media, advertising industry and a society that is often so quick to judge, it sometimes feels like we’re swimming against a strong current.

But we’re not alone. As I swim, I have fascinating conversations that inspire and encourage me. There are many teachers who show up in front of me each day, demonstrating ways to pay attention to how I move my body, teaching me to be curious about the way that I’m thinking, helping me to learn about and change the way I engage with social media, inviting me to consider my relationship to all living things and how I might make choices that create a more meaningful way of participating in the sharing of the earth’s resources.

Some of the teachers I’ve benefited from lately are:

Kristine Dewar and her Counselwise blog. The only email I subscribe to that I open every single day. Lots of great food for thought provided in small, manageable doses.

Jane Clapp and the sharing of the learning she has done about social media and the psyche. If your curiosity has been piqued, this podcast is a good place to start.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, through reading her book, “Braiding Sweetgrass”. This book offered me new perspective on my relationship to the earth and an invitation to live with more reciprocity.

The majority of my teachers have been friends and family – you know who you are – during play in parks, walks on trails, and through conversations around dinner tables. 

Who are your teachers? What have you learned lately that is changing how you are living?

Big News!!!

I am so excited to announce I will be teaching in person again this fall and will be joining the teaching community at Regent Health Centre on Locke Street in Hamilton.

Details are still being finalized, but my tentative schedule is:

Mondays:
9am-10:30am – Mindful Movement Fundamentals
10:45am -noon – Gentle Therapeutic
Wednesdays:
10am-11:30 am – Mindful Movement Fundamentals

I will let you know as soon as the schedule is posted. 

Registration for those classes will take place through the Regent Health website. Here’s a link for class information – nothing on the calendar yet, but you can subscribe to their newsletter for updates about classes. 

Online teaching continues…. 
To accommodate those students are unable to come to classes in Hamilton, or are still uncomfortable with in-person classes, I will continue to teach via Zoom.

Early Fall Zoom Schedule:
Tuesdays – 10-11am – Fundamentals
Wednesdays – 2-3pm – Gentle Therapeutic
Registration includes attendance in both classes as well as unlimited access to the library of recorded classes.

Classes run from September 7 to October 31 (8 weeks); the registration fee is $150.

Class descriptions and registration information can be found on my website.

Hope to see you soon!!!