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Just Breathe....You Are EnoughTouching JoyTouching Joy There are many contemplative traditions that emphasize the importance of balance. First Nations traditions - in reference to the Medicine Wheel - will speak of balance, the balance, for example, of the emotional, physical, spiritual, and intellectual aspects of ourselves. Many First Nations traditions will hold that, by bringing these aspects into balance, we become a balanced, whole, harmonious person. Chinese traditions, historically, have also had strong influence in our understanding of balance. The symbol of the yin yang is, at least in part, about the balance of opposing principles. The inner and t...2019-05-3100 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughRoll in the SandRoll in the Sand As some of you know, this week was moving week on the university campus where I teach. Extensive renovations in one of our main office buildings meant that we moved out of that office building into temporary housing for about one year's time. They stripped that office building down to its bricks to do a major renovation. This week we, and our countless boxes, moved into the completed new building. While I was unpacking one of those boxes, I came across an envelope of photographs that had gotten lost a...2019-05-2400 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughA Blue MoonA Blue Moon This Saturday May 18, at 6:11pm Atlantic Standard Time, is the Blue Moon. It’s the time to do things that you would only do once in a blue moon! The May 2019 full moon is a seasonal Blue Moon. Usually there are three full moons between each astrological season. That is the time between each Solstice and equinox. In some years, there are four full moons in a season. When this happens, the third full moon is called a Blue Moon. This year, for we in the northern hemisphere, the...2019-05-1700 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughDance into MayDance into May In my neck of the woods, in eastern Canada, the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice will be May 5th, at 2 minutes to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. This is the moment when we astrologically step from the end of spring to the beginning of summer. Since ancient times – since the Iron Age - it has been celebrated as the final victory of life over death, light over darkness, and the return of life to the earth as the heat of the sun makes its way back into our world. In...2019-05-0400 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughBeing and BecomingBeing and Becoming It's wonderful to be back having taken some time away – at semester’s end - to take a deep breath. Today we explore being and becoming. I had a wonderful conversation last week with a remarkable student in one of my classes. It was a long conversation over tea as we made our way to semester’s end. Among the questions she asked was: “what is the relationship between being and becoming?” How do we become what we are? How do we become what we are meant to be? She was exp...2019-04-2600 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughOwn Your StrengthOwn Your Strength I received a fun email this week. It said: “Loved seeing a strong woman in a key position of power yesterday. You were fantastic.” Who wouldn't want to celebrate that? So, today we reflect: what is it to own our own strength? For the key position of power that we most genuinely occupy is the power, authority and responsibility that we hold in relation to the choices that we make in our own lives. A position of true power is not assigned from the outside world. A position of tru...2019-04-0500 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughSelf-Existing JoySelf-Existing Joy Where do grown-ups come from? Where do the children go? It was my great delight this week to make a new acquaintance, the friend of a mutual friend. This person spent an evening with me and my students in class, bringing the wisdom of someone who has lived, rather than simply having circled the sun. He has lived long enough to enjoy many adventures: a children’s doctor, a poet, an artist, an activist, a writer, a gardener….and one who continues to actively create through the course of his li...2019-03-2900 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughSweetness is the Antidote to BitternessSweetness is the Antidote to Bitterness It was a week for an unusual amount of baking. For me, this week, there was baking for co-workers, and baking for students, and baking for classroom guests. Amongst these was baking as part of a thank you gift for a group of four nurses who had traveled to give a talk to one of my classes on campus. They had had a full day, and a hard day, in their hospital workplace before driving the two hours to spend time with me and my students. They would then...2019-03-2200 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughSpring in Your Step!Spring in Your Step! You can feel it in the air. In my neck of the woods in the north, it's this coming Wednesday March 20th, at 6:58pm, that we will astronomically cross the line: the sun will shine directly on the equator – at the moment of the spring equinox - before continuing its journey which shapes the cycles and the seasons of our lives. The spring equinox is the time when day and night are equal. We will rest – poised and balanced at that mid-point for a moment – before we cross the line, and t...2019-03-1600 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughA Man, My SonA Man, My Son I see increasingly in some of my male colleagues and students the sense that, if one is born male (and perhaps especially white, and heterosexual, and male, if one is born into a position which many Western cultures would historically have associated with privilege), somehow one must walk about feeling badly and apologizing for it, and never quite feeling comfortable in one's own skin. We are in a time of cultural change, as traditional gender roles become increasingly a thing of memory. There is sufficient turmoil to create space for a...2019-03-0800 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughBreathe Through Your HeelsBreathe Through Your Heels “Now, take this huge tree here, son. If someone were to hack it at the bottom, its living sap would flow. Likewise, if someone were to hack it in the middle, its living sap would flow; and if someone were to hack it at the top, its living sap would flow. Pervaded by the living essence…, this tree stands here ceaselessly drinking water and flourishing… The finest essence here – that constitutes the self of this whole world; that is the truth; that is the self…). And that’s how you are….” (Chandogya-Upanishad 6.11.1-3, c. 500 BCE). T...2019-02-2200 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughWe Celebrate Valentine's DayWe Celebrate Valentine’s Day “The minute I heard my first love story – I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere – they’re in each other all along.” (Rumi) The Hindu god of love is named Kama. My favorite story of Kama is told by the classical Sanskrit poet Kalidasa in the text known as the Kumarasambhava. Once upon a time, there was a demon named Taraka. Taraka had been promised that he could only be killed by a child of Shiva. The god Shiva is the great...2019-02-1500 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Space In-Between In Which We All Live The Space In-Between in Which We All Live The house is freshly cleaned. It was deep cleaning that happened this past weekend. The fridge and closets and cupboards – all the storage spaces – were sorted. What needs to be let go, re-purposed and released? What has a place in my world? Putting things in place, one after the other: it creates structure. Because of this structure, there is space. It is a space in-between in which we all live. Thank you for joining us as we reflect on limits, and limitlessness, and the space in...2019-02-0800 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughA Reflection of YouA Reflection of You Do you try to squeeze yourself into a box that someone – or something - else has shaped for you? Does it feel artificial, contrived, and far too small? Today we reflect, and observe, that their concept of you is a reflection of them. Your concept of you is a reflection of you. You don't need to buy-in to limits set by someone else’s story. We are each the hero of our own story. What are the limits that you have set for yourself that you believe to be true...2019-02-0100 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Beginning of the Beginning of SpringThe Beginning of the Beginning of Spring I am told that the North American celebration of Groundhog Day was established in Pennsylvania, with the help of a newspaper story, in 1887. It is said to be an adaptation of a German tradition, where it was a Badger, I am told, who poked its head out of the ground to check to see if it's time yet to come out of a long winter's nap. I began to feel it last weekend, the instinct that it’s time for deep cleaning on the inside, and dee...2019-02-0100 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughRemain Like A Log“To cover all the earth with sheets of leather. Where could such amounts of leather be found? But simply wrap some leather around your feet and it is as if the whole earth had been covered! Likewise we can never take and turn aside the outer course of things, but only seize and discipline the mind itself and what is there remaining to be curbed? “ Today, we reflect on old Buddhist wisdom: remain like a log. Yes, perhaps the man is...2019-01-2500 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Precious Human Birth....On Working with GuiltThe Precious Human Birth…. On Working with Guilt "This human birth is precious. Our opportunity to awaken. The body is impermanent and time of death is uncertain. The cause and effect of karma shapes the course of our lives. Life has inevitable difficulties. No one can control it all. This life we must know as the tiny splash of a raindrop, a thing of beauty that disappears even as it comes into being. Therefore I recall my inspiration and aspiration (to engage the sp...2019-01-1800 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughUntil the Water Runs Clear and the Right Action Arises by ItselfUntil the Water Runs Clear and the Right Action Arises by Itself Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water runs clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself? I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. If yelling back when someone yells at you was going to work, it would have worked by now. Thank you...2019-01-1100 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughWeeding is the Way to Get Weeding DoneWeeding is the Way to Get Weeding Done Hello everyone! Happy new year! At the beginning of the new solar year, many people think back to where we have been, and reflect on where we are going. We dream dreams. We make plans. We plant seeds. Today we explore: weeding is the way to get weeding done. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our worl...2019-01-0400 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Heart is a Muscle: It Expands and ContractsThe Heart is a Muscle: It Expands and Contracts The average resting heart rate is somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute. So, if we imagine an average of 80 beats per minute, your heart will beat 4,800 times per hour. Today it will beat 115,200 times. In the course of a year, the heart will beat 42,048,000 times, and, if you live to be 80 years old, your heart will have beaten 3,363,840,000 times. The heart is a muscle: it expands and contracts. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Tog...2018-12-2800 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughWe Celebrate the SolsticeWe Celebrate the Solstice The solstice: it is a shared human experience. We celebrate, and reflect, as we move together between darkness and light. Today, we celebrate the solstice. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us as we celebrate the solstice, moving together as a planet in our rhythms between darkness and light. Today, in the Northern hemisphere, is the winte...2018-12-2100 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughSkillful or Unskillful: It's a Moving TargetSkillful or Unskillful: It’s a Moving Target It is a sign of true nobility in ancient Indian tradition to have the courage to do the right thing because you believe it to be the right thing to do. In ancient times, “the right thing to do” was perhaps more clearly defined than it is in our modern period when the right to make an individual decision can leave us with a blinding number of choices. How do we know what is the right thing to do? We follow our internal compass, our internal GPS – our “vibe...2018-12-1400 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughYou Are Enough (So Is Everyone Else)You Are Enough (So Is Everyone Else) You are enough. You are worthy. You are sufficient. There is absence of absence, nothing to prove and no territory to defend. It is not possible to be other than utterly perfect…even on those days when we could use some improvement. You are alive. Life itself is enough: so are you. So is everyone else. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our w...2018-12-0700 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughWorking with ChangeWorking with Change Hello everyone! Karma, action, cause and effect: it is said to unfold in the way that the full moon reflects into one hundred bowls of water. The moon has no desire to reflect into them all, but, because there happen to be one hundred bowls of water, there are one hundred moons at the same time. They are part of one moon, the full moon in the sky. Action is just action. Action and reaction unfold to define the change of textures and tastes in that space in-between in which we all live. I...2018-11-3000 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughConnection Does Not Require a PasswordConnection Does Not Require a Password Hello everyone! To connect: it is something we do all the time. We measure speed of connection. We measure speed of bytes and bits. We enter, and change, and re enter passwords. If we are so connected, why do we feel so torn apart? Authentic connection: it does not require a password. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. To friend people; to...2018-11-2300 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughBeing and DoingBeing and Doing Hello everyone! What we are speaks so much more loudly than what we do. Thank you for joining us as we explore being and doing. The very first question I ever asked a Buddhist practitioner was asked to a visiting Tibetan Buddhist monk many years ago. The monk had come to visit the university where I was studying as part of a fundraising tour for his community of Tibetan Buddhist refugees. I asked him this question. I said, “You spend your time meditating in caves. What good does it do? Don...2018-11-1600 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughWe Take Our Headlights With Us Wherever We GoWe Take Our Headlights With Us Wherever We Go Hello, everyone! How far ahead can you see in your life? How far ahead do we think we know? Perhaps it is not as far as we would wish. It’s all right: we take our headlights with us wherever we go. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us as we consider...2018-11-0900 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Fall of the Leaves: The End of the HarvestThe Fall of the Leaves Hello, everyone! It is a time of change of the seasons. We have reached the midway point between the fall equinox and the winter solstice, the end of the harvest, the time of the planting of seeds to protect underground through the winter. Today we reflect on the end of the harvest. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you f...2018-11-0200 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughMeditation InstructionMeditation Instruction Hello, everyone! This is an introduction to meditation practice. Synchronise mind and body. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us as we rest. Relax. Build strength. This is a guide to how to develop a pattern of daily meditation practice. Return to the practice over time. Meditation practice is called practice. That's because it is like music practice or physic...2018-10-2600 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughTraining the Mind is Like Training the BodyTraining the Mind Is Like Training the Body Hello, everyone! To train the mind is like training the body. Both are able to become stronger with practice. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us as we explore training the mind and training the body, growing stronger as part of a whole. Words used in Sanskrit for mind are understood differently tha...2018-10-2500 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Seventh of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath": You Are EnoughThe Seventh of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath”: You Are Enough Have you ever felt like there wasn't room for you in your life? Let's take a deep breath and look at the seventh of seven ways..... Oh (inhale...exhale....), that feels better..... Thank you for joining us for the seventh of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath”. We'll take a step back: You are Enough. There is an idea in the wisdom traditions of India. It is found in Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. It was taught by the historic Gaut...2018-10-2400 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Sixth of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath"The Sixth of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath”: What Keeps Us Human? Food with a Friend Would you like to go out for coffee, or maybe come over for tea? How about some supper? Would you like to head down to the lunchroom together? Would you like to go out for brunch? It's older than the 30,000 year old paintings in caves, when early humans were forming community. We do it by sharing a common feast. Thank you for joining us for the sixth of "7 Ways to Take a D...2018-10-2300 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Fifth of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath"The Fifth of “7 Ways to take a Deep Breath”: We Give and Receive with an Open Hand Have you ever noticed that we both give and receive with an open hand? This is the fifth of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath". I'm Adela, and this is "Just Breathe.... You Are Enough". Together we will deepen our connection with ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and to re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us for the fifth of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Bre...2018-10-2200 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Fourth of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath"The Fourth of “7 Ways to take a Deep Breath”: Play “Play” isn’t a button on Netflix…. Hindu tradition has the idea of “līlā”, the play of the gods. Most often associated with “līlā” is the Hindu god Krishna, who plays the flute in a manner so mesmerizing, so utterly enchanting, that the goddesses who surround him cannot help themselves but dance. Dance: it is play of the gods. The body is a source of wisdom so deep and rich that we might think it a gift from the gods. We know exa...2018-10-2100 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Third of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath" The Third of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath”: Come Home to Yourself Hello everyone. The body becomes home when the mind, heart and spirit can live there. This is the third of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath". I'm Adela, and this is "Just Breathe.... You Are Enough". Together we will deepen our connection with ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and to re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us for the third of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath". We'll co...2018-10-2000 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughThe Second of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath" The Second of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath”: Track Your Finances Hello, everyone! Sometimes it is by means of structure that we give ourselves space. A river is life-giving because of the boundaries of the river's bed. It is the limits that create the space in between. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with our ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us for the second of “7 Wa...2018-10-1900 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughFirst of 7 Ways to Take a Deep BreathThe First of “7 Ways to take a Deep Breath”: Meet Yourself It's because of the rests between the notes that our lives make music. It's the silence inside the sounds that gives us strength. I am Adela, and this is Just Breathe....You are Enough™. Together we will deepen our connection with ourselves, strengthen our relation with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us for the first of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath” where the invitation is to meet yourself. How d...2018-10-1900 minJust Breathe....You Are EnoughWelcome to Just Breathe....You Are Enough™ - The PodcastJust Breathe You Are Enough - The Podcast Welcome to the JBYAE Community Hello, everyone. Welcome to Just Breathe…..You Are Enough™, the Podcast. I'm Adela, and this is Just Breathe…..You Are Enough™. Together we will deepen our relation with ourselves, strengthen our relation with others, and re-think together how we connect with our world. Thank you for joining us for our first episode Just Breathe…..You Are Enough™. We will begin the journey together. Own confidence. Build your strength. We give and receive with an open hand.2018-10-1100 min