Mindfulness, Focus, and Choice

Mindfulness is an awareness practice. When I'm feeling anxious, scattered, and ineffective (like I have been), then I can go back to the moment I'm in. Take a deep breath, look around, notice the people, the room, the weather. Touch my heart and notice my feelings in this moment. Just BE for a minute, awake and calm.   

"When I am present centered and mindful rather than in my head (comparing, judging, planning, hoping) time slows down. I am grounded. Living becomes more interesting. I feel my feet as they touch the floor. I notice the sounds, the details, and the nuances. I notice this moment as unique- not part of a pattern, and I feel the inherent joy of being alive."

Agenda:

1. Read "Perspective":
2. Ongo journal

3. Love meditation

1. Read "Perspective":

Today I am reading this book by Meridith Elliot Powell, subtitled Reignite, Reinvent, Reframe (2025). This is the work I am dedicating myself to this year.

I'm on Chapter four, Present Tense, which is about focus and priorities. She says that focus is more about decisiveness than discipline - when I feel scattered it might mean I am avoiding something I need to decide, what to do and what NOT to do.

"Leaders who win ... are clear and specific about what moves them forward, and they build their day around that."

The first step then is to take the time to figure out what matters most, and set everything else on the back burner. Explain the priorities to your team, build alignment, eliminate chaos and that feeling of overwhelm. "Focus is a filter, not a skill. It's the commitment to stop reacting and start leading with intent."

2. Ongo journal:

I'm going back through this book by Catherine Madden and Jesse Weiss Chu (2022), focussing on the solo practices. I'm into Week 5, and Day 3 is Habit and Choice. Continuing with core beliefs, and the habitual patterns of thinking and acting they create in my life, the next step is to recognize that I have the power to choose my response, to make new choices and different responses.

The practice today is to choose one habitual pattern of reacting, especially one that seems hopelessly ingrained, and speak it out loud. (I will always respond to disrespect with anger and tears.) The needs are respect and justice.

Next re-write the statement to explain my choices better: I choose to respond to disrespect with anger and tears because it contributes to my need for justice and respect. Alternatively, I could respond with a calm reminder to respect me, which would contribute to my need for equanimity!

3. Love Meditation:

Every month after the full moon, in the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon, I practice a love meditation that progresses from receptivity, to gratitude, to generosity:

Day 1: Practice a love meditation, and open to receive blessings - send a prayer to the universe asking to be showered with love, kindness, health, and happiness.

1. 1 minute - Relax your body, and focus on the tender emotion of generous love. Allow a smile to settle on your face and in your heart.
2. 1 minute - Visualize love as soft, tingly, warm, pink light, and see it move from your heart to every part of your body so that every cell is glowing and vibrating.
3. 1 minute - Now see the pink light of love radiating to fill the whole room, then the whole city, and the whole planet earth. See that all people, plants, and animals feel warm and happy.
4. 1 minute - Send an extra dose of love light to those people you want to have a better connection to.