Sabbath for Renewal

Sunday is my day to be quiet (at least for a while), with the spirit, in quiet contemplation and prayer, and in community with nature and other bipeds.

The sabbath is a celebration, a holiday. I keep it holy with my attitude: I don't rush, complain, or worry. Everything I do has a flavor of peace. I schedule some work, but it's work I find fulfilling, or uplifting. Simple is a great word to describe my ideal activities for the sabbath: Simple tasks, simple foods, and an undemanding schedule.

Agenda:

1. Read "12 Tiny Things"

2. Renewal brainstorm

3. Morning Beingness routine

4. Harvesting practice

1. Read "12 Tiny Things":

I'm reading this small book by Heidi Barr and Ellie Roscher, subtitled, "Simple Ways to Live a More Intentional Life". It's a book of practices how to tend your roots and "remember who you are". "There may be days, seasons, and stages where external circumstances make intentional living challenging ... Tiny things are available to us all. One tiny thing at a time, we can find ourselves thriving and more in love with our lives."

Section One is Space, about intentional time, and creating room to breathe. Today I'm reading about scheduling habits like walking, writing, drawing, conversation, and meditation... and keeping some space empty.

The Tiny Thing is to Say No to something - could be an activity, a possession, or a thought in my head. Notice the space this creates, and dwell in its power, potential and peace for a bit. 

"When we clear the internal and external clutter in our lives and let go of the messages and the stuff that aren't serving us, we open ourselves to personal transformation." 

This week I want to look at that feeling of anxiety I feel when I am asked to take a time out from my schedule to do something with the family. ("How will I catch up? How will I accomplish my priorities?") as if family isn't my number one priority! I can say no to schedule fixation. This is part of intentionality and Beingness!

2. Renewal brainstorm:

Every month before the Third Quarter Moon, I take some time to think about self-care, renewal, and "sharpening the saw"; that is, I look at my whole Being, and how I can live with more balance and resilience.

I try to renew all four dimensions of my life (body, mind, heart, and spirit), as Stephen Covey taught: I spend about an hour each day on a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration activities, plus work to improve my social skills and relationships. Today I will review how I'm doing, and make note of new ideas for the month ahead.

My ideas:

Body & Discipline: 

• Continue Stand Strong work out every morning; 
• Plan and prepare healthy lunches, snacks, dinners;
• Drink more water - aim for 3 glasses daily.
• Beingness routine: Slow down, go with the flow of the day, at peace – just BE, in this moment- aware and awake, listening to my intuition.

Mind & Vision: 

• Overview the year: Put myself in context, evaluate progress, see what I’ve accomplished since January, and make careful adjustments in my goals and priorities.
• Research and write about Nature-Culture; 
• Think about reading for next month: Discipline cycle; Habits; Listening kills 

Spirit & Ethics: 

• Balance focus: Equanimity, clarity of purpose, inner peace; The Light within, connection to Spirit and inner self.
• Enjoy nature daily with photos and grubbing; 
• Keep a "new narrative" journal, as a tool for creative shifts in awareness;
• Integrity focus: Take care mantra
• Practice virtues: optimism, kindness, simplicity and order, and tenacity. Keep a chart and journal about these.

Heart and passion: 

• Build an equanimity habit; 
• (Ongo) Harvest celebration and mourning practices (weekly);
• Be in the moment with my grandsons;

3. Morning Beingness Routine:

My theme this next month has been balance and intentionality: Living on purpose, and making deliberate choices that reflect my values and goals, rather than passively going through life. I want to reclaim intentional time, clarity of purpose, inner peace, equanimity, flow, and to remind myself to look at change as an adventure not a disruption, and to love life as it is.

Earlier I set an intention to practice an afternoon Beingness Routine.

Today I want to bring Beingness to my mornings as well: 

 I intend to practice a morning Beingness routine by slowly drinking one whole glass of water, and pausing to think about intentional time and flow: just BE, in this moment- aware and awake, listening to my intuition, because making self-care and being present a routine part of my morning will help me to feel clear, energetic, and balanced, at a time when I often feel scattered and pressured to act faster.

Beingness is the fundamental quality of existence, simply being rather than doing or having. The trick is to be aware of my beingness, my essence, with a deep presence, which I will feel as peace, aliveness, or inherent worth.

My script for morning Beingness, to catch myself before overwhelm sets in, beginning just before the children arrive for camp:

1. Drink a big glass of water slowly.
2. As I drink, pay attention to the Me inside the chaos of noise in my head - Say the mantra: Being Me: Mindful, loving, and present.
3. List 5-Things to do to feel prepared and calm, beginning with getting dressed and brushing my teeth.

4. Harvesting practice:

Harvesting is an Ongo technique

, "a practice consciously reflecting on learning experiences through the lens of celebration and grief." It can be a useful monthly, weekly, or even daily practice.

1. Reflect on an experience and look at journal entries.

2. Write about a thing that was enriching, what I said or did and the Needs it touched. Take time to savor and celebrate, and write any insights.

3. Write about a thing that created loss, what I said or did and the Needs that went unmet. Take time to be in mourning, and write any insights.

4. Write about any actions or requests for myself that come up out of these celebrations and mournings.