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PICK UP ONE SMALL STONE
There are many ways to create more peace in our own lives and in the world.
"There are many ways to kneel and kiss the ground." - Rumi
One Small Stone's blog includes some "food for thought" on how meditation creates more peace in our own life and in the world, some specific, action-oriented ideas to "make some ripples" for climate justice, and some guided meditations to help you practice.
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Donation Report: over $4.5K
One Small Stone - this community, YOU - have donated over $4,500 to helping halt climate change and to propelling climate solutions...


Emotional Biomimicry: The Mutuality of Trees
Mor Keshet ( www.morkeshet.com ) shares a wealth of information on "emotional biomimcry."* These meditations - one a shamatha (or "calm abiding") meditation, one a contemplation meditation, and one a combination - all borrow from Mor's teachings and invite us to learn from trees and their network of mutuality. Version 1 - Shamatha meditation: Humans co-regulate with the other humans (and animals) in their space. The calmer, more grounded and present, we can be, the more we


Removing the 3 lenses of expectations, assumptions, and "shoulds"
Today is Halloween and I hope it is glorious for you! Also, I know that Halloween, and all holidays, carry a triumvirate of unhelpful lenses: expectations, assumptions, and "should's." In meditation, we can practice removing these 3 lenses and just being with things as they are. This helps us show up move fully in our lives, without distortion, so that we can better see what's really happening -- responding with more wisdom -- and maybe even joy -- to what is really there. Go


Emotional Biomimicry: the Wisdom of the Snail
"Biomimicry" is when humans mimic nature to invent solutions to our problems. A simple example is when George De Mestral, in 1948, noticed burrs stuck to his clothing as he walked through the woods and invented velcro. Mor Keshet ( https://www.morkeshet.com/ ) coined the concept of "emotional biomimicry," mimicking the metaphorical example of animals to better regulate our own emotions. For example, the snail carries her home on her back. She has enough within her, just as s


"Imagine that our only job is to mirror each other's goodness." - Beth Leas
The way we show up changes the world around us. Meditation helps us show up in the way that we want -- in a way that shifts the world around us for the better. I appreciate you being here and practicing -- because it creates more goodness in the world that is contagious. Here's the 18-minute meditation . Go to 3:41 to skip the intro.


Meditation is Practice
The benefits of meditation are cumulative, like practicing a musical instrument. After 6 months of routine practice -- of either meditation or an instrument -- you'll see progress. You'll also likely see where you'd like to keep growing. Even with regular practice, our mind will still wander in meditation. We'll still have habitual patterns that don't serve us well. This practice is just one more session of sitting, resting with reality as it is, noticing when our thoughts go


Walking Meditation
“When you walk, arrive with every step. That is walking meditation. There’s nothing else to it.” - Thich Nhat Hanh This walking meditation can be done indoors or outdoors. Pick a spot where you can walk in a straight line for roughly 20 to 30 feet -- it's also okay if the distance is shorter and/or curvy. Go to 4:30 to skip the instructions and get right into the practice. https://youtu.be/iwfkrbhT4-k


Unplug
When we're busy (which is almost all the time), it's easy for our worlds to get smaller, more myopic. Stress pushes us into tunnel vision, which isn't the wisest or easiest place to live. Can we (and it's a real question - because it's not easy), take some time to "unplug" and give ourselves some space to reboot? Here's an 18-minute guided meditation , with a body scan, to give "unplugging" a try.


Abundance Meditation with a Poem
This meditation is indebted twice: once to Amy Schmidt for her poem "Abundance," which is read at the beginning of the practice; second...


Lighthouse Meditation
"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand their shining." - Anne Lamott // Can we be like the lighthouse Anne Lamott references? Grounded and of benefit? This meditation uses a traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice to encourage us to embody the lighthouse.


Counting the Breath Technique
Thich Nhat Hanh tells the story of a rider galloping by on a horse. A person standing at the side of the road yells out "where are you...


Mr. Rogers Knew a Thing or Two (link to guided meditation included)
"One of the best things you can do to prepare for a disaster is to bring your neighbor a basket of muffins, because you have to get to...


Fall Meditation: "Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop." - Rumi
Nature moves in cycles. In autumn, trees gracefully shed their leaves, letting them become compost on the forest floor to nourish new...


3 Different "8-Worldly" Winds Meditation
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn // This blog posts includes 3 different meditations around...


Johnny Appleseed (Metaphor) Meditation
Meditation builds the habit of being present. The practice of noticing our thoughts and then returning to the present moment literally...


Relieving the Ache of Being Off-Center
“If we walked around all the time with our bodies leaning forward, can you imagine the kind of aching we would experience? Our backs, our...


Loving-Kindness with a Poem (Morning & Evening Editions)
Danusha Laméris' poem "Nothing Wants to Suffer" is a beautiful introduction to the Loving-Kindness practice. Loving-Kindess is a...


We are connected.
Meditation helps us to see more clearly - to clean the metaphorical glasses through which we see the world. In both Buddhist meditation...


"Letting Go" to "Get"
Bette Davis was once asked why she didn't quit smoking. She replied, "If I stopped smoking, how would people know who I am." Maybe...


Opening with Gratitude
I heard Kevin Townley say (and I'm sorry I have to paraphrase) that it isn't right to ignore suffering, but it also isn't right to ignore...

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