..bring balance into the day
..enjoy the satisfaction of a great morning workout
..remember to have patience with other morning drivers
..be grateful for wonderful family and friends
..reaching out with compassion for others who also begin this day
..and lest you think it’s all peace and light, another slow deep breath before I rush to finish getting ready and get out the door.

Have a great day!

She teaches the Tonglen practice (briefly it is):

1) resting your mind
2) visualize breathing in what is hot, dark and heavy and breathing out light, cool, and bright
3) breathing in a painful situation close to your life and breathing out relief or whatever will help situation
4) extending thoughts during breathing in #3 to any who are suffering from a similar situation.

Over time and continued practice, it’s a way to become more compassionate for yourself and others.

I’ve been trying it over the past few days for family who are going through tough times and friends who are not feeling well. I’m not sure that it’s helping them, but it is helping me, although I find myself having to take cleansing breaths every so often. It’s difficult to visualize breathing in pain and not be affected by it. I guess that is part of the point.

I first thought about choosing “change” as my word. Doing so could encompass all of the things I want to do in the new year. However as I thought more about it, for me, choosing change would be at the “do” level and not the “be” level.

Next I thought about choosing the word discipline. Who doesn’t want to have a little more discipline to finish what you start. But, it still didn’t feel right.

Finally, I’ve settled on the word “breathe” for 2009. Without the breath, nothing is possible, and with the breath, there are no limits to what I might accomplish at the core level.

In Start Where You Are, Pema Chodron talks about noticing the breath as a starting point to more compassionate living.

I’m staring right here, anew, breathing deeply and optimistic about what the new year will bring.

Happy New Year to you all!!!

When you’re really stressed out by everything you have going on this month, please realize that you’re not too good at interpreting others’ statements or actions. Please don’t judge others, or yourself, too harshly.

Remember to breathe and not over-react and go into freakout mode. If you have to freak out occasionally, it’s best to do it at home and not leave electronic evidence.

If you are tempted to share your feelings with others, please remember that you can click “save” rather than “send” and reconsider things in the morning.

Things always look better in the morning.

Speaking of mornings, if you try and work on only 3 hours of sleep and drink caffeine, you’ll be able to talk really fast, but your brain will work slower than usual and for shorter durations of time.

If you are “on” for 1/2 the class and assign group work for the rest of the time, maybe students will not notice.

If you are a good teacher and ask your students for their opinions, please know that they will appreciate that; however, please be aware that it might also lead to more work for yourself as you don’t want to disappoint any of them because you care about all of them and you have a hard time dealing with majority rules anyway.

When the semester is over, spend an hour in the N-ND section at Ellis Library looking at the art books. Breathtaking books are on the shelves there.