Accepting today

If there is something about today that you don't like but can do nothing about, try accepting this fact rather than fighting it in your mind.

~ The Daily Bell

Allowing moods to pass without explanation

Unexplained 'bad' or 'good' moods come and go. By maintaining awareness of your breath or of your body you can allow the bad to pass in its own time and appreciate the good while it lasts. 

~ Daily Bell

The world is out of kilter - that's ok

Almost everything in our world is a little out of kilter, has its dissatisfying side. The more we can accept this, while reserving our energy for what needs our attention, the easier our experience becomes. This is a key part of the practice of mindfulness.

~ Daily Bell

Something more interesting? Try this moment

The assumption that you could be doing something more interesting right now can make you miss out on the actual experience of living in this moment.  Take the time to become aware of what's going on around you in the moment before you escape into distraction.

~ Daily Bell

Changing moments, changing lives

By bringing a calm awareness to the changing moments, we bring a calm awareness to our changing lives. 
~ Daily Bell

One hour of letting it be

For an hour, notice imperfections and annoyances  that you don't need to fix right now - your slow computer, a habitually irritating colleague, and so on. Practise tolerating these imperfections without criticising either out loud or in your mind. This builds your level of tolerance in an imperfect world.

~ The Daily Bell

The space between stimulus and response: Where freedom lies

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom" 

~ Victor Frankl [from my Daily Bell]

Notice the quality of breathing

When practising awareness of your breath today notice the quality of your breathing. Your breath may be calm or agitated, long or short, deep or shallow, smooth or rough for instance. This is a good way to bring yourself into present-moment awareness and is one of the oldest mindfulness practices.

~ From the Mindfulness Without Meditation online course.

Mindfulness is returning

Mindfulness is returning. Return your awareness again and again to your breath, to your body or to whatever is going on around you. But do so with acceptance, which means suspending your opinions for a few moments.

~ Daily Bell

A lake without ripples

"Well-being of mind is like a mountain lake without ripples. When the lake has no ripples, everything in the lake can be seen. When the water is all churned up, nothing can be seen." 

~ Pema Chodron, When things fall apart. [Daily Bell]

Observing physical/emotional feelings

 Physical feelings are part of every emotion. That is why learning to check in with physical tensions and to observe them quietly without being afraid of them, and without commenting on them in your head, can bring a measure of emotional peace.

~ Daily Bell

Pema Chodron: Keeping it small

Because of mindfulness ... we don't buy into the chain reaction that makes things grow from minute to expansive. We leave things minute. They stay tiny ... It all comes through learning to pause for a moment, learning not to just impulsively do the same thing again and again

~ Pema Chodron, When things fall apart. [The Daily Bell]

Notice your breath

Quietly notice the sensation of your breath against your nostrils or lips. You don't have to make a big deal out of it. Whenever you remember, notice - that's all.

~ Daily Bell

No need to problem-solve all the time

We don't have to spend every free moment going over problems and plans.  From time to time we can allow our mind to pause in its spinning and instead observe our breath, our posture or whatever we are seeing or hearing, without comment, without analysis.

Rest in awareness

"Can you rest in ... awareness, even for one breath, or even one in-breath, before reacting to try to escape or make things different?"

~ Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness  for Beginners. [Daily Bell]

Taking care of this moment

 "Taking care of this moment can have a remarkable effect on the next one and therefore on the future - yours and the world's."

~ Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness for Beginners [The Daily Bell]

A moment of training - Vidyamala Burch

"Each time you bring yourself back to the breath is a moment of training. This is how the heart and mind learn to move from a stage of habitual and reactive distraction to one that's more responsive, creative, and aware. I can't emphasise this point enough … "

 - Vidyamala Burch

Repetitive thinking - adding to the pain

Repetitive thinking adds suffering to the inevitable pain of life. Whenever the thoughts return - often in the form of scenes in your head - step out by silently saying the word 'thinking' or by returning to awareness of your breath.

~ Daily Bell

Dropping the need to know

Much of the activity that goes on in the mind can be seen as an attempt to know what is going to happen or what might have happened. Suspending the 'need to know' for a while allows you to bring clear awareness to your experiences right now.

​~ The Daily Bell​

Keep coming back

When you practise mindfulness you don't get to spend all your time in the 'now' - but you return your attention to the 'now' when you notice it has wandered. Keep coming back.