MPDR Archives Blog Post #348 - Aug 21, 2015

Pause and intentionally bring attention to the next 3 breaths

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

“Mindfulness is a skill we can acquire, a compassionate practice we can integrate into our lives, allowing us to have an easy, always available, method to calm ourselves down when distressed. Mindfulness increases our awareness of what we are experiencing and allows us the space to decide how we want to act in our daily lives. It is easy to picture how enhancing these abilities within ourselves would lead to better outcomes in our relationships.” 

- Lisa Firestone

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-firestone/mindfulness-relationships_b_3333709.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

 

Have a mindful evening

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCPC

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

(please let me know if you would like your email address to be removed from the list at anytime)

MPDR Archives Blog Post #347 - Aug 20, 2015

Pause for 3 mindful breaths

(c) images by M. Lee Freedman

We note feelings and find that they last for only a few seconds. We pay attention to thoughts and find that they are ephemeral, that they come and go, uninvited, like clouds.” 

-Jack Kornfield

excerpt from book: A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

Wishing you a mindful day

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #346 - Aug 19, 2015

Enjoy 3 Mindful Breaths 

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

"Important"

"We hurry through the so-called boring things 

in order to attend to that which we deem

more important, interesting.

Perhaps the final freedom will be a recognition that

everything in every moment is "essential"

and that nothing at all is "important."

By Helen M. Luke

Wishing you some moments of joy this evening

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #345 - Aug 18, 2015

As best you can

try to bring full attention

to the sensations of the next 3 cycles of breathing

 (c) Image by M. Lee Freedman 

“When we begin to see clearly what we do, how we get hooked and swept away by old habits, our usual tendency is to use that as a reason to get discouraged, a reason to feel really bad about ourselves.  Instead, we could realize how remarkable it is that we actually have the capacity to see ourselves honestly, and that doing this takes courage.  It is moving in the direction of seeing our life as a teacher rather than as a burden. This involves, fundamentally, learning to stay present, but learning to stay with a sense of humor, learning to stay with loving-kindness towards ourselves and with the outer situation, learning to take joy in the magic ingredient of honest self-reflection.”

~ Pema Chödrön (excerpt from “Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears”)

Wishing you a mindful day 

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #344 - Aug 17, 2015

Pause and intentionally bring attention to the next 3 breaths

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

“Thinking and memory, central to the DOING mode’s way of knowing, can take us a long way from the immediacy of present experience.”

……

“Directly sensing the body weakens the chatter of the mind.  The direct knowing of the BEING mode means we can stay  closer to immediate, bare experience and are less likely to be carried away by thought.”

……

“When we find we are lost in thinking, refocusing attention to become directly aware of sensations in our bodies provides a way to release ourselves from the world of thought.”

……

“Each time we notice we have been lost in thinking offers a precious opportunity to practice the move from doing to being-that is the way to freedom.” 

-Excerpts from pages 62-68 in The Mindful Way Workbook

by J. Teasdale, M. Williams, and Z Segal

……

Wishing you the moment to moment awareness 

to allow you to consciously choose 

your mode of knowing and response.

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #343 - Aug 16, 2015

Pause in this moment and bring awareness to the next three breaths

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

Slow Dance

By  David L. Weatherford

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,

or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,

or gazed at the sun fading into the night?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,

time is short, the music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask "How are you?", do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
'cause you never had time to call and say hi?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
it's like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life isn't a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.

http://www.davidlweatherford.com/slowdance.html

Wishing you many moments of slowing down to be present today

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #341 - Aug 14, 2015

Pause for 3 Mindful Breaths

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

"It's a little embarrassing that after 45 years of research & study, the best advice I can give people is to be a little kinder to each other."

-Aldous Huxley

Wishing you kindness and a mindful evening

 

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #340 - Aug 13, 2015

With an attitude of kindness and curiosity

Direct your attention

to feeling the sensations

of your next 3 breaths

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

"We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep."

-William James

  

Wishing you moments of feeling connected to people in your life today

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #339 - Aug 12, 2015

Pause

Direct your attention

to the sensations of the flow

of your next three breaths

 in the nostrils

in the chest,

in  the belly

or

 wherever in your body the sensations of breathing

are most clear to you

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

-John Lennon

Wishing you a day full of moments of being present for your life

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD, CM, FRCP(C)

MPDR Archives Blog Post #338 - Aug 11, 2015

Pause in this moment

Bring awareness to the feeling in your body

of breathing in and out

for each of your next three breaths

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

-Alexander Graham Bell

(c) image by M. Lee Freedman

Wishing you awareness of open doors

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/