We practice mindfully

“Close your eyes,” said Frederick, as he climbed a big stone. “Now I send you the rays of the sun. Do you feel how their golden glow… “ And as Frederick spoke of the sun the four little mice began to feel warmer. Was it Frederick’s voice? Was it Magic?

Last Sunday we began OUR REVIEW. We spent the morning playing, sharing, practicing, and sending our good wishes out into the world. What a joy to celebrate with you!

BEGINNING with our circle time, we sang, and then shared something we were experiencing right then. A nice opportunity to come back into our selves and have a quiet listen. Taking a MINDFUL MINUTE to observe what we are feeling, hearing, seeing, touching, or thinking about, keeps us CONNECTED with how we are in the world, encouraging reflection, and revealing choices or OPPORTUNITIES we may have overlooked. We had one such opportunity to send kind healing wishes to a sick friend and sister, and that made us all feel good. 

We choose a Bell MASTER, and reminded ourselves why we practice with a bell. We each decided to choose a SOUND to practice with at home. Something to call us back to ourselves for a mindful minute, when we least expect it!
The telephone, a horse whinny, requests to "practice my CELLO", or "get ready for SCHOOL", siblings fighting, messy litterbox misses, and the sound of hungry guinea pigs all made the list. I can't wait to hear how the week went.

We stood, shook our bones and STRETCHED our limbs to our favorite WAKING UP gatha. Then it was PLAY time, as we ACTED OUT the story AHN"S ANGER, and remembered how we can release and take care of our strong feelings. Using old NEWSPAPERS, Ahn, and his Anger, SHREDDED, those strong feelings away, leaving a playful pile of paper fun, which drew everyone into the act! A tired jumble, we thanked our ACTORS, and reflected on how important it is to RELEASE our strong feelings in a safe, pre-planned way we have talked over with our parents.

ONCE we had released our strong emotion, it was time to CENTER ourselves. Since we had been in circle, walking meditation felt just right. Some chose to use our Sitting Still Like A Frog stuffed meditation frogs to balance on their heads, as a reminder to WALK slowly and stay present. Others simply took off their SOCKS to better focus on the feel of their feet touching the floor. The bell master invited the bell, and off we went. After about the third bell sound, we RAN a few laps just for fun!

After our food contemplations and snack offering, We READ Frederick, by Leo Lionni. Unlike his brothers and sisters, gathering corn and grains for winter, this little mouse gathers words and beautiful images and moments from his experience to use later when "winter is grey". We took Fredericks advice, and headed to the ART room where we journaled a HAPPY MEMORY SNAPSHOT in pictures or words, to use when times in our own lives are difficult, or grey.

This will be our LAST Sunday of the nine week WINTER season, and we hope you can join us to celebrate the Zen of MAYBE by Sanjay Nambiar. See you then!