“Help young people.
Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.” – Jack Ma
What an awesome quote, right?
We think so too.
Our dream is a world where being mindful and meditative is simply a way of being for kids, adults, everyone…
From Jess:
My relationship with meditation is quite honestly the most important relationship in my life.
It represents the relationship I have with myself. It is the time I get to slow down, quiet all the noise, and simply ask “How am I doing? What am I feeling?”
How often do we do that nowadays? It’s so easy to be so busy. More times than not, however, healing occurs simply by slowing down and tuning in, asking, receiving.
So many things in my life that might seem to make it busy can be actually made meditative: playing with my child, walking mindfully, creating in the kitchen, even doing the dishes (as Thich Naht Hanh says, washing each dish as if you’re cleaning the baby Buddha). To me, it’s simply a practice of noticing my breath, noticing any physical sensations in my body, and noticing my responses. It’s a chance to release any judgement I’m holding onto, and replace it with compassion. It’s what takes my days from chaotic & heavy, to light and peaceful.
My practice of meditation has been so powerfully transformative in my life, that when I got pregnant, one of the first desires I had was “I want to bring more mindfulness & meditation to children”. Often times, it is easiest to start with a more concentrated ‘practice’, being guided by someone, doing it as a family, using tools. And then once you have the hang of it, you can take that practice with you everywhere and infuse it into all you do. …
From Becca:
My meditation and mindfulness practice began out of necessity quite honestly.
My monkey mind was, and still struggles not to be, drawn all over the place.
Ideas, emotions, and memories flood it each moment and sometimes, especially when I’m not being mindful, I find myself in uncomfortable situations because of my reactions and responses.
Every time, I meditate and stand, sit or lay quietly it’s different. I think this is because beings are different in each moment and meditation brings us into the present moment.
Sometimes, my body is able to be still and I have some time to really focus on my thoughts as they come and go and notice how this changes my breathing and body.
Other times, my body has a hard time relaxing – my eyes twitch, my jaw clenches, my shoulders hunch – and I have to spend the entire time just breathing into my body and asking it to relax.
On rare occasion, I find the perfect stillness and then something stirs and I am compelled to circle my torso over my legs and find releasing movements in my body (hard to explain, but sometimes movement is the best medicine)…
All I know, is by aiming for this stillness and awareness in each moment, not just when I’m sitting quietly, I am able to find what I truly desire. And then usually also find the courage and strength in that moment to achieve it (this doesn’t always work which is okay too).
And the best part is that the practices of mindfulness, compassion and self-love are learned skills that anyone can do and continue to get better at. …
So, go ahead, give it a try:
Sit down or stand with a long spine
Relax your face, jaw and shoulders
Feel your body drawing down towards the earth
Recognize you’re safe
Close your eyes or soften your gaze down the tip of your nose
Breathe in, breathe out and start to ask yourself:
“How is my body?”
“Where are my thoughts?”
“What are my feelings at this moment?”