Today's blog however will not be about emoticons, it will reflect on an SEL (social and emotional learning) lesson I taught yesterday. In the mindfulness world that I have immersed myself in (both personally and as an educator) I have noticed there are a lot of familiar uses of symbolism when facilitating mindfulness. Mindfulness is not something that is all that easy to teach - it is more something to be experienced. Which is great because in education we have learned over and over that when a student is somehow able to experience the content of what is taught they supposedly have the highest rates of retaining the lesson concept. Yet most of us continue to lecture...myself included...even thought we know it supposedly is least effective as far as students retaining the concept of the lesson. Definition of insanity?
Back to mindfulness symbolism. My best guess is that Thich Nhat Hanh is perhaps the originator of the popular uses of symbolism within the teaching or facilitating of mindfulness practice. I also guess that he could care less that he is given any 'props' for being that originator. 'Living above the clouds' is this idea that when we practice being mindful we anchor our daily experiences in a space likened to the clear blue sky that presents itself after an airplane has flown through the 'clouds' or the 'weather'. The clouds/weather can denote the 'head noise' or just the day to day experience that we can all be consumed by if we do not purposefully practice or seek stillness/awareness. Let's also suggest here that mindfulness could be attained simply by standing in nature (that which is natural) and purposefully noticing our surroundings....creating our own experience with the present moment (I am reading Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat Zin - he mentions that second part...I'm also reading The Nature Principle - hence the first part of that last sentence).
When we intentionally practice being mindful, being aware of our moment to moment experience with compassion (no judgement, ridicule or comparison) then we can experience our daily life 'above the clouds' observing the weather without being consumed by it. The weather will still be present...inconsistent, untimely, and uninvited...however we learn to recognize it, observe it, and allow ourselves to acknowledge that it will indeed pass. Another mindfulness consideration is that our life situation is still what it is. We wake up, we take care of our daily responsibilities and manage our life situation. Since we do this anyway would the experience be more meaningful if it were to unfold from a deeper space? Would we have more control of our experience if we are aware of it in the present moment? The present moment being the space where we can heal and grow... as opposed to being stuck in the past or future.
Living in the 'space above the clouds' allows us to co-create an experience that opens ourselves up to the idea that there is something more. Within us lie inspired thoughts, creative ideas, and unlimited possibilities that are available to us when we rise above that which can dampen this awareness.
A few quotes from Tara Brach's book 'Radical Acceptance':
'As we feel our belonging to the natural rhythms of life, the illusion of being separate and threatened begins to dissolve.'
'Our deepest nature is awareness, and when we fully inhabit that, we love freely and are whole.'
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