Left Brain Buddha is reclaiming Monday mornings! Not manic, but mindful. Each Monday I’ll share a short passage or mantra for a moment with the breath, accompanied by a photo from my photographer {my husband 🙂 }. I’ll share highlights from my Smile File for the week ~ and I hope you’ll take time to reflect on your smiles from the past week. Breathe, smile, and move into your Monday morning with mindfulness.
{Left Brain Buddha fun fact: The Bangles {“Manic Monday”} were on to something. Monday comes from “moon-day,” moon = lunar = lunacy, lunatic…. Let’s stop the crazy Mondays and start the week in peace!}
Words for a Mindful Moment with the Breath
Sunrise in Cabo San Lucas
{Just a few minutes before I posted this, my three-year-old, watching the sun come in through the windows this morning, asked, “Remember when we were in Mexico and we sat on the deck and were quiet and watched the sunrise?” Three year olds really are great models for mindfulness sometimes! 🙂 }
These words for our first Mindful Monday are my favorite for a quick moment to stop and breathe. They come from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace is Every Step.
Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment,
I know this is a wonderful moment!
Highlights from the Smile File
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I love seeing my children comfort each other. Yesterday afternoon, they were playing outside when they heard thunder. They came running into the house, and my three-year-old was a bit scared. Big sister Abby (6) put her arms around him and gently told him, “We’ll be okay. Our house will keep us safe. You don’t have to be scared.” Such a great reminder of the compassion and big hearts in our little Buddhas. 🙂
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This first entry for the Smile File almost gave me chills. As I worked on creating this page, reading through notes from my former students in my Smiles folder, my daughter came up to my desk and asked me for an envelope. When I asked her what she needed it for, she told me it was for a note for her teacher. I gasped:
Wow. I had said nothing to her about what I was working on, and she chose today to write her first thank-you note to her Kindergarten teacher!! As a left-brain rational type, I’m not one to see much more than mere coincidence most of the time, but this one took my breath away!
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This Cute Kid Note of the Day from the Huffington Post just made me laugh ~ and want to teach that child some new strategies!
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And finally, for parents: if you need a laugh, and some reminders that we are not on this crazy journey alone, check out the Huffington Post’s Best Parenting Tweets from the last week!
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Have you started a Smile File yet? What made you smile last week?
Have a great week!
Peace~
Sarah
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- A Mindful Approach to New Year’s Resolutions - January 13, 2020
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