I love to blog and have missed this challenge with Leah.

Really I have.

The week has gone by so quickly and even though I was not writing in my blog I was thinking about blogs and feeling a loss…and at the same time excited about all that is new and ready to be rolled out and revealed.

More new beginnings and since life is such an adventure, I just keep getting myself primed up for all that is being created behind the scenes. Yippee for that.

A suggested practice for you all during this hustle and bustle time of year.

Introducing the:

1 minute meditation

I want to introduce you all to daily meditation or quiet times for you to be with you and only you.

(If your mind says, I do not want to meditate, do it anyway, and start with one small step, OnePinky step).

Start with a 1 minute meditation and work your way up to 2 minutes and 3 minutes and on and on.

I suggest you make your first month 1 minute everyday and if you can get through 30 days for a minute, then move on to 2 minutes a day…a year from now you will be up to 12 minutes of meditating a day.

Think of it this way, 12 minutes a day or no minutes a day? I say 12 is better than none and why not start small and let consistency rule. It is a great way to start a new habit.

Here is how to begin.

You will need a timer, something on the quieter side,  if possible,  that you can hear like a watch timer.

Now create a place of solitude. Go to any quiet place. It can be a closet or a bathroom, it does not need to fancy, just quiet and still.

Sit down.

Place your legs in a relaxed fixed position.

Close your eyes.

Allow your mind to settle into your breathing. Breathe in, Breathe out. Just observe your thoughts and pay attention to your breathing. Always come back to your breathe.

When the timer sounds off, stop. This is only meant to be a 1 mediation until you are ready to increase the time. The practice is to stay with your agreed upon time even if you want to go longer. Start this practice with just 1 minute. If you want to do it longer, (just in the first month), you may do it several times a day and just stay with 1 minute until it feels super easy to access at any time. I suspect that you will begin to  feel comfortable being in this peaceful state for 1 minute, anytime anywhere.

I believe that after the first 30 days, you will notice a positive inner shift and more inner lightness. Let us know how you do. We want to hear from you!

Enjoy these affirmations today and everyday to go along with your new 1 minute meditation practice. Have fun with it all. Life is meant to be fun!

~A smiling face and joyful loving words are the best presents I can share with the world today.

~Loving myself gives me the energy to work through any problem more quickly. My life is a labor of love and when I forget that I can reach out to someone who loves me and ask them to remind me.

~Today and everyday I can dance with joy for all I have been blessed with.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness

~Dalai Lama

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Drum Roll Please.

The answer is revealed now…Kathleen shares the rest of her story…and how swimming makes her heart sing.

(for those of you who have no idea what I am referring to, go back and read yesterday’s post on Day 70, OnePinky Student Shines, Part 1.

Kathleen went off to her beloved pool and started her swim.  It’s her practice to check her watch starting with the first lap so she gets an idea of what kind of pace she’s on.  She noticed right off the bat that she was about 2 seconds faster that normal.  She then checked her watch at the 6-lap mark and again noticed a lower time than usual.  That’s when she thought she might have a very good swim that night.  By the time Kathleen made it to the half-mile point, she realized that it was actually possible, if she kept up this pace, and didn’t lose focus, that she could indeed break the 30 minute mark.  She swam that last half-mile repeating to herself, “Seize The Day” and “Eyes on the Prize”.  When she finally made it to the end and reached up to stop her timer, she was rewarded with the number 29:55.  She was proud and happy that she had achieved something that had once seemed so out of reach.

As I said earlier, Kathleen swims mainly for the joy of it.  She feels she will never give up swimming again (On her business card, under her name, it says “swimmer”).  And that her commitment to it, in spite of the fact that she’s not as fast as she was 20 years ago, rewarded her with a sense of accomplishment that will never go away.

So swim on Kathleen…I am so proud of you. :):)

And to all of us, move today in honor and reverence for our bodies. They matter, they count and they deserve to be moved and stretched.

As I always like to say, we came out of the womb kicking and moving.

The body knew what it wanted and needed right at birth.

Sending you Peace, Love and Movement.

XO, Laura

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