Are you ready to dive into a brand new week? Before the emails flood in and the to-do list stretches a mile long, let’s take a deep breath and set the stage for a truly thriving week.
Imagine a play on opening night: the actors haven’t met, haven’t practiced their lines, and nervously face a buzzing audience. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Yet, so often we approach our own lives the same way – rushing in, reacting to every email, every crisis, with no plan.
Just like actors rehearse before a show, we need to rehearse for the drama of our daily lives. This isn’t about scripting every moment, but about setting an intention for how we want to show up. What we are rehearsing for our week ahead is being calm, focused, and present.
So here are three teachers, each with an intention for us to rehearse this week.
1st intention for the week: Remember to breathe.
“The great advantage of choosing one’s breath as the object of mindfulness training is that breathing is an instinctive and effortless activity, something which we do as long as we are alive, so there is no need to strive hard to find the object of this practice.” – the Dalai Lama
Breath is a tool that doesn’t run out of battery life.
While your sub-conscious breath is well designed to keep you alive, it is not quite enough to help you thrive. Bringing your conscious awareness to your breath is an act of opening, creating an inner spaciousness that literally expands the access you have to your brain.
2nd intention for the week: See yourself clearly, but without judgement.
“Meditation is to be aware of every thought and of every feeling, never to say it is right or wrong but just to watch it and move with it.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
Whenever you look at your thoughts and feelings with judgement, you trigger within yourself a survival mode, driving your brain into a state of narrowing, limiting your own ability to see anything more than how to run, or fight, or hide.
3rd intention for the week: Patience brings clarity.
“Do you have the patience to wait for your pond to settle, and the water to become clear?” – Lao Tzu
Sometimes, the best thing we can do is slow down. Just like a stirred-up pond needs time to settle, so do our minds. By slowing down our breath, softening our bodies, and observing ourselves without judgment, we create the space for clarity and new possibilities to emerge.
Your Monday mantras for a thriving week:
- My breath is my anchor. With each conscious breath, I center myself and access my inner power.
- I see myself clearly, with kindness and compassion. I accept my thoughts and feelings without judgment.
- I practice patience. I know that clarity and solutions often come with a little time and space.
Take a moment as your week starts. Close your eyes and rehearse these three simple intentions. You are the author and the lead of your own play. Center yourself, and get ready to shine. With the right preparation, your performance will be nothing short of extraordinary!
– pierre –
Today’s LIVE meditation is: Jumpstart the week!