Trek Mala

05/05/2024

Riley will be leading the Awaken Mindfulness group again Monday, May 6, at WOMPA from 4:30 to 5:30.

The topic will be equanimity and engagement. We often misunderstand equanimity to mean achieving balance through detachment or indifference. When this happens, mindfulness practice ends up making us numb or immune to the suffering and injustice happening within and around us. How can we develop nonjudgmental awareness that keeps us balanced but motivates us to actively and purposefully engage with the world to affect positive change?

There will be discussion and guided meditation. ..

21/04/2024

In mindfulness practice, we often talk about letting go. This is important. But it's just as important, though not as often said, that we need to let things come.

If we are not careful, we can develop the habit of keeping things out - people, relationships, memories, feelings, experiences - in the name of "letting go." These are not the same thing. The point of mindfulness practice is to remain intentionally open and aware, rather than to reactively keep everything close or at a distance.

Our hearts should be like open doors. We should willingly allow things to come and go, just as allow our breath to come and go.

As you work on letting things go, work on remaining open to what needs to come in. ..

20/04/2024

Set up and ready to go at the in Anaheim. ..

19/04/2024

Arrived in LA. Ready for ..

14/04/2024

Spent Sunday morning hopping around the Skull Hollow Nature Trail at Oologah Lake. Beautiful day for a hike with the family. ..

08/04/2024

Reminder that the Awaken Mindfulness Monday Meetup is today from 4:30 to 5:30 at WOMPA (3306 Charles Page Blvd).

No experience with meditation or mindfulness practice needed. No reservation required. No fee. Plenty of parking. Great group of people.

I'll be leading today's conversation and meditation. In part, we'll look at some of the ways neurodivergence (like ADHD, autism, and others) can seem like an obstacle to meditation. In fact, it's an opportunity to deepen the practice of mindfulness - nonjudgmental awareness, or, my preferred phrase, observing without grasping. Struggling against our brains and bodies actually takes us out of the present and introduces a host of foreign expectations into the mix, each of which we prioritize over what is actually happening for us in the moment.

We'll talk about ways to cooperate with our brains and bodies by using certain tools, like mala beads, to settle into our bodies instead of trying to constrain them. I'll have malas with me, but you should feel free to bring your own if you prefer.

04/04/2024

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20/02/2024

There is no secret. There is no shortcut. There is no quick answer. But there is just a path.
There is no key because there is no lock because there is no door blocking the path. You just have to walk it. ..

14/02/2024

What do you do when you "fail" in your practice? When you give in to anger and unskillful thoughts? When you lash out and say something you can't unsay? When you feel shame?

Do you ever think you are unworthy to return to your practice and keep trying?

When you are un-mindful

13/02/2024

Oh give me a home where the buffalo ooooooommmm.....

13/02/2024

More Trek Mala spotted in the wild!

Thank you Kellie for sharing pics of your wrist mala and letting me know how much you like it! I hope it's a meaningful reminder of your intentions.

Also, it really ties the look together! ..