Our days on this Earth are precious. I have been more than ever realizing that each day is an opportunity to honor myself, others, and the Earth by sitting quietly for a time.
Here is my special place for peace. I try to get to it in the morning, or at least once a day.
My space has these simple elements:
~A candle which I light first upon arrival.
~A vase with something I have gathered from nature, or flowers, grown sustainably, when I need deep beauty to heal my soul.
~My favorite stone that has a shell imbedded in it which I found on a beach when I was 16.
~My mala beads and my begging bowl from my ordination in Zen Buddhism.
~Incense which I light after I have meditated to remind me all day that I have been settled for a while.
~And lastly, my singing bowl from Tibet given to me by my husband and son and hand made the wooden stick for ringing it.
I ring my bowl once and then listen to it's slowly fading sound waves. Tuning my mind to the present moment, finding my breath with each passing moment. And then, whatever happens I say "Yes" to it. Yes to moving a bit to get more comfortable, yes, to thinking about the day, yes, to the moment as it is, and to how my mind is, and to how life pulls me to go. The only boundary is that I sit until I can feel myself relax into the Yes. And then, I send prayers. Prayers to all people and beings that I know and love, and prayers and blessings to all who I do not know, and to the great mother earth and the awesome spinning universe.
Then I ring the bell 3 times, hold my hands to my heart and belly, bow and blow out the candle, and head off into my day.
What if we all had a special place for being peaceful and saying Yes to ourselves?
What is your special place for peace and saying Yes?