I am privileged and humbled to be able to join great minds in Mindfulness every Monday morning for an epic soul food- kind of meditation. This sets the pace for my day and I come out of the session calm, collected, and ready to face whatever the day has for me ; this peaceful vibe lingers on throughout the week. This Monday, the topic was the awareness of thoughts, noticing how our thoughts keep changing, the impermanence-nothing stays the same.

“Notice how one thought leads to another, jumping over just like a butterfly”, our mindfulness facilitator said.

In the process of a meditation session, one is able to catch oneself off track and come back to the moment. We call it anchoring back, while in other instances, we find ourselves totally lost in thoughts, and not able to catch ourselves, and this can lead to being distracted from tasks at hand, even getting lost in our world, leading up to anxiety depending on our thoughts that we are experiencing in that moment. Meditation not only relaxes us, but also plays a role of anchoring us back in the moment. Bringing us back to reality and accepting whatever we have as thoughts, good or bad, welcoming them in the moment from a place of kindness and self-compassion, and with a non-judgmental attitude.

Exactly as described in the poem “The Guest House” by Rumi

“This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.”

And to end off with some words from my facilitator: “Whatever you are experiencing or going through, allow it to be as it is because it will pass. Nothing stays the same.”