Don't Know. Don't Care.

During this Holiday season it is so easy to get caught up the hustle and bustle of obtaining gifts and running errands for the next holiday party. There are so many who have more stress and anxiety around this season that is supposed to be happy, peaceful and in celebration for our Source Connection. So now more than ever it is so important to come back to your center. To live in the present moment of stillness and love. It is so very important because it can be so easily lost when we are constantly worrying about what we will get for whom, what we can afford, who will be hurt if you don't get the "perfect" gift, how we will make the kids happy while still including others in on the fun, if we will have a job to sustain us, if we will get a job for some, who has crossed over and will no longer be with us in this reality, and this holiday bustle compounds the "usual" stress to a higher level.

It's imperative to get out of the past and stop worry about the future. Start living for right now. Right now, in this very moment there is peace. The stillness is with you if you only allow it to be. Take a deep breath right now and close your eyes. Inhale and exhale. What do you feel? Stillness? Peace? Love? It is this space within you that is always within you that no one and no thing can ever touch nor take away. It is your connection to the Divine/God/Universe. It is you.

In order to assist you this Holiday season, I want to share the gift of presence through meditation. I would like to share a meditation method that was shown to me by a Zen Master at the Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, Rhode Island during a one day retreat. This retreat was a six hour Zen meditation. This was the longest meditation I’ve experienced in one sitting thus far.

We would sit in the lotus position or with legs crossed for 20 minutes in meditation and then do a walking meditation for 10-20 minutes. Then sit for 20 minutes and do a walking meditation for 10-20 minutes. And the cycle continued until complete. At sporadic times during the sitting meditation the meditation leader would walk around with a stick and ask that you lower your head to the floor exposing your back if you would like to receive a tap on your back. It is the idea that this will adjust your mind when needed as well as your body to stay present during the meditation. I’m sure there are other subtle benefits as well.

A short time into the meditation we started to take turns going in to the Zen Master to have a discussion with him or to simply sit with him for however long we felt necessary. Some folks had long debates about spiritual or life issues. Others chose not to go in. When I went in it was about three hours into the meditation. All the questions I had thought I might ask the Zen Master went away. I no longer required answers. So I didn’t have much to talk about. He gave me a great meditation tip to keep me going through the last half of my meditation retreat. He said to simply chant a mantra in my mind coordinated with my breath. Breathe in, “Don’t Know”, Breathe out, “Don’t Care”. Inhale-Don't Know. Exhale-Don't Care. Don’t know, don’t care, don’t know, don’t care, don’t know, don’t care.

This is a wise mantra. The idea is that you are not in the yin and yang of life; the ups and downs; but rather view the experiences from a calm neutral place. It's not bad. It's not good. It just is. The more I learn the more I realize I know nothing. The Divine is all-knowing. So leave it up to the Divine. Freedom. Not caring about what’s going on around you does not say you do not have compassion for others experiences or the issues happening in your life. Instead it is more of a way of accepting what is going on as Divine. Because everything truly is Divine and happens for a reason. You are simply observing in a neutral but peaceful place of being. Don’t know. Don’t care.

"There is no waiting for something to happen, no point in the future to get to. All you have ever longed for is here in this moment, right now." ~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

I've been on the meditation path for a decade now and the more I meditate the more I connect with the Divine/God. Meditation is my connection and brings me back to presence. I remember that I am now in a more constant state of meditation aka Presence/Stillness/Magic/Now. Today the sky was my meditation. the blue star-filled sky that changed to dusk and a beautiful sunrise with pinks and blues to yellow and blue. So magical. A stillness now always felt comes back to me during these moments. Sometimes my state of being wavers but the meditation practice brings me back to magical awareness...to "myself", the stillness within...to my connection to the Divine. Whatever your method the more you can dedicate a daily practice to connecting to Source the more you will feel that you have always been and always will be connected. It is the gift of presence. When you share this with yourself it is felt by all those around you.

So for this Holiday season. Give this meditation a try. Or simply sit in quiet peace for even five minutes a day and you will feel the benefits a thousand fold. The immediate benefits are clarity and relaxation. There are striking long-term health benefits from meditation as well. Breath awareness is another great meditation that you can do anywhere. Just notice and be aware of your breath, the inhale and the exhale. Your breath is always in the present moment so becoming aware of your breath pulls you in the Now. And if you're in a winter season, you can also enjoy the benefits of a beautiful snowfall. Get outside, breathe in the crisp air, and watch, and listen. If there is serene snow where you live, enjoy the snow as each unique beautiful snowflake falls. There is a unique stillness in the air when you can get outside and be with a fresh snowfall. Nature takes you back to your true essence. Each drop of nature brings me back to center and peace. It is my wish that each of you receive the gift of stillness and peace this holiday season.

Enjoy, live, laugh and love always!

Peace and Bliss be with you ,
~Spiritual Cheerleader