Clearly Recognizing What Is Happening Inside Us,

We Can Find True Refuge Within Our Own Hearts And Minds-right Here, Right Now, In The Midst Of Our Moment-to-momen T Lives. We Find True Refuge Whenever We Recognize The Silent Space Of Awareness Behind All Our Busy Doing And Striving. We Find Refuge Whenever Our Hearts Open With Tenderness And Love. We Find Refuge Whenever We Connect With The Innate Clarity And Intelligence Of Our True Nature.

The Intimacy That Arises In Listening And Speaking Truth Is Only Possible If We Can Open To The Vulnerability Of Our Own Hearts. Breathing In, Contacting The Life That Is Right Here, Is Our First Step. Once We Have Held Ourselves With Kindness, We Can Touch Others In A Vital And Healing Way.

Imperfection Is Not Our Personal Problem - It Is A Natural Part Of Existing.

With The First Out Breath, You Are Releasing Worries, Plans, Mental Tensions. With The Second Out Breath, You Are Releasing Physical Tightness And Tension. With The Third Out Breath, You Are Releasing Difficult Emotions.

I Recently Read In The Book My Stroke Of Insight By Brain Scientist Jill Bolte Taylor That The Natural Life Span Of An Emotion—the Average Time It Takes For It To Move Through The Nervous System And Body—is Only A Minute And A Half. After That We Need Thoughts To Keep The Emotion Rolling. So If We Wonder Why We Lock Into Painful Emotional States Like Anxiety, Depression, Or Rage, We Need Look No Further Than Our Own Endless Stream Of Inner Dialogue.