3, 2, 1 Meditation

 

Thoughts on Mindfulness 

One of the beauties of mindfulness is that you don’t need to sign up for a class, buy special pants, or chunk out hours in your day. It can start by inviting yourself to be more aware, more present, and live with more intention. Mindfulness starts with awareness, and choosing to focus and simplify. Despite our current tendencies for multitasking, the brain really only likes to be occupied with one thing at a time. Here is a focusing meditation that is super simple and easy to learn. Notice what comes up for you. Allow yourself to enjoy this state for as long as you like. This narrowing of focus while engaging the senses is extremely useful in creating periods of relaxed, focused concentration. It makes for a great walking meditation or game to play while waiting in a restaurant. 

3, 2, 1 Meditation 

•  Begin with the Simple Self Hypnosis Technique from chapter 1, or by simply taking some deep breaths. This meditation can be done with your eyes open or closed. 

• Focusing on 3 things that you can see while taking 3 deep breaths. This can mean either right before you if your eyes are open; patterns of light if your eyes are closed; or anything that you can see in your minds eye. Feel free to use your imagination. 

• Become aware of 3 sounds while taking 3 breaths - in the environment, in your body, or in your inner monologue. As you turn more inward, try to hear your breath or heartbeat. 

• Next, switch to 3 physical sensations with the 3 breaths. Often we begin by noticing what is uncomfortable - an itchy nose, ache in the back. Bring your awareness to pleasant or simply neutral sensations - the weight of a shirt, a breeze on the cheek. 

• Now, repeat the same exercise, this time focus only on: 

• 2 sights with 2 breaths 

• 2 sounds with 2 breaths 

• 2 sensations with 2 breaths 

• Last, go down to: 

• 1 sight with 1 breath 

• 1 sound with 1 breath 

• 1 sensation with 1 breath 

First published in Laphrodite's Guide to Mindful Menopause

Happy Brigid

 

We are at Brigid - the cross-quarter holiday between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Take a moment to enjoy the flickering flames, the melting wax, the promise of Spring's return.

Good Boundaries

 

Whale Fall

Dear Dad,

Hope you are full of gentle quiet

Ashes, bits of bone, and debris

Scattered on the sea

Now layered, feeding the osedax

Snot covered flowers

Indeed

Baby Crone's Tarot Playbook

 Now available in paperback, kindle, or hardcover!

Baby Crone's Tarot Playbook

or Laphrodite's Mini Mindfulness Meditations

Baby Crone's Tarot Playbook offers seventy-eight short practices for that tarot on-the-go feeling. Rich, full-color images accompany the guided meditations to create a synthesis of right-brain and left-brain activity by combining potent imagery with meaningful words. Whether you flip to a random page for a quick hit, spend an hour using an image as a writing prompt in your journal, or dedicate yourself to delving deep into the meaning and symbolism of each piece, this is a treasure trove of accessible wisdom.

Fuschia Tattoo

I had a smooth, quiet ride down to San Luis Obispo. I left with plenty of time since my brother had warned of "Carmageddon" after the Thanksgiving holiday. The only time there was traffic was at our favorite rest stop in Bradley - every parking place was full, and at least 20 cars were parked along the "no parking" strip so I figured they couldn't tow/fine us all, so I pulled over. Once in SLO, I had a nice lunch at House of Bread - a Panini with chicken, pesto, provolone, and artichoke hearts. Yum!

I had decided on a spray of Fuschia. I remember being a kid and going out on Nona Linda's balcony, the rich baskets blooming with pinks and greens. A three-hour session, mostly in silence, while I thought about my Mom, my brother, and mostly my Dad.

After my session, I hung out for a few minutes and then walked over to meet my friend at Giuseppe's—it seemed appropriate to get Italian food. My goodness, SLO has more restaurants than Santa Barbara! I couldn't decide between the spaghetti carbonara and the wood-fired pizza, and would you know it, the special was a carbonara pizza. It was so ridiculously rich that the next day, I had a slice for breakfast, and then Chip and I feasted for dinner.

The drive home was also good, and quiet - I do love California at this time of year - the quality of light, the duskiness over the grape vines in the valley, and the first view of the ocean when coming back to Santa Cruz.

Poppy survived despite me being gone for a night, and June was happy to have me home, as well as Chip, maybe because I brought scrumptious leftovers. It was a good sojourn and I feel I did what was right, I did my rites, and I feel at peace.

Amaterasu and Uzume

Amaterasu is the Goddess of the Sun, still worshipped in the Shinto Temples in Japan today. She is the Goddess of Beauty. One day she came home to find that her temple had been vandalized by her brother, the storm god Susano’o. All her handmaidens had been slaughtered, their bodies left to decimate her sacred space.
 

Outraged, she withdrew into a cave, pulling a big boulder over the opening to seal it shut. Now, as you can imagine, if the sun seals herself tight inside a cave, darkness falls all over the land. Soon the plants began to die, then the animals. The people came to plead and weep outside the cave, crying, “Amaterasu! Amaterasu! Come shine your face!” But she would have nothing of it.

The people appealed to the other deities, and 800 gods and goddesses gathered outside the cave. They cried and pleaded, “Amaterasu! Amaterasu! Come shine your face!” But she would have nothing of it.

The goddess Uzume stepped up to the cave, flipped over a sake barrel, and began a sexy and bawdy dance. She opened her kimono and exposed her breasts, flashed her genitals, and made fun of traditional shamanic rituals All the other deities began to laugh and laugh.

Amaterasu heard the laughter and became quite intrigued. The moment she rolled away the boulder, Uzume handed her a mirror, where she could see how beautiful she was. And in that moment she decided to burst forth and illuminate the day again.

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I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a sexy and bawdy dance to bring me out of my cave. Are you ready to change? I invite you to become curious and full of wonder, discover and explore your own inner landscape, and be fluid in transforming as you go through morphosis. Cultivating lightheartedness is a serious practice.