02.10.2025. Left Foot, Right Foot, Breathe
Hello dear Friends,
“...this will be my fight song: left foot, right foot, breathe. Help the poor however you can, plant bulbs right now in the cold rocky soil, and rest.”
— Anne Lamott, The Resistance Will Not Be Rushed
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The terrain of winter is here. The deep freeze and long dark nights. The ground hardened by the bombarant cold. The relentless chill that seemingly never will end. Here too with the pelting climate of the news running under everything we do whether we recognize it or not, our bodies and our earth no doubt do.
You may (or may not) find yourself in fight, flight, freeze or fawn the four primal reactions when the heart, mind and body sense a threat, and not know what to do. This is important to lean into, because it is said the issues are in the tissues and the ancestral wiring too. You may (or may not) be in the need of good care.
I too do not know what to do except my small little part, we each have one to do. We each have a fight song like Anne Lamott. I will keep sending out this Metta Newsletter, offering care for your heart. This I can do. I will keep following what is true.
And please stay near--Community is the antidote to difficult dark times. Turning outwards towards each other, and offering our glistening threads of light into this broken-holy world, this I know we can all do.
May you keep your hearts safe, gather, be in community, and remember you are not alone.
May you remember the truth of who you are, a blazing point of Light.
May you be a bell echoing in the mid-wintering cold, a sound bright in the midnight stars, and keep ringing. And, do small things like kindness, and love relentlessly (especially towards yourself).
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Today is Metta (loving-kindness) Monday at 2pm.
All Welcome. No meditation experience required.
Come as you are, open heart and all.
Drop-in Meditation Practice: 2-3 pm
Basic Teachings on Mindful Awareness: 3-4pm
Where: 1765 Glenview Road, Glenview in the Patio Shops
Cost: No Fee. Donations and poems appreciated.
So grateful we are here together.
Love,
Wini
🌸 Below offerings to inspire warmth and care for your heart & links to meander in… ♥️
🌸 Two Poems to Share
HOPE AND LOVE | Jane Hirshfield
All winter
the blue heron
slept among the horses.
I do not know
the custom of herons,
do not know
if the solitary habit
is their way,
or if he listened for
some missing one—
not knowing even
that was what he did—
in the blowing
sounds in the dark,
I know that
hope is the hardest
love we carry.
He slept
with his long neck
folded, like a letter
put away.
There Was a Time I Would Reject Those | Muhyiddin Ibn Al-’Arabi’ (translator unknown)
There was a time I would reject those
who were not my faith.
But now, my heart has grown capable
of taking on all forms.
It is a pasture for gazelles,
An abbey for monks.
A table for the Torah.
Kaaba for the pilgrim.
My religion is love.
Whichever the route love’s caravan shall take,
That shall be the path of my faith.
🌿 worthy of repeating, “hope is the hardest love we carry”
And “My religion is love. Whichever the route love’s caravan shall take, That shall be the path of my faith.”
the holy of holiest,
amen.
🌸 Three Quotes | Abraham H. Maslow. Dorothy Day. Nikita Gill.
“The great lesson from the true mystics . . . is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's backyard.” — Abraham H. Maslow in Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences
“We know [God] in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore.” — Dorothy Day in THE LONG LONELINESS
“You are allowed to break. Everyone does. The stars grow tired and fall. The waves crash against rocks and stores. Trees fall for both storms and the wind, leaving behind seeds and saplings so a version of them can grow up again. Storm clouds part for the rain and then part again for the sun to come through. Night must break for day and the day for the night. THe world is made up of broken things piecing themselves back together -this is what gives us the most resilient stories. So why do you think you were built differently than the night and the storm clouds? You know how to put yourself back together again too, just as well as they do. Take heart. You have managed to rebuild yourself a thousand times over from every bad day. That is no small thing.” — Nikita Gill, Notes on Survival
🌸 3 Small Bites for Your Heart
A beautiful reminder to celebrate the small stuff. Click Here.
Pamela Anderson's definition of Beauty. Click Here
Laurie Anderson on not giving up. Click here
🌸 Something to Consider | A 7-Day Digital Reset-Pause Challenge
Like our bodies, our minds need a reset too. It has been quite a rich time. What if you gave yourself a digital lovingkindness cleanse?
We know in meditation (and in life) what creates magic is containment. Due to the context of this era where our thinking mind is fragmented and overstimulated with an overfill of information, some useful, some not, containment is essential. We are learning that the landscape of technology is leaving us dry. We know we need face to face, heart to heart time.
Sometimes just a reset-pause is all that is needed to help create our pure unfolding magic - then who knows what would arise up out of the spacious void.
A share that came my way. May it be a refuge-reset.
For the next seven days, commit to:
Day 1: Identify one hour each day that you will spend completely screen-free. Use this time for activities like reading, walking, or meditating. Being heart to heart with a friend. Write a letter to a friend (how fun to receive a letter in the mail!)
Day 2: Create a tech-free zone in your home. It's a space to relax without digital devices. Tuck your phone in a drawer and declare there is nothing more important than this digital-free 10 minutes of be, of quiet.
Day 3: Have a face-to-face conversation with someone without checking your phone. Watch the urge to check your phone. Be gentle and resist.
Day 4: For 10 minutes, practice mindful breathing. Focus only on your breath and the present moment. The breath can only reside in the now. Let it nourish you.
Day 5: Write down your thoughts or feelings in a journal. Reflect on how stepping away from screens makes you feel. Maybe both agitated and spacious?
Day 6: Swap a digital habit, like scrolling through social media, for a fun, non-digital activity such as cooking, writing, puzzle making, knitting, and the list goes on (we used to do plenty of long ago)
Day 7: Reflect on the week. What changes did you notice? How do you feel now compared to before you started the challenge?
A digital detox is good medicine for our souls being bombarded with too much. It is a gentle reminder to reclaim and rewire our attention, take back our time.
It is said that unplugging creates sacred space for creativity, connection and care for self and others.
Let quiet moments renew your spirit.
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”
– Ram Dass
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🌸 An On-line Event Offering to Know About | De-Stress & Restore
"When we pause, we also give ourselves the chance to touch into our natural warmth. When the heart qualities are awakened, they cut through our negativity in a way that nothing else can.”
— Pema Chödrön
A 14-Day Journey for Grounding, Healing, and Renewal with the exquisite wisdom teacher Courtney Riley. This program offers a two-week pathway to reconnect with your inner stability and emotional well-being.
Through guided meditations, Yoga Nidra, journaling prompts, and rituals, Courtney will help guide you to a space inside your heart and body to release your tensions, restore balance, and nurture your energy field.
What a much needed offering for your body, heart and soul.
Thursday February 27, March 6, and March 13
TIME: 9-10am MST / 10-11am CST
WHERE: ZOOM
Come, take part and receive.
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🌸 Closing Song | The Wailin’ Jennys - One Voice
Wow, something to share. Give a read. The Wailin Jennys making a stand:
From the Wailin Jennys, “It has recently come to our attention that "One Voice" was sung at the presidential inauguration and broadcast by PBS and other major networks.
In answer to the many fans who inquired: we did not authorize the use of our song for this event or the corresponding broadcast (and would not have under any circumstance). We are in the process of investigating how this happened without our permission.
"One Voice" is a peace anthem for the unity and harmony of every human on this planet. We support the sanctity of all human beings, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, income and ability. As part of this, we strongly oppose the persecution of vulnerable communities and will continue to advocate for them. There is no peace without justice.
We will always stand for the dignity and safety of every human being, and liberation for all. We sing with that in mind. Thank you for listening and being a part of that vision.,”
Listen on YouTube here (3:46 min)
Listen on Spotify here (3:23 min)
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May we listen to the sound of One Voice
May we surrender into Mystery.
Have a blessed day,
Love,
Wini
🌸 Thank you for being here! Please share on, to a friend who might need tender dollops of kindness for their heart. Click here to subscribe
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✨ bloom more Light together
💞 more Goodness for the healing of all
🌎 stitch more gorgeous-tenderness into the soil of our planet.
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….Until next week. 💖 ✨
