I figured I would blog
about a book I finished yesterday: “The Wisdom of No Escape,”
by Pema Chodron. Pema is dear to my heart, when life hands
me lemons I read her books or listen to her. She is not so much a new
age person but is a traditional Tibetan Buddhist monk. My emotions
have been such a trip lately and feeding my mind spiritual juice such
as Pema's books helps me stay in the moment. This particular book is
a lot like her other books, where she introduces her audience to
simple breathing techniques, such as: breathing in and staying with
your out breathe. And that is part is “letting go.”
In essence you breathe in and breathe out. The other theme throughout the book is that there is no need to hide negative feelings, you do not always have to be positive--basically do not repress the negative. Pema refers to the negative as- “juicy or messy stuff.” She even says people that meditate on this juicy stuff are the people that have courage. It does seem true in the United States that the emphasis is being of the light and hiding the messy stuff (shoving it under the rug). Or label being dark as bad energy, but how can that be if we all experience it to different degrees. Pema entertains the idea that embracing or meditating on the messy stuff will help us grow.
It is so encouraging and I can breath a sigh of relief that there's books like these that remind me to change my thinking. That my feelings should not be labeled as good or bad, and that all I have is this moment. If something juicy comes up in that moment as it always does, breath it in and out- let it go on the out breathe.Pema suggests becoming friends with your anger: “the gentleness involves not repressing the anger but also not acting out on it.” Acceptance of my feelings, experiences and learning to let it go has been a challenge for me, which is why I read spiritual work like Pema. I need to practice it, breathe it, learn it daily. That is why I am blogging about it. Meditation is also difficult for me. To sit with my thoughts for even 20 minutes is exhausting. But it has not always been like that, I find the more you practice it the better you become at being present and with that “out-breathe 100%.”
So cheers to "Pema Chodron" you save mylife time & time again, and thank you to my old therapist that wrote down her name on a piece of paper after a session once. Thank you-
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