well-being – Page 4 – Ananda Leeke

AL-HappyHolidays

Happy Holy-Days! Welcome to Week 4 of the #ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge, a four-week experience that invites you to practice and reflect on loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity! Equanimity is the theme for this week.

I launched the Challenge on December 1. It’s hard to believe that we have reached the last week. If you missed the previous weeks, click on the links below.

Week 1, December 4-10: Loving Kindness
Week 2, December 11-17: Compassion
Week 3, December 18-24: Joy

TM-Equanimity-GardenofSelfAcceptance

Week 4 of #ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge: December 25-31

Equanimity or upekkha is a state of being that allows you to stand in the middle of whatever thought, feeling, or experience you may have with calm awareness and nonjudgment. Going within and being with all of your stuff (thoughts, feelings, and experiences) on a daily basis helps you plant seeds of equanimity in your garden of self-acceptance. When you give yourself equanimity, you are able to handle the ups and downs of life with more peace. You also access more loving kindness, compassion, and joy. In addition, your capacity to support others with loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity grows.

Theme/Video: Equanimity

Invitation: Slow down and take three deep breaths. Touch your heart with one or both of your hands as you enter into a moment of stillness.

Take three more deep breaths. Right where you are repeat the first prayer out loud or silently three times: May I embody and express equanimity for myself.

Take three more deep breaths and repeat the second prayer. May I share equanimity with others. Inhale deeply and as you exhale thank yourself for showing up in the stillness.

JournalYourThoughts

Reflection Questions and Journaling Exercise: Take some time this week to reflect on and journal about one or more of the questions below.

1) What does equanimity mean?
2) What does equanimity look like in your life?
3) What prevents you from embodying and expressing equanimity for yourself? and for others?
4) What do you want equanimity to look like in 2018?
5) How can you add more equanimity into your daily, weekly, and monthly routines?

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TM-Joy-CreatingJoyinyourownlife

Welcome to Week 3 of the Self-Care Challenge, a four-week experience that invites you to practice and reflect on loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity! Each week during the Self-Care Challenge, you are invited to watch a video and participate in an exercise that includes breathing exercises, reflection questions, and journaling. If you missed the first and second weeks, click on the links below.

Week 1, December 4-10: Loving Kindness
Week 2, December 11-17: Compassion
Week 3, December 18-24: Joy
Week 4, December 25-31: Equanimity

Week 3 of #ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge: December 18-24

Theme/Video: Joy

Joy is a choice to become aware of and rejoice in the JUICY moments that OPEN YOU up from the inside out. The JUICY moments are filled with goodness. When you can make this choice and appreciate and experience your own JOY, you develop the capacity to rejoice in the goodness of others. That’s called sympathetic joy or mudita. It starts first with you. Remember you are responsible for creating joy in your life. So get to it!

TM-Joy-OpenYourHeartandAllowGratitude

Invitation: Slow down and take three deep breaths. Touch your heart with one or both of your hands as you enter into a moment of stillness.

Take three more deep breaths. Right where you are repeat the first prayer out loud or silently three times: May I embody and express joy for myself.

Take three more deep breaths and repeat the second prayer. May I rejoice in the joy experienced by others. Inhale deeply and as you exhale thank yourself for showing up in the stillness.

JournalYourThoughts

Reflection Questions and Journaling Exercise: Take some time this week to reflect on and journal about one or more of the questions below.

1) What does joy mean?

2) What does joy look like in your life?

3) What prevents you from embodying and expressing joy for yourself? and joy for others?

4) What do you want your joy for yourself and joy for others to look like in 2018?

5) How can you add more joy into your daily, weekly, and monthly routines?

Tag: well-being

#ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge, Week #4 – Equanimity

#ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge, Week 3 – Joy