One of my favorite meditation teachers talks a lot about how to keep the focus on ourselves. She reminds us that simplifying and being mindful in general is good. If we are experiencing strong emotions, difficulties, challenges, repeating this phrase to ourselves is a potent self-compassionate way to keep our tranquility in the foreground and our reactivity in the background.
I am practicing double doses of tranquility for the next few weeks. All the tumult of this time of year can be wonderful with all the lights and the celebrations. I am using it to make sure I stay mindful of keeping it simple, being patient, and having compassion for myself as well as others.
This same teacher adds a very precious word at the end of her self-talk; keep it simple sweetie. It is a lovely way to remind ourselves of our goodness, our commitment to our own sweetness, and staying tranquil.
We can find mindfulness helpful to hold onto the calm during the storm.
“I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of the millions. And yet when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.“
– Anne Frank, Holocaust diarist