Mindfulness, Compassion and the Jubilee

Learning Mindful Compassion from Bahar-Bechukotai

In this week’s Torah portion, Bahar-Bechukotai, we learn about being fair in business practices, specifically in the Jubilee year when the land is to be returned to its original owners.

“And if you sell to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another (25:19).” And , "Do not take advantage of each other, I am the Lord your G-d (25:17)."

These verses remind us to treat others fairly and compassionately, and to be mindful of our actions and how they affect those around us.

Later on we learn that our actions have an impact, not only on others, but ourselves as well: "If you walk in my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit (26:3)." This verse teaches us the importance of being mindful of our relationship with G-d and following his commandments. We can experience blessings in our lives, if we are kind and thoughtful of others and follow the commandments of the Torah.

This is not the first place that the Torah emphasizes the importance of treating others with compassion and avoiding exploitation.

I guess we all need to be reminded a lot! There is a mindfulness meditation poster that says, “Just be kind, you never know what someone else may be going through.” The other day I was waiting for a referral from the secretary at my local health services . The secretary seemed impatient and distracted with the person in front of me. She wasn’t so nice. The person started to yell and walked out. The secretary then got up and left. I wasn’t sure what to do. Another secretary whispered to me that this secretary just got a message that her close friend died, someone she had tried to help get necessary treatments.

Apparently she had no time to process or deal with the loss because she had to move on to take care of the long line of people. Maybe we are the ones who are distracted or too quick to judge?

We have no clue what someone else is going through. Some days we might not even realize what we’re going through ourselves. We wouldn’t want someone judging us on a bad day. Everyone is just doing the best that they can just like we are. So STOP, and take a moment to think about the fact that the other person could be facing an issue that we can’t imagine.

Mindfulness encourages us to be mindful of our relationships with others, and to cultivate a sense of empathy and understanding.

Compassion and understanding is like a muscle and we need to exercise it.

Try this short loving kindness practice:

Find a quiet and comfortable space where you can sit or lie down. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, allowing your body and mind to settle as much as possible in the moment.

As you inhale, notice the air moving through your body, and as you exhale, imagine releasing any tension you may be holding onto. Imagine yourself offering compassion to someone and you receiving their kindness in return. As you continue to breathe in and out, visualize yourself sending love and understanding to others, including yourself, your loved ones, and even those you may have difficulties with.

Repeat these phrases to yourself, imagining sending this loving kindness to yourself and others :

May we be safe

May we be healthy

May we loved and love ourselves as we are

May we be free from suffering and live with ease

Add any phrases that have meaning for you.

When you feel ready, gently open your eyes and return your attention to your surroundings.

Spend a few more moments here if you want.

While it’s been about 2,000 years since we observed the commandant of the Jubilee year, we can still learn a lot about treating people fairly, kindly, and non-judgmentally

The practice of mindfulness takes time and patience to cultivate. By making an intention to incorporate the mindfulness practice of loving kindness into your daily life, you can make a difference on how you treat people and yourself, and spread compassion, tenderness and understanding.

Couldn’t we all use a little more of that these days?

For a longer guided self -compassion practice :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=535kJOQjSIU

Mindfully Planting a Seed & Growing New Habits

How Mindfulness Can Help Us In Planting a Seed and Growing New Habits

In this week’s Torah portion, Tazria-Metzora, we learn about different types of purification. It opens with purification for a woman after childbirth:

“Talk to the children of Israel and say; when a woman has delivered a child…”

The word written for delivered is תזריע, which means sowed or planted.

This word usually refers to plants, which form seeds in order to sustain their species

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch explains that humans originate, grow, and exist like a plant, by spreading seeds.

Many mammals give birth to more than one baby at a time, whereas most humans give birth to one at a time.

And the process is long and intricate–from getting pregnant to growing and carrying the baby and birthing the baby.

Planting a seed takes time and patience.

We should keep this in mind when we want to grow a new habit in our lives.

Most of us want to take better care of ourselves by eating well, sleeping enough, exercising and learning mindfulness meditation. Easier said than done!

A garden isn’t created overnight, and neither is making a change or achieving a goal.

A garden needs care, attention and persistence. After you prepare the soil and plant your seeds, there’s still lots of work to do.

And your garden needs sun, rain, and good soil. You do your part and have some trust that nature will take care of the rest.

When it comes to starting a mindfulness practice, you have to be patient and trust the process. It’s not hocus pocus. Be open. Be curious. Be kind to yourself. Stick with it!

Write down a few small steps that you can take to start a mindfulness practice, such as sitting and observing your breath for five minutes a day, eating or drinking something mindfully, genuinely listening to someone when they are talking to you without distractions, or paying attention on a routine route that you drive or walk regularly.

What seeds will you plant? What steps will you take to nurture and tend the seeds you plant?

Join the next mindfulness course with Susie:

https://www.mindfulnesswithsusie.com/about-the-mindfulness-course-with-susie ENG

https://www.mindfulnesswithsusie.com/he/mindfulness-course-with-susie-lp (Hebrew)

For a guided practice in English:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgeJNAHNbNY

Hebrew/מדיטציה מודרכת עברית :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMwJy4pEYaw - למתחילים

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu3CUzUOY6s - מדיטציה 8 דקות

Mindfulness With Susie

Mindfulness and Freedom From Negative Thoughts

What Mindfulness and Passover Can Teach Us About Freedom

The holiday of Passover, also known as the Festival of Freedom, commemorates our redemption from slavery. We were physically enslaved, which had an impact on our psychological freedom, and triggered a wide range of emotions such as fear, anxiety, despair, pessimism, and hopelessness. These feelings lasted long after the people were redeemed from slavery. To be liberated from oppression is the beginning of freedom, not its end goal. We became free from our Egyptian masters not only to be free but to become a nation and receive the Torah at Mt. Sinai.

The freedom of Passover is more than just the absence of bondage.

Thankfully, most of us have not been slaves, but we can identify with being enslaved by negative thoughts of worries, fears, and regrets.

We have the freedom to break free from negative habits and become our more positive and healthy selves.

Thoughts reinforce feelings and feelings reinforce thoughts, and we may not even be aware that we are in a cycle of negativity and stress.

We live with so many unhealthy habits, automatic reactions, distractions, and mistaken assumptions.

We have thousands of thoughts a day. How many do we let pass, and how many do we attach ourselves to, limiting our freedom to live? Changing our thoughts can change the way we feel.

Mindfulness brings conscious awareness to automatic reactions and behaviors, giving us freedom from our unhealthy thoughts by placing our attention on and observing our negative thoughts or feelings rather than getting caught up in them. We can start by first paying attention to our breath, which can regulate our response to stress and can reduce fear and anxiety by observing the pace of our breath. This enables us to become neutral observers of our inner experiences such as thoughts, sensations, and feelings, and observe whatever arises into our awareness without judgment and without trying to change what we are experiencing

We all have the potential for freedom from our unhealthy thoughts and behaviors, and we also have the freedom to choose how to react to external stimuli, as well as be kinder to ourselves and others.

So how can mindfulness practice help us to be freer?

Let’s try a mindfulness meditation practice with a focus on freeing ourselves from a cycle of negative thoughts and feelings.

Start by finding a comfortable place to sit where you won’t be disturbed. Checking in with your posture– your back is straight and your shoulders are relaxed.

Noticing points of contact that your body is making with whatever surface you’re sitting on. (pause)

Bringing awareness to your breath as you breathe in and breathe out. (pause)

Let yourself relax into this moment and this meditation.

And noticing any tension in your body. Bringing awareness to areas of tension might help soften those areas. (pause)

Can you try to be aware of whatever you’re feeling without judging it?

Neutral awareness means that we observe sensations, feelings, and thoughts without judgment and without becoming too caught up in them. When we’re stressed we might take it out on ourselves or others, something that could have a negative ripple effect like a stone dropping into a pool of water.

We practice noticing a thought or feeling without engaging in it and put a little distance between ourselves and the thought or feeling.

We can also say to our thoughts and feelings "I see you,” and simply observe

Notice how thoughts come and go. Let’s take a moment to try this. (pause)

Give the feeling some space and allow it to hang out a little and let it be.

Observe it some more. ( pause)

Observing leads to more awareness or insight and can change the way we react, which can bring freedom from unhealthy habits.

And awareness leads to learning more about your experiences (thoughts and feelings) and getting to know --and hopefully accept-- yourself.

If you get caught up in a thought or feeling or sensation while doing this practice, bring your attention back to the meditation when you notice it. (pause)

Is there any tension that you're noticing in your body? Can you imagine softening towards your body in your shoulders, jaws, and forehead?

How does this softness feel?

Can you smile at whatever you’re feeling?

When you notice a worry or fear or any negative thought or emotion that comes up. Invite it in. Don’t push it away. Be curious about it.

Say “I see you”

You are a curious observer.

Let go of the criticism and, frustration at yourself or others.

Imagine what it would be like to surrender and let go of our counter-productive thoughts. (Pause)

And while you’re doing this, add some self-compassion. Bring some understanding and care that you would show to someone else– towards yourself.

Imagine softening towards yourself….

When we pay more attention to our experiences, and become more aware and hopefully less self-critical, we open the door to greet whatever is there.

And that’s how we find freedom-- freedom to be more curious and open to our experiences, which can help us be more present in our daily lives – and that is true freedom!

Happy Pesach!

TO LISTEN TO THIS GUIDED PRACTICE:

https://insighttimer.com/skeinon/guided-meditations/freedom-from-negative-thoughts-and-feelings