Invitation:

Explore the felt sense of loving-kindness through acts of kindness to a beloved, to a neutral person, to someone with whom we have difficulty, and to the world at large.

Materials:

Journal

Process:

• Settle in. Allow the breath to slow and your attention to arrive in the present.
• Allow to emerge and write in your journal the name of four beings: 
  1. A beloved being. This should be an uncomplicated relationship with someone whom you find it simple to evoke a sense of loving-kindness.
  2. A neutral being. This could be someone you don’t know; a stranger or distant acquaintance.
  3. A being who you may find difficult to love or against whom you hold a negative judgement (someone with whom you are unresolved, or even a stranger, like a politician, etc.).
  4. A universal entity: a community, nature, the universe

Then, with hand on heart as a reminder…

• Beginning with your beloved being, imagine the unique gifts and strengths that lie within this being. Like in every human life, there are wonderful moments of strength, courage, humor, creativity, generosity, and tenderness within this person.
• Recognize that JUST LIKE YOU, this person wishes to be nurtured, loved, and to grow into his or her full potential.
• Allow yourself to feel how much you want this person to be nurtured, to be able to grow into his or her full potential. How much you wish that this person would stay well, safe from harm, peaceful, and happy. How much you naturally want to bring forth and celebrate what is beautiful in this person.
• IF you are feeling a sense of loving-kindness, what would be the most natural expression of it? Is there is an ACTION that naturally emerges to be performed? What would honor them? What would cherish them? And what feels within your capacity to offer? Take a few moments to write down that action(s).

Some ideas of kind actions you might “try on” if none come to mind naturally…

• If this person lives near you or with you, what tiny act of kindness can you bring to their day? Pour them a cup of tea just the way they like it? Do the dishes, even if it’s their turn? Drop off an anonymous bundle of flowers from the yard? Leave them a loving phone message?
• Craft and snail-mail a hand-written letter to this person directly expressing your wishes for him or her.
• Send along a song (online via YouTube or a playlist on Spotify) or a simple gift that expresses these wishes. Personalized care packages can be fun to compile and to receive.
• Express an unexpected compliment or gratitude to your person.
• Here are more ideas for simple acts of kindness, such as taking the middle seat on the airplane or picking up groceries for a neighbor…

Repeat the process above for the neutral being the difficult being, and the universal being.

If you saw each being’s potential, and a natural wish arose to cherish and honor this person, know that you are now experiencing is your innate capacity for loving-kindness. And this capacity is there in you, always.

If you are finding it difficult to arrive at these feelings of loving-kindness for a particular person or being, it might help to bring to mind the idea: “Just like me.”

This person wishes to be loved … just like me. This person makes mistakes and wishes they didn’t … just like me. This person struggles in her life … just like me. This person didn’t receive the love she yearned for as a child… just like me.

You might be experiencing loving-kindness, and you might not. Take a few moments to let yourself feel what you are feeling and be who you are. Can you give space for whatever arises? Make a note in your journal of what you noticed with all three people.

If you are inspired to follow through with your expressive acts of kindness, please do so.

For further reflection:

The feeling of loving-kindness is not conditional or a result of attachment. If you expressed kindness, and it was reciprocated or received generously, how was that for you? What if it was NOT reciprocated or even rejected outright? How did that feel for you, and were you able to treat yourself with tenderness or humor? Make a few notes in your journal about these outcomes.

 The invitation:

Explore the felt experience of loving-kindness and compassion through free-writing and poetry, specifically the French Pantoum.

Materials:

• Your journal and a favorite pen for writing

Process:

Part I:

• Bring to mind a time when you felt a strong sense of loving-kindness in your life. Recall the circumstances of the situation, and in particular, recall the felt experience of loving-kindness.
• Once you have considered a few scenarios, free-write about those experiences in your journal. For this exercise, please continue to return to the felt sense of the experience of loving-kindness.
• Next, bring to mind a time when you felt a strong sense of compassion in your life. Recall the circumstances of the situation, and in particular, recall the felt sense of the experience of compassion.
• Now, free-write in your journal about the felt sense of compassion evoked by your memory.
• Turn your attention fully to your journal. For this exercise in particular, try to use sensual words to describe your inner world during these moments of compassion and loving-kindness. Feel free to explore in your journal until you’ve said all you need to say. This is not a time for careful editing; rather, we’re looking for a sense of openness and flow. Note that it often takes 5 or 10 minutes of simply pouring words onto the page to empty yourself of distractions and nagging thoughts until the essence of what you wish to communicate actually emerges. So if you need to take a few moments to “empty,” go ahead. No judgement. No one will read this but you.
• If you need some specific guidance for your free-writing, you may draw upon the following guiding questions:
  • What does loving-kindness feel like in your body? Compassion?
  • Is it easier to feel loving-kindness or compassion?
  • Is it easier to feel loving-kindness and compassion for yourself, or for others?
• Once you’ve said all you wish to say, take a pause to let all that you’ve written settle.

Part II: Craft your poem within the Pantoum structure

• Revisit your writing and notice any sentences, snippets or phrases that emerge. Allow yourself to be surprised or delighted by what is calling for your attention. Underline 8 of these phrases or sentences, then number each underlined sentence between 1 and 8. These sentences can be numbered in any order you wish. Don’t think about it too hard; simply number. We’re inviting the heart to speak, so be especially attentive to subtle cues, symbols, or resonance.
• Insert your 8 phrases or sentences into the following quatrain format:

In other words…

 Pantoum Examples

A Farewell to Manzanar

(1) When I was seven
(2) My family was evacuated.
(3) We rode a bus
(4) To Manzanar.

(2) My family was evacuated.
(5) Only forty-eight hours to prepare, then
(4) To Manzanar.
(6) We rode in shock, but together.

(5) Only forty-eight hours to prepare, then
(7) Mama, stressed and frustrated, broke all the dishes.
(6) We rode in shock, but together.
(8) Together, except for Papa.

(7) Mama, stressed and frustrated, broke all the dishes.
(3) We rode a bus
(8) Together, except for Papa.
(1) When I was seven.

You and Me on State Street
(inspired by the unexpected relationship between an elderly homeless man and a young woman motorist)

We can be miracles together, you and me.
A stranger standing on the corner of State Street
looking deeply into me,
your blood in my veins.

A stranger standing on the corner of State Street
Eye to eye, we are each ageless,
your blood in my veins
unpeeling our hearts with each exchange

Eye to eye, we are each ageless,
divinity ties us together with its invisible thread
unpeeling our hearts with each exchange
You stand here with me in the truth.

Divinity tying us together with its invisible thread,
looking deeply into me,
You stand here with me in the truth.
We can be miracles together, you and me.

-Aimee Eckhardt

Sitting in the morning sun I watch and listen
Not just with my eyes and ears but also with my heart and soul
Show me ancient ways of seeing
Teach me intuitive ways of listening
Not just with my eyes and ears but also with my heart and soul
I follow my path into this new way of living
Teach me intuitive ways of listening
To hear Spirit’s whisperings in the wind
I follow my path into this new way of living
Teach me intuitive ways of listening
To hear Spirit’s whisperings in the wind
I follow my path into this new way of living
Show me ancient ways of seeing
To hear Spirit’s whisperings in the wind
Sitting in the morning sun I watch and listen

—Cathy Johnson

“The wonderful thing about the path of mindful drawing is that … it’s a dynamic process, which invites us to engage with awareness, not just with our minds, but with our bodies too, with our whole being. All we need to do is — do it. Just draw, and all the rest follows.”

– Wendy Ann Greenhalgh
From Mindfulness and the Art of Drawing

The invitation:

Materials:

• Your sketchbook and a fairly fat marker (not a pencil). Pick a color that pleases you.
• A timer (for Part 1 of the exercise)
• If you’re drawing on a single sheet of paper, you might need some tape to tape the page down to the table surface.

2-Part Process:

Part I: Mindful Doodling, or “Taking Your Pen for a Walk”

This first part of the exercise takes 10 minutes, and it and allows you to warm up, settle in, and connect your breath, your body, and your drawing materials.

To do the exercise, you’ll need your sketchbook, marker, and your timer. Please set your timer for 10 minutes and hit “start.”

Next, get comfortable, close your eyes, and simply become aware of the sensations in your environment. Any sounds, smells, sensations of pressure on the soles of your feet or back. Next, bring the awareness to your hands. What do you notice about the sensation of the marker in your hand? The sketchbook in your other hand? The texture of the paper?

Once you feel fully present to this place and time, place the tip of your marker on your sketchpad, and begin to draw. (Remember: “Take the pen for a walk.” There’s nowhere special to go; just move.) Your eyes are closed for the duration.

You may wish to begin by drawing a familiar shape, or a set of lines. Maybe circles or spirals want to come up. Dots, dashes, hatches, scribbles. As in formal meditation practice, the work here is to simply return your attention to your breath (and materials) if your attention begins to drift. If you lose orientation to where your pen is on the page, use your non-drawing hand to feel for the borders of the page. (Don’t peek.)

If you’re curious, switch to your non-dominant hand and see how that feels different. What would happen if you put your pen in your mouth and attempted to draw? Used a different hand grip? If you can, go gently, with curiosity and playfulness.

After your timer goes off in 10 minutes, stop, open your eyes, and see what you created. Be with that for a few moments. If you wish, take a few notes in your journal about any thoughts or emotions which came up during or after your Mindful Doodling session.

Mindful Doodle example:

Part 2: Blind, Continuous-Line Contour Drawing

Now that you’ve connected your body, your materials, and your attention through Mindful Doodling, we’ll work with practicing mindful awareness of a specific object. We traditionally use the hand for this classic drawing exercise, but you may use anything you wish.

Still comfortably seated, turn to a new sheet of paper in your sketchbook. Place it on the tabletop, and extend your non-dominant hand out at a 45-degree angle from your page. As with the last exercise, you will not look directly at your paper. You’ll see it out of your peripheral vision, but your focus is on the hand, not the paper.

During this exercise, you will draw the contours of your hand. Two simple rules:

1. You look only at your hand (or other focal object), not your paper;
2. The entire drawing is made of one continuous line; until you’re done with your drawing, keep your marker on the paper.

In order to get the most out of this exercise, try to move as intentionally as possible. Go slowly. Stay in touch with the sensation of the pen and the paper. You’re entering into different relationship with your hand in that you are deeply noticing its every contour. As you look, attempt to transfer that tracing through your pen onto your paper; that requires deep awareness of what you’re actually seeing (versus what you think you’re seeing). It also requires the willingness to slow way down.

As always, this is about the process, not the outcome.

Once you’re done drawing your hand, put your pen down and gently release the exercise. Observe what you’ve created and make a note of any thoughts or feelings that come up.

Take it one step further:

• Variation 1 on the Blind Contour Drawing: Try the same exercise with your non-dominant hand. Can you do this with a gentle smile on your face, all the while returning your attention to the object of your attention?
• Variation 2 on the Blind Contour Drawing: To play with the power of slow-going, you could try the Blind Contour once again, but going more quickly. Give yourself a time limit—say, 30 seconds to complete your hand. Compare it to the drawing you did more slowly. What do you notice?
• Variation 3 on the Blind Contour Drawing: Try to re-draw the same object you drew in the Blind Contour Drawing, but this time, use your eyes. When you look at your blind drawing (not evaluating/”correcting” as you go) versus your “seeing” (evaluating/”correcting” as you go) drawing, how are they different? What do you notice about drawing what you actually see versus what you “think” you see?
• Variation 1 on Mindful Doodles: If you’d like to continue playing with focused mindfulness, revisit your Mindful Doodles and use them as a coloring page. Continue to practice attending deeply. Stay present to the sound of your marker on the paper. The sensation of your hand holding the marker. The smell of the paper. The sensation of your feet on the ground, your bottom on your chair. What colors call to be used when your hand hovers over them? Perhaps you’ll find a soothing rhythm overtakes you. Enjoy!

• As you worked with either exercise, were there any strong feelings that came up? Did humor peek in? Self-criticism? Resistance? How were you able to be with it?
• What about drawing with your eyes closed was different than drawing with your eyes open?