P-E-A-C-E Be with You

I am having the BEST time!!

I have been teaching meditation practices for decades (and more importantly practicing them) and I have been invited to speak on Mindfulness at a workshop for employees. My two big loves — God and work. However, I am to present what I know from a secular and scientific perspective so I am diving into the new brain and heart research and I am swimming in Pure Heaven. Yep, a Tuesday in Pure Heaven.

I want to share with you a practice I just ran across in a book on Mindfulness for athletes entitled, A Still Quiet Place for Athletes by Amy Salztman, MD. It is a P-E-A-C-E practice for when you and I are facing challenges.

P = Pause. When things get rough, pause.

E = Exhale. Sigh, groan, cry, exhale. Then inhale and be aware of your breath.

A = Accept what is.

C = Choose. Whenever you are ready, immediately or weeks from now, make a choice on how you will respond.

E = Engage. Engage with life and enact your response.

As Dr. Salztman works with athletes she is speaking of when an accident happens on the field. Maybe a tear in a muscle. The athlete then pauses, breathes, accepts their body is hurt, when ready makes a choice on how to deal with it, and then engages in life.

I apply this to my emotional self. If my feelings get hurt or I feel overwhelmed, I stop and pause. Then I exhale, accept what is, choose my response with the hurt feelings or the overwhelm of a situation, then engage. Now, when I say “Peace be with you,” it has multiple meanings.

Peace by with you,