Chronicle the Black Woman’s Rise

Day 6 Mindfulness Journal

7 Mindset Hacks, Building a Strong Inner LIfe through Poetry & Talk, Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, Empower Womyn, Womanist Empowerment

Day 6
Mindfulness Journal
At Home in Nature

A retreat into the vast inner realm of life.
There you’ll find an ocean of possibilities.
An acre of Greenland stretching out in front of you.

In the air a breeze of jasmine.
Sounds prick your earlobes with a sweet lullaby.

You go in a little deeper.
As if passing through the doorway cleanses your heart.

To its’ purest form.
You are like a baby,
Alive to everything around you.

A calm settles over you
Like a warm and soft blanket.
That blocks out the darkness
That you have carried for a lifetime.

Such a sweet release.

Your body a little lighter.
Each step a careful maneuver
Onto the soft wet grass.
Small strands tickle your toes.

You are at Home.
A slight wink from the sun
Opens your heart.

Filling you completely.
Joy seep out of your pores
As a profuse sweat.

Light surrounds you
You are loved and protected
In the arms of Mother Nature.

Day 5 Mindfulness Journal

Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, Empower Womyn, Womanist Empowerment

Day 5
Mindfulness Journal
Mindfulness as a form of Self-Therapy

I’ve been on a quest since Junior College trying to find answers to life. As if a young women would go against the norms and question the very meaning of her being . A philosophical question was posed. What if there was no God? This went against everything I had been taught. My father, a Methodist Minister was who I admired. All we four siblings ever knew were the teachings of the Bible.

All that was about to change when at twenty-one I would have it my way. I put on the back burner everything I was taught, including the teachings of the Bible. Furthermore it never made any sense to me. This began my questioning of the rules made by the ruling class. I looked under rocks, swam across the vast ocean, stood on a cliff and jumped, knowing there was a bottom, but not knowing when I would land.

I was running on automatic pilot. As if there was a being inside of me pushing all the buttons, kicking down the door, running at high speed. From the outside I looked like junkie looking for the next fix, an addiction that would never be filled, trying to feed a hunger, not giving my life what it truly desired, feeling like there was this big question and I had to find the answers.

I would never stop hitting a brick wall. When I did, I would retrace my steps, make a slight detour and move on. Not standing still for too long. Knowing very well water become polluted if it is not flowing. I was like a sailor taking on the challenge to cross the vast ocean to get to the other side. Not knowing where I would land. The sheer excitement of the voyage was what I was after. I found that and more, such has been the essence of my life.

Always wanting to be accepted, but never did I find the refuge in the heart of the other. In the past this troubled me. I would implode and make the same choice. Knowledge is what I devoured trying to find myself. I have come to the conclusion that I had better love and accept myself. Love whom I have become, appreciate the decisions I made, glance over my shoulders and move on.

I have been a tiny spark that grew into a mighty flame, burning a pathway to happiness. A passion inside of me for answers to the meaning of my life. I am worthy I accept this as fact.

Day 4 Mindfulness Journal

Building a Strong Inner LIfe through Poetry & Talk, Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, Empower Womyn, Healing Arts, Mindfulness, New Millennium Poetry, Womanist Empowerment
steps dune dunes sand dunes

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Day 4
Journey into Mindfulness
Forest Bathing

Mindfully walk and connect to the Earth.
Feel the solid ground beneath your feet.

Imagine an anchor rooted with trees.
Holding you firmly to the ground.

Raise your hands above your head.
Reach for the sky.

Feel the connection from Earth to Heaven.
You have just grounded yourself.

Your footsteps are left in the sand.
Turn around see where you have been.

Shake the dust off your heels.
The next step you take will be light and airy.

You now walk with a gentle gait.
Touching the earth ever so gently.

You once again glance over your shoulders.
There are no footprints in the sand.

Your body floats above the ground.
Moving you to higher places.

Left on the ground is your past.
Which begins to shatter and break apart.

The heavy burden that you used to carry.
Now lay on the ground nourishing those who follow your footpath.

You are a part of the earth.
As you live the garden on Earth will flourish and thrive.

Day 2 Mindfulness Journal

Building a Strong Inner LIfe through Poetry & Talk, Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, Empower Womyn, Healing Arts, New Millennium Poetry, Womanist Empowerment
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Day 2
Journey into Mindfulness                                                                                                           A Different Perspective of Fear!

Fear, the immobilizer
Grips the Mind.
Floods the senses with panic.

Your heart races,
The Mind
Imagines
All manners of harm.

You have lost all control.

We humans
With an ancestry DNA
Feel the fear
Of long ago.

Which has been passed down
Through your genes.

Like a monkey
Trapped in a corner
He senses danger
When the
Lion is out on the prowl..

Mindfully looking at fear
With a different perspective
Brings a mindful response.

There is nothing good or bad
But thinking
Makes is so…

Day 1 Mindfulness Journal

Building a Strong Inner LIfe through Poetry & Talk, Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, Empower Womyn, Healing Arts, Mindfulness, Spiritual Awakening, Womanist Empowerment

cropped-573b76f8-a07f-4bb5-83ce-b53e1357524f.jpegDay 1
Journey Into Mindfulness
A Daily Practice
In Poetry and Prose

Let go of the stress
Live in the moment.
Bring your awareness
To the sounds.

Focus on the hear and now.
Rather pain or pleasure
Go into the now.

Bring a loving awareness,
Do not run away
Or medicate.
Feel in.
Watch it
Like staring into the clouds.

Observe from a distance
See, hear, feel.
Awash in your senses
Makes you truly alive.

As the storm subside.
Make sense of what you’ve experienced,
With clarity and wisdom.

Learn to live in the pain
Rather that focus
On it all of the time.

Self-Inquiry

Building a Strong Inner LIfe through Poetry & Talk, Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, Spiritual Awakening, Womanist Empowerment

Inquiring into the Nature of my being
and the nature of “God”.
One single thing.

I wake to the sounds of the dog
Scratching at the bars of his cage.

For a moment
I lie in darkness
Tiny lights flicker from a statue.
So I can see.

What time is it?
I always wonder
Feeling better if I’ve slept
A full night.

No, it’s three in the morning.

Before I get out of bed
I slink back into myself
Like a turtle back into his shell.

Thoughts flood my mind
Like the moonlight
On a dark starless night.

I’m everything.
The words come from a place
Deep inside of me.

I’m Oprah, Obama,
Dr King,
Daishiki,
Even Trump.
These thoughts lay gently within me.

Into the arena of Inquiry
I ascend.

A search for the truth
As it appears to me,
Raw and naked
Open and unashamed.

This life is one single thing,
Expressed as everything.

The left and the right of my brain merge into a whole.
I see God at work in everything.

I open my eyes
Wake from the hypnosis and conditioning
Let the dog out of his cage.

We step into the crisp morning air
So we both can feel a sense of relief.

Self Aware

Building a Strong Inner LIfe through Poetry & Talk, Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, New Millennium Poetry, Spiritual Awakening, Womanist Empowerment

SELF AWARE

I’m not this body
These thoughts
This skin.

I’m not what you call me
Or think of me.

I’m not your property
Do not belong to the State.

Then who am
I
What
Am
I?

I am.
I observe.

Like watching a movie on the screen.
For a moment,
I’m enthralled,
Think I am the actor
Experiencing the scene.

When the movie is over
I’m thinking
About the characters.
I really did like that movie.

I know it was just a character
Not me.

Then who am I?
Lost without a fixed state.

I would be nothing
Without this body, money
This car or home.

Homeless without a room.
Leaves me feeling empty and all alone
Fear takes over
I cannot tolerate this feeling.

I run and hide,
Escape into alcohol, drugs, sex,
Anything to elevate this feeling
Like I am about die.

I can choose to ride this wave.
Hold onto the moment.
Ground myself in the tingling in my toes.

Soon the wave subsides.
I’m a little closer to
Letting go
Of this attachment
To the body and old.

Coming Into Wholeness

7 Mindset Hacks, Building a Strong Inner LIfe through Poetry & Talk, Chronicle the Black Woman's Rise, Empower Womyn, Healing Arts, New Millennium Poetry, Spiritual Awakening, Womanist Empowerment

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COMING INTO WHOLENESS

@ A Spiritual Retreat

I’ve come to the awareness

Of where I am,

How I got here,

The decision I made.

The actions I took.

I accept my life.

 

My words

Have come from a place

Inside of me.

I accept my life.

My experiences

Have been my choice.

I accept my life.

Every word

Every deed

The stories I told myself

I am responsible for.

I accept my life.

I’ve taken the task of

Coming to this life.

Every obstacle,

A test.

To bring me to the

Awareness of the Self.

A nature that has been

Silent in the background.

Watching,

Listening,

Observing,

Experiencing,

Everything thing in life.

The joy,

The sorrow,

The heartache,

Is complete!

I accept my life.

I take the lead

And guide me to…

Wholeness.

Acceptance.

Compassion for myself.

I love and accept my life!