I’m going to admit right here, right now that I DO NOT MEDITATE. I am such a poser when I wear this shirt. The thing is, when I received the shirt I was on this big kick of trying to meditate. And I keep wearing the shirt because someday I will be that person who meditates. As the saying goes, “Those who can’t meditate, need it the most.” True.

For years, I carried this meditation around in my wallet. Which explains why the condition of this paper is the way that it is. I would pull out the paper every once in awhile and read it. I had hoped that by reading it, the meditation bug would take over me and I’d instantly be able to meditate. But meditation takes effort and time. It doesn't just happen and then fits neatly into our daily life schedule. However, even though I clean out my wallet regularly, I refused to take out this piece of paper - this meditation.

Then one day I decided that I’m in my home office so much that I needed to hang the piece of paper with the meditation up on my newly, cleaned up and tidy bulletin board. It hung up there for weeks. Until I started going into an office to work which means that I don’t have time to sit in my home office anymore. So the meditation is back in my wallet again.

This Thoughtful Pinch is a gift from my ever-loving friend named Jala. It is a gift of meditation. I met Jala at a time when everything was crumbling around me because going thru menopause at the age of forty-one with two kids under the age of four wasn’t common and I felt very alone. Jala provided me with wisdom and the best acupuncture in the Twin Cities. I admired her gentle, forgiving and loving spirit. She’s only maybe one or two years older than me, yet her wisdom is like a well-lived, ninety year old’s. She was the first one to tell me that eating spring leaf salads on a zero degree winter day while living in the Twin Cities was super unnatural to the rhythm of the seasons. It was like she gave me permission to eat stews and warm, comforting foods in the winter. Thank you Jala! It was a load off my shoulders as I tried to “keep up” with the tiny figures of new moms who ate like birds. She was also the first person to tell me that snacking all day long created hunger all day long. How did she know these things nine or ten years ago? Anyway, I would go to my acupuncture appointments just so that I can hear her calm voice and feel her warm hug - the treatment was just a by-product. One day, she wrote her meditation down for me. She is so thoughtful and she must have sensed, on this particular day, that I needed a pinch. I will always be grateful that she took the time to share her words with me.

I recently asked Jala if she wrote this meditation herself. She said some words/phrases are already out there but she made up this meditation to provide solace and it was part of her night time ritual with her twin daughters. Later, her twins came up with: “May a bubble of love, light, safety, protection, health, wellness, joy, laughter, friendship and community be with me at all times.” They would say this new meditation after they would say how grateful they were for health, home, family, teachers etc. What a sweet way to fall asleep.

Speaking of sleep, lately I have had so much on my mind that sleeping through the entire night has been super difficult for me. Even on vacation, in paradise, with no schedules, I found myself wide awake for three to four hours at a time. I wished so badly that I had a meditation practice. But I didn’t. So I am going to try meditation again. Why is this so hard for me? I have been practicing yoga for close to thirty years - it’s not a far stretch to practice both yoga and meditation but they are separate and not the same thing. I’m good at one and horrible at the other.

Since I need all the help I can get when it comes to meditating, I am reading an article written by my restorative yoga guru and bestie, Anne Gustin. Her post covers so much about meditation. You have to check it out. The name of her blog is called Form and Feather and the post is called 20 Places You Wouldn’t Think to Meditate. If you’re like me and you need a nudge, please click on the link. It is well-written, very informative and most of all very encouraging.

As I sign off, I know full well that many will suggest apps that could help me with meditation. FYI, I have three meditation apps already downloaded on my phone. All of them are amazing! None of them have been used more than twice. I will get there some day and even though my shirt will be more worn out than it already is, I will wear it with honor. Wish me luck!

Pinches,

Barb