MBSR Course Begins Oct 15th

It is the end of summer and the first notes of Fall are starting to be heard all around us! Some of you may be excited about that, and others are meeting this news with much resistance.

Wherever you are, I honor you and your experience.  What do we mean anyway when we use the word, “honor?” What I mean is that I don’t need you to be anything other than what you are.  I also use it to say, “I accept and respect you.” That we all have different ways of perceiving and thinking and living and whatever way yours is, today, that is just fine with me.  

Words are powerful and the way we define words, and use them, is even more so.  I hear the phrase, “it is what it is” a lot today. When I first heard it I thought, AWESOME, our culture is increasingly embracing the Mindfulness revolution with this statement of stark acceptance! 

So I tried it out and started saying it too. Then I realized when I said it, it wasn’t quite capturing what I was trying to say, or it felt like the receiver of my words didn’t fully get it either. Trusting that I didn’t like how it felt to say the phrase, I stopped.

But I still hear it a lot, and it seems to have many different meanings, depending on who’s saying it, the tone of their voice, or what they’re referring to. Often instead of acceptance I now hear notes of indifference, apathy or stuckness.  Like, I have this struggle with x,y,z and my life is hard because of it, but “it is, what it is.”

I’m not saying, subtract this phrase from your vocabulary. However, by putting more attention here, you can come to know a lot more about yourself in any given situation by inquiring as to your deeper meaning. Am I in true acceptance of what is here, or do I feel stuck and unable to see a way out?

I’ve always found it wise to ask myself, what am I believing, and is it true? (Also part of Byron Katie’s work)

This is all to say, our inner world (and no doubt our outer world) is complex territory.  We all have habits of language, hard-wired beliefs, and places where we feel STUCK. Health habits, addictive habits, relationships, jobs, and so much more.

Let’s get curious about the experience we are actually having and work on getting unstuck together! For ourselves and those we love. 

The time is here and now— to dive into the waters of growth and awakening— at the level of body-mind-spirit. If you’re ready, join us for the internationally renowned Mindfulness Course, developed by Jon-Kabat-Zinn, right here in downtown Wenatchee!

Mindfully Yours,

Kari