An exploration of the intersection of mindfulness and thought work.
The direct experience of your human life.
The master set a water jug in front of his students and asked this question
“If you can’t call this a water jug, what do you call it?”
Kuei-shan kicked over the water jug and walked away.
Direct Experience. It’s the difference between reading about having a pet and actually living with a dog in your house.
I’ve spent a lot of time reading about happiness and reading about mindfulness. I’ve invested a fair amount of time on a cushion focusing on my breath, a fair amount of time in downward dog – always looking for a way to quiet my mind.
I wanted to understand how
I wanted to understand what Zen masters were talking about when they said things like ‘wash the dish, don’t wash the dish –
I really wanted to understand what Stephen Cope was talking about when he said his teacher stopped all yoga practice for a year and told his students something like – American’s don’t know how to love themselves – and for one year, self-compassion was all they worked on. How could they spend a year on something I couldn’t manifest for more than a hot second?
Above all, I wanted to know how to love myself.
That question – “How can I love myself?” – was so far removed from possibility, I didn’t even know it was something I could have or should want. I didn’t know that I sought it above all else.
Then I discovered a life coach. She changed the way I think about thinking.
Thought Work Practice is the difference between reading about self help and actually helping yourself.
I coach people using Thought Work Practice. Above all else, I seek to bring others into direct contact with self-compassion. This website, this work, is my way of paying forward the great insights from all my teachers.
Namaste,
Amy D’Annibale